All Aboard!! Let’s Go Visit Rusty Rail Brewing Company…
Many of you may have already heard of Rusty Rail Brewing Company in Mifflinburg, PA, after all, it is the largest brewpub in the state of Pennsylvania with 120,000 square feet of space on three floors, and it is well known as a great brewery stop, but, what we want people to know is, it’s also an amazing stop for live music! Rusty Rail’s goal is to create one of the finest music listening and performing experiences in a friendly, warm environment for music lovers and artists. Even when you pull into their huge, free parking lot, you can easily see how Rusty Rail goes above and beyond to make their venue a true unique experience. The Rusty Rail’s building is filled with history, even though it is a century-old manufacturing building, the renovations on the building are breathtaking. It’s amazing how they were able to keep so many historical parts of the building and put them to good use. When Model T Trucks were built in the facility, the local railroad ran straight through the factory to unload truck chassis for the wooden bodies to be mounted on, and then the finished trucks would be loaded back on the rail cars to be taken away to dealerships. Rusty Rail has been able to preserve this part of the building’s history by fully restoring and displaying several Model T trucks that were built in the facility and obviously, how they got their name, Rusty Rail. I could write this whole article just on the craftsmanship of the building, but what we truly want to focus on for this article is the music. Rusty Rail has two separate Facebook Pages, one for the Rusty Rail Brewing Company, and a whole other page called Rusty Rail Live, which obviously focuses on music. Rusty Rail features all different types of music from popular touring artists, rising stars, and locally renowned acts each performing their own brand of Americana, Folk, Bluegrass, Alt Country, Country, Blues, Jazz, Soul, and Rock. The artists they feature come in different ranges from a single performer to full bands. Every week Rusty Rail faithfully supports local musicians with their Monday Open Mic night hosted by Scott Bachman with co-host Bryan Noaker from 6:30-9:30pm. They have been running the Open Mic for over 2 years and it has quickly become the area’s best reason to go out on a Monday night. It’s a casual event where bands from the area go to relax a
little and enjoy a night of jammin’ with friends. They typically have some amps and a drum kit setup so you will see anything from a solo act up to a full band depending on who shows up. Sign ups can fill up quick so plan to get there early to ensure your spot. If you’re a seasoned musician or someone just looking to share your music with some new people head up to the Rusty Rail on a Monday evening and check it out. Thursday night is Acoustic Night. I was able to make it up there on a Thursday night in time for some acoustic music by Jason P. Yoder. Jason played a few cover tunes, but played a lot of great original music too. He hooked me up with some awesome CDs and even a super cool color-changing cup. The more intimate local
acts usually play upstairs in their brew pub, right beside one of the restored Model T Trucks. The Brew Pub upstairs has a full bar and plenty of table seating so you can sit and have dinner, or just throw back a few of their delicious beers! My personal
favorite is Fool’s Gold, an imperial peanut butter hefeweizen, unfortunately it is 8% ABV, so I can’t drink much of that when I have such a long drive home, but they do have growlers so I can enjoy it at home later. In July, Rusty Rail has a full line up of Acoustic Thursdays with Runaway Stroller on July 11th, Frank Wicher and Chris Trasatti on July 18th, and finally Mark Alexander and Friends on July 25th. If the weather is nice enough on Thursday nights through the Summer, they do like to take their Acoustic Show out on the patio. They host their “bigger bands” and more of their National Touring Acts downstairs on their big stage. In July they have a special Sunday night show with C.J. Chenier & Red Hot Louisiana Band starting at 9pm. You can purchase tickets for their shows right on their website, www.rustyrailbrewing.com. They have a cool option when you purchase tickets for a show, you can choose the normal, General Admission, but they also have a Dinner & Show option, if you plan on going for dinner they will make sure you are seated in the main listening area at a table that has a direct view of the artist, so you won’t have to rush and you’ll still have a comfortable seat for the show. Even though Mifflinburg might seem far away to some it’s roughly a 15 minute drive off of Route 11&15 from Lewisburg. They are also a perfect place to book a large gathering such as family reunions, business meetings, or even a wedding. They go above and beyond to make sure everyone’s wedding dreams come true, they even have their own Wedding Planner on site along with suites for out of town guests to stay. Rusty Rail has a little bit of everything, but one thing for sure is nothing will leave you disappointed! Do yourself a favor and plan your next road trip and visit the Rusty Rail Brewing Company! You can keep an eye on everything music related on their special “Rusty Rail Live” Facebook page, or on their main website, www.rustyrailbrewing.com. If you would like to get your band or acoustic act booked at the Rusty Rail you can contact them by emailing booking@rustyrailbrewing.com.