Musician-Based Bourbon Company Helps Musicians

Instead of finishing a screenplay and getting a liquor company to sponsor a trailer, Neil Giraldo founded a spirits company that gives back to musicians. Lately, his company’s been giving back more.

Four years ago, this noted rock musician had been working on a screenplay, and a friend suggested that they get a bourbon or spirits company to sponsor the trailer to get the film into production.

But rather than finding such a company, Giraldo got a team together, and he founded such a company, Steel Bending Spirits, and they released their first spirit in 2018. “I actually never finished the screenplay,” Giraldo says.

From the get-go, Steel Bending Spirits has focused on giving back, especially to the music community, and now, the company’s giving back more than usual.

Within each of the 15 states the company’s spirits are distributed, the company also established a musical ambassadorship program. Local or regional musicians are tapped as musical ambassadors, and the company sponsors their live shows. “It’s a blessing that you can make music in your house because studios are now digital,” Giraldo says. “But (to reach your audience), you need to go out and play live shows. You have to go talk to club owners, get them to listen to your music, and then you have to pay their venue $600 a night to play.”

With Three Chord Stages (named after the Michigan-based distillery’s Three Chord Bourbon), the distillery pays for the stages at the local venues, and then musicians can perform, sell music, t-shirts and the like. “We’re giving them the opportunity to be seen and to be heard,” Giraldo says.

And since Giraldo’s the founder of the company that’s sponsoring, Giraldo also mentors the younger musicians and offers them his time and his advice. “Anytime of day, I’m a sounding board,” he says. “Here’s the thing about this spirits company…when I started, I told people right away that this isn’t another celebrity brand. I’m not a celebrity. I’m a musician, and I’m just one member of the team.”

But he and the rest of his team – and having a good team is like having a good band, Giraldo says – share a vision of giving back, which the company has amped up in recent weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantining.

Since actual concerts are a no-go, the company’s social media specialists have been helping their musical ambassadors promote live shows on various online forums and social media outlets, helping them generate tips through Paypal and other payment services. The company’s also donated $10,000 to the Michigan Hospitality Industry Employee Relief Fund because the distillery is actually located in Michigan. “We’ve also gotten other distilleries and distributors to commit funds,” he says, adding that they’re also working to raise funds in all of the states in which they’re distributed. “The need is now.”

But perhaps the most interesting give-back program is a contest the company’s sponsoring to help support local restaurants and bars. The company is running a social media contest to encourage its fans and followers to order takeout food from local restaurants, then post and share photos with the hashtag #3ChordEatsLocal. The winner will receive a guitar signed by Giraldo.

“We have to give back,” Giraldo says, adding that in addition to the Three Chord Stages, the company has also donated to several different organizations that sponsor and help musicians in need. “That’s so important.”

If helping is important, a side benefit might be discovering new talent. “I think there’s a Hank Williams out there in this country, in a basement somewhere, male or female, who might not have the social skills because they’re so afraid,” Giraldo says. “I’m looking for that person. I’m waiting for the day that somebody sends me a song with a brilliant lyric that’s going to knock me out.”