Whiskey, Risk & Rockstars - The Hoochenanny Festival

About this episode

Bill Moran interviews Tommy Brunett and Sean McCarthy about the challenges and experiences behind the Hoochenanny Festival.

Two guys walk into a bar… One used to play guitar in a band you definitely slow-danced to… The other figured out how to turn chaos into a business model… …and somehow they both ended up throwing a whiskey-fueled music festival in Western New York. Bill sits down with Tommy Brunett and Sean McCarthy—the minds (and risk tolerance) behind the Hoochenanny Festival—to break down Hoochenanny 2026 (August 14–16), the new location, and the very real moments where this whole thing almost went off the rails. This isn’t a promo piece. This is what happens when you pull back the curtain. We’re talking: The jump from “I Melt With You” to “I ferment with you” Why running a distillery might be harder than keeping a band together The exact moment they looked at each other like… “we might’ve screwed this up” And the kind of chaos that doesn’t make the press release Bill pushes past the highlight reel and gets into the real questions: What’s the near-disaster story they definitely didn’t want to tell? And why—despite easier ways to make money—they keep doing this anyway There’s whiskey. There’s honesty. There’s a little bit of “this felt like a good idea after a few drinks… And somewhere in the…

People in this episode

Host: Bill Moran

Guests: Tommy Brunett, Sean McCarthy

Topics covered

• music festival
• whiskey
• business chaos
• rockstar stories
• entrepreneurship

Keywords

• Hoochenanny Festival
• whiskey
• music festival
• entrepreneurship
• chaos
• rockstar stories
• business model

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: I Melt With You, I ferment with you

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