Yuengling Blogger

Feel lonely? Do you ever want dozens of people to BEG for your attention? Want to be the LIFE of the party, only to be the enemy of the world when you can’t deliver what they want of you? Well, do I have the thing for YOU!!… Here’s how to be the desires of multitudes of people all at once:

- Be in a Yuengling-sponsored band and give out free Yuengling
t-shirts.

More on that later. To fill you in, Toolshed Jack is proudly sponsored by Schuylkill County’s own, Yuengling. How did this happen? What does this sponsorship-thing mean? Does this signify the permanent postponement of Armageddon? Most importantly, does anyone get free beer???

Those of you who regularly read my columns know that I know squat about band stuff. Yeah, I play an instrument or 4 but I don’t really look the part, fit the image, or know all the ins and outs of a rock and roller in a cover band. My bandmates know this all too painfully well in that I still don’t know how the soundboard even works (other than “I think you plug it in, right?”). So this aspect of ’sponsorship’ is not my field of expertise, either. But here’s what I think I know about why we were selectively accepted by the good folks at Yuengling to help distribute their merchandise while on stage:

1) We’re a party band.

2) Beer such as Yuengling is great at party venues like the ones we play.

3) Both TSJ and Yuengling are born and raised in Schuylkill County.

Those are the subtle reasons. We’re very proud of all this, by the way: Not every band just gets automatically accepted to get special privileges from a popular company like this. Companies usually need to know that you’re an ‘established’ band or somewhat respectable before they want their names attached to your group. That’s just good business and good public relations. So since we are in the 12th year of our Schuylkill County tour, Yuengling sponsorship makes a whole lot of sense to both sides involved.

Also, the good people at Yuengling need to be convinced that they’re not hitching their good name to a band like ours, only to find out later that we regularly do cruel things, like one of us tripped an old lady as she crossed the street or something. Although that’s not true, could you imagine how they’d feel about stupid bad press like that? Our sponsor doesn’t want the following newspaper headline:

YUENGLING-SPONSORED COVER BAND MEMBERS KNOCK OVER OCTOGENARIAN PEDESTRIAN

So I think Yuengling realized a few years ago that we were/are good guys with a good reputation. But MOST importantly of all this, what does Yuengling sponsorship mean to YOU, the Toolshed Jack consumer?

1) At a gig, there’s a good chance we give away t shirts and stuff with the Yuengling name on it, perhaps signed also by members of Toolshed Jack.

2) They don’t pay for nationwide-tours or anything, but we get a nice banner with the official Yuengling logo on it next to our name, and we get the freedom to use this logo for our own promotion packs and places like our MySpace and Facebook page.

3) There MIGHT be Yuengling drink specials at our gigs for the customers (We don’t always know in advance and this is not a guarantee, so keep the noose at home, ok?)

4) You’ll see the band drinking more Lager on stage (Twist our arms…).

When we got this sponsorship in 2008, being long time fans of their product, the whole band was giddy like schoolgirls. It was like finding out your childhood sports idol just gave you a key to his summer home. The only question I actually posed to myself was if this was considered “selling-out”. After all, musicians are not supposed to bow to corporate stiffs, and are only in it for the MUSIC, MAN!! True, but we don’t write our own music, so maybe we’re not real grass-root musicians anyway, and Yuengling itself possesses a local god-like status even among the musical underground. So I think we get a free Skook pass on this one. Oh, and also at gigs, we get free beer.

Ryan, Yuengling’s promotion representative for northern Schuylkill County, hooks us up with free giveaway stuff. We LOVE Ryan. Every time we’ve asked for Yuengling stuff to give away, he’s given: Keychains, bottle openers, kozies, hats, ski caps, ear warmers and more. But the one item that it seems the crowds elbow each other in the eye socket for is the t-shirt.

It’s not like Yuengling HAS TO advertise by providing us with free t-shirts with their name and logo on them. I’m pretty sure that the general public is aware of their company. It’s not like they are an ‘up and coming’ business (they’ve been around a while, and I think the locals may be aware of their existence). Anyway, at gigs, I could make people sit up and bark if I want to, if it was for the guarantee of getting a free t-shirt. They ARE nice shirts, I will admit, and if I went to see a band, I would want free stuff, too. But I would guess they cost at LEAST $10 each retail, so we may only receive no more than 6 shirts each night. Yeah, Yuengling makes millions of dollars each year, but giveaways are something that eats a little into a budget, and although they are for promotion and advertising, I don’t blame them if they don’t give away thousands of free items.

But there are NEVER enough free t-shirts for the crowd’s demand during gigs. I could have 30 shirts and still not satisfy the appetite. Then when I give them all away, people ask at the end of the night “Yo, ummm… can ya hook me up with a t-shirt?” I have to then say that I am out of them, to which people must think that I can magically conjure up 50 more with a little hocus-pocus. People get upset and don’t believe me when I say “Sorry, they’re all gone”. I think people believe I stash about 10 for myself in my keyboard bag for some underground swap meet I have somewhere later. Oh well, it’s nice to see people excited about something!

In conclusion, drink Yuengling, if you don’t already. Or buy it for your neighbors. Or buy it for me. Or buy it because it’s America’s Oldest Brewery. Or buy it because they sponsor us. Or buy it because I said so. Or buy it because whatever. Just drink responsibly.

-Brian from Toolshed Jack