Mixing an engaging song from a local artist with a unique cocktail, alongside a strong sense of community spirit, leads to the creation of “Whiskey Revival.”

“Whiskey Revival” encompasses both a melody and a spirit, crafted from a partnership between Ramona musician Thea Tochihara from Thea The Band and the Ramona-based San Diego Sunshine Craft Spirits Co.

The foundations for this project were laid a few years prior when Tochihara started composing a song focused on whiskey.

During her creative process, she envisioned how exciting it would be to collaborate with a whiskey producer to create a signature whiskey that could accompany the song on her summer tour, she explained.

Her conditions for the drink were specific: it must be inspired by a song’s name, be a single malt whiskey, and feature her personal branding.

Upon conveying her vision to Eric and Cassie Goforth from Ramona Radio, they promptly arranged a discussion with Paul and Amanda Markham from San Diego Sunshine, who founded their distillery nine years prior.

It turned out that the Markhams were already in the process of adding a single malt whiskey to their product range.

“We were on track already; all that was missing was her branding,” Amanda Markham commented.

Markham describes Whiskey Revival’s taste as “a great oak-y vanilla.”

“‘Whiskey Revival’ delivers the perfect musical blend that goes down smooth; with its raw blues, outlaw country grit and simple, yet polished soul-folk lyrics,” said Tochihara, in her promotion of the song and beverage combo.

The song is delivered in Tochihara’s “Cosmic American” style, which she describes as “a blend of country/folk honest lyrics, emotive shades of soul/blues and textures of Indie rock.”

“Ramona locals are familiar with it, since I play it around town,” she said. “I find people are pulled toward the song, and a lot of people think it is a cover.”

With the lines, “Here I go again seeking answers in the bottle/I can smell ’em on my breath with the whiskey and regret/Ain’t it sweet, oh so sweet/Well pull up your bar stools and gather round/I’m bringing a new kind of church to town,” the song is steadily building its audience with every show.

Several special activities are anticipated in conjunction with the release of “Whiskey Revival.”

The “Whiskey Revival” single is set to debut on Ramona Radio on July 1. By July 5, the track will be available on streaming platforms globally.

The drink, Whiskey Revival, will be released on June 21 at San Diego Sunshine and a number of local liquor outlets.

A pre-listening VIP barbecue and whiskey pairing, planned for the same day, is already sold out.

“But people will still be able to come by the distillery, buy bottles and sample it in the tasting room,” Markham said.

A QR code on bottles of Whiskey Revival will also allow access to the song.

“We are very excited about the release of Whiskey Revival,” Markham said. “We haven’t really put on an event since COVID. It will be fun to get back out into the community, especially with this collaboration.”

For specific details on either release, see Thea The Band’s social media sites.

A promo for the drink and video, shot on location at San Diego Sunshine distillery, will be released the second week in June; a full video will be released this fall.

In the promo, Tochihara has a hawk on her arm.

“Posing with Ruby, the red-tailed hawk, was a dream come true,” she said. “Hawks have been my spirit animal for many years.”

Ruby is one of three red-tailed hawks residing at Critter Encounters, a wildlife sanctuary and educational company based in Ramona that specializes in live animal experiences.

Tochihara mentioned that Andrea Burgan, who leads Critter Encounters, provided her a brief training on managing hawks inside a distillery’s bathroom before she started working with Ruby.

Whiskey Revival bottles feature a hawk illustration.

Thea The Band is scheduled to perform at the Kickoff Party on July 6, with the venue yet to be determined, and again on July 26 at the Ramona Country Fair. They will also tour Oregon, Washington, and California in the same month.

Tochihara expressed her desire to make the whiskey available at her venues during her summer tour.

San Diego Sunshine is located at 432 Maple St., #6. For inquiries, call 619-820-3379 or visit: https://www.sandiegosunshine.com/.