OCEAN ISLE, N.C. — It’s been a tough year for musicians. Strange Brew frontman, Mark Loren, says that when COVID-19 hit a year ago, venues just started dropping off. 

In order to keep playing, Loren says they had to find a solution.

“We went across the border, and we were playing in Little River, South Carolina because we couldn’t even find anything here,” he explains.

Loren says they got lucky when they discovered new venues in South Carolina.

COVID-19 regulations are much different there than they are in North Carolina. The biggest differences for Strange Brew included a less restrictive limit on social gatherings as well as no statewide mask mandate.

They began to play as many shows as they could in their neighboring state, and slowly but surely, a sense of normalcy returned to their lives.

“I spent the first part of 2020 like most people, looking out the window, wondering what’s going on, and it was starting to wear on my mind, body, heart, and soul,” Strange Brew drummer Scott Blackmon says. "And music is my passion, and I can tell you it made a difference playing than just sitting at home, and South Carolina to North Carolina is night and day. It has been since day one.”

While traveling out of state has its pros and cons, ultimately, it brings the band happiness. 

“This is our life, we’ve always played, and it made it sense to try to keep on pushing through and to keep on going, and that’s basically what we’ve been able to do,” Loren adds.

The band says they’re very excited to be able to play more gigs in their home state, but in the meantime, they’re enjoying being able to play at all.

Strange Brew has multiple shows coming up and are also trying to work more North Carolina shows into their schedule.