San Francisco’s only rock and roll beer festival, The Bay Brewed, is back for a fourth year of pairing outstanding local beer and local music! Taking place at The Chapel on March 29, 2015, this year’s festival offers performances by four great San Francisco Bay Area bands and unlimited tastings from eleven San Francisco breweries all day long thanks to the SF Brewers Guild.

Between now and March 29, we’ll be interviewing each of the bands playing this year’s festival — Tumbleweed Wanderers, The Seshen, Guy Fox, and today’s interviewees John Brothers Piano Company — getting their perspective on some of the best beer and bands that the Bay Area has to offer.

The Bay Bridged: The Bay Brewed merges two of the best things in this world: live music and beer. Which brewer’s beers are you most looking forward to sampling at The Bay Brewed?

Well, our clarinet player doesn’t drink and our bass player is most excited about whatever tastes the most like Coors Light. The rest of us are looking for whatever’s the strongest but don’t think quality = hops.

TBB: What’s your favorite Bay Area-brewed beer, and why?

Tumbleweave by Ghost Town Brewing. They have it at Boot & Shoe Service in Oakland where we play every Sunday at 7:30pm.

TBB: Which other artist or band are you most looking forward to seeing at The Bay Brewed, and why?

The Beatles.

TBB: You guys have played such a wide variety of different places, from BART stations to big stages. What’s the strangest or wildest place you’ve ever played a show?

We played an afterhours speakeasy in a three-story SOMA warehouse from 2-6AM every Friday night for a year. Our lawyer has advised us to stop writing immediately.

TBB: It feels like a variety of sounds and styles inspire your music. Are there any influences or inspirations that might surprise listeners?

Can, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Miles Davis, The Kinks, Jazz Messengers. Ultimately, this group is a punk band with jazz instruments and classical inclinations.

TBB: What’s your favorite recent song or album from a Bay Area artist, and why?

Greg Ashley’s “Another Generation of Slaves,” and whatever Paul Bertin’s band La Peche is doing right now.