The search for Tyler area activities to write about has led me to the part time coffee bar, part time church, known to patrons and parishioners respectively as the Brewtones Galaxy, or the Vineyard Church of Tyler. The Brewtones coffee shop has become a well known venue for local artists, musicians, modern-day beatniks, and twenty-somethings in general, to gather for a cup of Joe and an “unplugged” musical performance by area indie bands that are usually quietly Christian. The venue is not large but it provides a slightly bigger than intimate setting, for area young people to gather and take in various musical performances.

The primary mission of the café is to provide a place for local and out of town bands often on the cusp of real commercial success, to play to a somewhat more, but not exclusively religious crowd. The Vineyard Church has always had as part of its mission to reach out to younger, more under-churched people. Given this focus, the Brewtones Galaxy is a sort of natural partnership. Attendees are not likely to hear any kind of homily or gospel reading, but it is an opportunity to mix with other college aged youth in an environment they may or may not be otherwise interested in. Past performances have come from artists like Eisley, Sleeping at last, Jon Foreman (of Switchfoot fame) The Rocketboys, Christi Dupree and others. If most of the names are not immediately familiar that’s not surprising. But many area young people cooler than I would recognize these bands in short order.

On May twenty eight, the band entitled Moving Castles, (apparently a reference to the novel and film by the same name), will be performing at Brewtones in Tyler, in honor of the release of their new CD. The doors open at seven and admission is ten dollars a person. For more information see the Brewtones website at http://www.myspace.com/brewtones. They are located at 5201 S. Broadway Ave., in Tyler. For more on the band Moving Castles, visit http://movingcastles.com/. To read more about The Vineyard Church in Tyler go to www.tylervineyard.com, or look for the article entitled The Vineyard Church of Tyler located elsewhere on this site.