Tasting room and restaurant manager Emma Judd said that the winery had been waiting to feature live music, but had been wary of changing restrictions. The winery had tried to set up music events last summer, but had to cancel due to lockdown restrictions.

“We’ve just been waiting for the right moment,” said Judd. “We love music and couldn’t wait to get back into it.”

Judd added that the winery had received many questions about when they’d have live music again, but they wanted to wait until restrictions had eased enough so that they could do it properly.

“We were waiting until we could have more than a few people,” said Judd.

Judd said that once they decided it was the right moment to feature music, they knew they wanted to start with a local band. “We’ve seen them before, we know they’re good,” said Judd about !Abstract.

It was also the first time !Abstract performed “unplugged” music at a show. The band performed without amplifiers, instead letting their instruments and voices produce all the sound they needed; the exception being guitarist Clayton Murray, who the band connected to an amplifier so that his performance was not drowned out by the other instruments.

The band was initially nervous about performing unplugged, but after playing for a while, those fears disappeared. “I have never tried it before, but I might actually like it more,” said vocalist and bassist Jared Lance.

The band performed covers of classics, such as ‘I saw her standing there’ by The Beetles, as well as some of their own originals, but admitted to learning some of the songs that morning.

“We’re a ‘wing it’ type of band,” added Lance.

“We’re still a bit rusty,” said drummer Stuart MacFarlane, who admitted to being a bit nervous after not performing live for over a year. Those fears were also laid to rest by the end of the night.

“You see people tapping their feet. It just feels warm,” said MacFarlane.

The band teased that they hope to release new singles in late fall. As for the winery, Judd said they plan to have more bands in the coming weeks. On August 28, Picatune will perform at the winery, followed by other performances on Sept. 11 and 19.

“We like to bring the music to us,” said Judd. “The energy is always lively when there’s a concert.”

She added that in the future, they hope to continue having music indefinitely. “We’ll keep it going until we’re not allowed anymore,” said Judd.

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!