1. Autolux – Transit Transit
2. Jim James – Here in Spirit
3. Spoon – WhisperI’lllistentohearit
4. Mark Lanegan Band – Beehive
5. The National – Heavenfaced
6. The War on Drugs – Red Eyes
7. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Rings of Saturn
8. Radiohead – Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief
9. The Naked and Famous – The Sun
10. Neil Young – Birds
11. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – For Every Field There’s a Mole
12. Band of Horses – Lying Under Oak
13. The Milk Carton Kids – Promised Land
14. Crosses – Frontiers
15. TV On The Radio – Tonight
16. Bon Iver – 00000 Million
17. Phoenix – Bourgeois

Listen to the playlist on Spotify (you must create a free account if you don’t already have one): https://open.spotify.com/user/triciaburkhardt/playlist/0RUb9ZQ2zZGJKVP8y3tEyN

I can’t help it. With bigger, boozier beers the music tends to become more chill and folk/electro-oriented. Higher gravity beers to me are all about introspection and deeper thinking. It’s about slowing down and taking time. So as I began putting this together it fell into place pretty easily.

While we have many towns around us in the Rolla and St. James area, none of them are very big and most would consider our home a rural area. With that kind of geography comes the privilege of witnessing the four seasons of Missouri in some of the most beautiful settings. This playlist has as much to do with the awe-inspiring beauty of our surroundings as it does the deliciously complex farmhouse ale we made.

Whether in titles, in lyrics, or in metaphors, you’ll find all kinds of ties to the music, the beer and the land. Elements of spirit, animal life, the heavens, the stars, the moon, the sun, the vivid life-sustaining green of plant life that surrounds us. Get lost in it. It’s not that hard if you let it happen.

Even though there are a fair amount of down tempo tracks on here that set the tone for country drives (without alcohol of course) or armchair thinking, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some more up tempo tunes on here. Spoon’s “WhisperI’lllistentohearit” has such a sparse synth intro that then kicks into a pumped up tambourine-tinged rock beat. Then the bass kicks in and the background synths really layer up the complexity – much like this particular beer.

If you haven’t heard the new Mark Lanegan Band record, “Gargoyle,” do yourself a favor. It’s one of his best. And after the untimely passing of Chris Cornell, Lanegan remains one of the survivors of the alt 90s scene, gargled glass voice intact. So with every passing year his work carries even more weight. “Beehive” is one of my favorite tracks from the album. Aside from having a great hook, I suppose there is a loose tie to the farmhouse beer.

When I lived in Rolla, I used to ride my bike in the same 10-mile loop through the country on gravel roads and then back into town. I’ll never forget the day I first put on The National’s “Trouble Will Find Me” for my ride. When I stopped about a third of the way through it for a water break, I glanced through the trees that lined the field along the road where cows were grazing. In the middle of the pasture stood one solitary tree. A beautiful green-leafed oak, full bloom in the middle of summer. The breeze swept across the tall grass in the field all around that tree while “Heavenfaced” played on my headphones as I sipped my water. I couldn’t bring myself to hop immediately back on the bike. I had a moment in the middle of the countryside that was nothing short of spiritual. I’m so grateful for that day, that weather, that tree, and that song. I don’t ride that same loop very often anymore but when I do, that’s always where I stop for a water break so I can say hello to my old friend in the field.

Drinking Note: If you’re having a session at home with Provision and listening to this playlist you should be at least one beer in by the time you get to Radiohead’s “Tinker Tailor…” and it should all start making sense. Thom Yorke’s lazy, sleepy, drunken vocals are absolutely perfect here.

Neil Young’s “Birds” is a bit of a departure from the rest of the songs on here, although I don’t think the decades of difference in sound between it and the other tracks makes an ounce of difference. This is one of my all-time favorite Neil tracks. It’s one of the most beautiful songs he ever wrote. And you can’t help but see the birds in your mind’s eye as you listen.

Credit for the Bonnie “Prince” Billy track goes to my long-time friend and Public House Brand Ambassador for St. Louis, Seth Faucett. He’s as eaten up as I am with music and we’re always geeking out together when I’m crashing at his house if I’m in St. Louis for multiple days spreading the gospel of Public House. There’s nothing better than beer, music and friends. Thanks, Seth.

I LOVE Band of Horses. There could have been a bunch of their songs on here, but “Lying Under Oak” just seemed right.

I’m falling in love with The Milk Carton Kids. They’re musicianship and perfect harmonies are flawless and delicate and unique. “Promised Land” sweetly speaks to what promise is all about. Something to look forward to. Something to guide our decisions. Something that informs our way of being. All that over wonderful guitar work and lullaby vocals. What’s not to like?

Years ago before the birth of my son, Keiran, my wife Trisha asked me to do a little fixing up to our bedroom before he came along. As home projects tend to do, it became bigger, took more time, and cost more money than planned. As my progress began to slow and I realized it was going to take more than a few weeks, I stopped pushing so hard and decided it would be done whenever it got done. I put on my headphones every night, opened a beer and took my time. I listened to three albums on rotation almost exclusively during what ended up being three months’ worth of work—TV on the Radio’s “Return to Cookie Mountain,” Puscifer’s “’V is for ‘Vagina,’” and the soundtrack for the David Lynch film, “Lost Highway.”

I still don’t know exactly why I became so attached to those albums for that brief period (I mean, they are all great records), but they had a certain introspective nature and as a self-diagnosed introvert/extrovert I tend to do a lot of thinking (or overthinking). And when you’re scraping decades’ worth of old wallpaper off the walls, sanding, painting and staining for what seems like an eternity, on the cusp of the birth of a child in your late twenties, let’s just say the brain becomes a real stew of all kinds of thoughts and feelings. So it was a quiet time. Music, beer and thoughts. I got into this routine about halfway through the project where at the end of each night that I worked on it, I would have a final beer and stand on my porch in the dark, staring at the moon with my headphones on. It was winter. With every sip of beer, an exhale, my breath visible in the air. And I always listened to the song “Tonight” by TV on the Radio. It’s a magical piece of music. It just sounds like exactly what I was looking at: a pale moon in the dark on a crisp, cold night. Another spiritual moment. I recommend trying it yourself. I think you’ll get it. “My mind is like an orchard….”

Finally, Phoenix’s “Bourgeois” closes this one out. I love the way their sound captures the 80s synth vibe – that I’ve had a forever crush on – but still manages to sound fresh and modern. This song is probably one of the best examples of that. And with Provision being a French style of beer, it only made sense that I put these English-singing French dudes on here who rock very … Frenchly. I love the way Thomas Mars belts out the word “Bourgeois” so perfectly. It’s a word I love. I don’t know why. But I love it. The word and the song speak to a foolishly youthful attitude that we’ve all been guilty of and even reveled in at one point or another.

Bourgeois
Why would you care for more?
They gave you almost everything
You believed almost anything
Bourgeois
Your fire’s a false alarm
They gave you almost everything
You believed almost anything

I hope you enjoy Provision as much as I do. And maybe the music adds a little something to the beer experience. Either way, be safe, be responsible, and be kind to each other. Cheers!