Big Storm Brewing Makes Big Impression On Hit Country Music Singer

D'Ann Lawrence White
Updated ·6 min read

CLEARWATER, FL — Social media is paying off big-time for Big Storm Brewing Co. co-owner and CEO L.J. Govoni.

For the second time in the past 14 months, Govoni has made national news for his use of social media platforms to forge new relationships.

Most recently, Govoni and hit country music singer and songwriter Craig Campbell have formed a partnership that led to Clearwater-based Big Storm Brewing developing a new signature craft beer in Campbell's honor, C.C. Cold Beer.

It all began with a question...

A self-professed scroll troll who habitually checks social media sites, Govoni spotted an Instagram feed of Campbell performing his popular single, “All My Friends Drink Beer.”

Without giving it a second thought, Govoni posted a response on Campbell's Instagram page, "But do all your friends drink Big Storm beer?”

Campbell promptly replied,"@bigstormbrewing don’t know, can’t say that I’ve ever had a Big Storm beer #intrigued."

That's all it took for Govoni to embark on a new business partnership. He invited Campbell to tour the brewery and taste test some of Big Storm's more than 80 award-winning craft IPAs, ales, stouts, lagers, sours, malts, Berliner Weisse, porters and pilsners.

The invitation led to the creation of C.C. Cold Beer, a smooth pilsner that will be on tap at Big Storm's five Florida taprooms starting Saturday and will be available by the case at Campbell's new Grindstone Cowboy Coffee Shop, which is hosting its grand opening Saturday in Eagleville, Tennessee.

In coming weeks, a variety of clubs, restaurants and bars across the country will begin carrying the new brew.

“This is such a crazy story,” said Campbell. “I posted the video; Big Storm responded. I happened to be performing in the area on an upcoming weekend, and they invited me to tour the brewery."

Campbell said he was smitten.

"Their products are top-notch; their marketing is fun; and from L.J. and Shannon (Brooks, co-owner) on down, they’re just great people who I’m proud to be in business with," he said.

“I wasn’t even sure if Craig would see our witty comment on Instagram, let alone respond,” said Govoni. “Now, here we are, releasing a beer together."

Govoni, already a fan of Campbell's, said the two hit it off the moment Campbell strolled into Big Storm Brewing.

"We are big fans of Craig as a person and an artist, so partnering with him and his family was a no-brainer," Govoni said. "It was obvious in our meeting that spending time with loved ones is very important to all of us, and we can’t think of a better way to do that than with a cold one in your hands.”

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Campbell has been headlining the Craig Campbell Tour, by God since his “by God” single was released at the end of February. The singer wrote the moving song with Thomas Archer and Jordan Walker, and the single is now available through Campbell's Grindstone Records label.

Not only do Govoni and Campbell share a love of beer, Govoni said they're both driven by dogged determination.

Campbell, 43, grew up playing the piano and singing at church in his hometown of Lyons, Georgia, and then worked as a corrections officer while continuing to write songs and performing gigs at local bars in his spare time for years.

His break finally came when he connected with fellow South Georgia native and country music singer/songwriter Luke Bryan and began touring as Bryan's keyboard player and with country music artist Tracy Byrd.

Eventually, Campbell caught the eye of industry executives, who gave him his first record deal in 2009. His debut single, "Family Man," hit the Billboard top 15 in 2011. Then came his breakout hit, "Keep Them Kisses Comin'," in 2014. He's since had several Top 10 singles.

Govoni can relate to Campbell's persistence. Just as Campbell was making a name for himself in the music industry, Govoni opened his first craft brewery in Pasco County in 2012.

Ten years later, Big Storm is preparing to open a sixth 11,000-square-foot taproom and restaurant in Ybor City, has purchased several Florida breweries including the award-winning Darwin Brewing taproom in Bradenton in December, and is shipping its craft beer to distributors in New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.

In between, Govoni opened a craft coffee roastery, Big Storm Coffee Co., in Pinellas Park in 2019, and, in an admittedly gutsy gamble, launched Big Storm Distillery in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, producing vodka, rum, gin, coffee liqueur and specialty cocktails.

Govoni has also earned kudos for his commitment to his community and the environment. Big Storm has developed specialty beers to raise funds for Feeding Tampa Bay and Hops for Hunger to help end hunger in Tampa Bay.

Then, last month, Big Storm became the first distillery and brewery in Florida to adopt innovative green technology, capturing and reusing the carbon emissions produced in the brewing and distilling process. The technology gives Big Storm the ability to capture the equivalent of more than 1,500 trees' worth of CO2 every year.

Govoni's first foray into social media fame came on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, when he attended Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, which will go down in NFL history as one of the most unusual Super Bowls in the 52 years of the highly anticipated football contest.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers became one of a handful of NFL teams to play the Super Bowl on home turf and were the first NFL team to win the Super Bowl at home, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9.

It was also the first time in NFL history that the Super Bowl wasn't played in front of a sold-out crowd. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, only 25,000 fans were allowed in the 65,000-seat stadium. To ensure that spectators remained socially distant and to deemphasize the fact that the stadium was less than half filled, the NFL decided to populate the empty seats with 30,000 life-size cardboard cutout photos of fans.

Fans, including Clayton Whipple of Iowa, paid $100 to have a cardboard cutout placed in the stands at Raymond James Stadium.

Govoni had no clue as to the identity of the person in the photo seated beside him, except the fact that he was obviously a Chiefs fan because he wore a Chiefs jersey in his cutout.

Nevertheless, Govoni had a blast posting selfies of he and his new cardboard friend on Twitter, drinking beer, eating hot dogs, talking smack and exchanging high-fives.

The tweets made their way to Whipple in Des Moines, Iowa, some 1,300 miles away, who responded with good-natured comebacks.

Govoni ended up inviting Whipple, his wife and two sons to Florida. Upon learning of the invitation, Allegiant Airlines offered the Whipple family free airfare, and Govoni and Whipple met in person for the first time at Tampa International Airport, exactly one year ago Saturday.

Needless to say, Govoni doesn't plan to break his addiction to social media any time soon.



Big Storm Brewing Makes Big Impression On Hit Country Music Singer originally appeared on the Clearwater Patch