Halloween bluegrass at the distillery: Mountain Grass Unit plays John Emerald on Oct. 31

Cottonseed Studios brings the Appalachian Smoke Tour to The Railyard at John Emerald Distilling in downtown Opelika this Saturday night.

There are plenty of ways to spend Halloween in Lee County. One of the better ones this year is at a distillery in downtown Opelika, with a bluegrass band in the middle of a coast-to-coast tour.

Mountain Grass Unit plays John Emerald Distilling Company, 706 North Railroad Avenue, this Saturday, Oct. 31. Cottonseed Studios is presenting An Evening with Mountain Grass Unit, billed as a stop on the Appalachian Smoke Tour, with music from 8 to 11 p.m. Tickets are on Eventbrite. "An evening with" means no opener: three hours of the headliner, on a Saturday, on Halloween.

The tour is named for the record. *Appalachian Smoke*, the band's debut studio album, came out Aug. 28 on Dualtone Records, according to Relix and Grateful Web. The run behind it opened Aug. 17 in Cleveland, has since been extended coast to coast, and goes through Nov. 22.

Opelika fits into a busy stretch. The band plays Atlanta on Thursday, Oct. 29, drives over for Saturday, then has a few days before Charleston on Nov. 4, Charlotte on Nov. 6 and Raleigh–Durham on Nov. 7. That makes this the band's only Alabama date on this leg.

It's also a smaller room than they usually headline. On this tour, Mountain Grass Unit typically plays rooms of about 450. A distillery in a town of Opelika's size is a different kind of night: closer to the stage, louder in the best way, and probably a bit loose given the date. Expect costumes in the crowd.

The setting is a draw by itself. John Emerald is a craft distillery downtown, run by a father and son, John and Jimmy Sharp. Its line includes John's Alabama Single Malt Whiskey, Hugh Wesley's Gin and a run of rums. Day to day it runs a cocktail bar and offers distillery tours by reservation, according to Alabama Tourism's maker profile and the Auburn-Opelika Tourism blog. Bluegrass and a local single malt is about as natural a pairing as a Saturday night gets.

What to know before you go: the music starts at 8 and the event page puts the end at 11. Check the Eventbrite page for the latest on ticket availability, and leave the car if you're planning to sample.

Bluegrass and a local single malt is about as natural a pairing as a Saturday night gets.

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and you can spend it on a crowded bar or a haunted house. Or you can spend it at a distillery in downtown Opelika with a band that's still on its way up, while you can still see it this close.

Sources: An Evening with Mountain Grass Unit – Appalachian Smoke Tour (Eventbrite) (eventbrite.com); Mountain Grass Unit Extend Appalachian Smoke Tour From Coast to Coast — Relix (relix.com); Mountain Grass Unit Releases Debut Studio Album Appalachian Smoke — Grateful Web (gratefulweb.com); Mountain Grass Unit Announces Expansive Appalachian Smoke Tour — Grateful Web (gratefulweb.com); John Emerald Distilling Company — Alabama Tourism (alabama.travel); From Ground to Glass: John Emerald Distilling Co. — Auburn-Opelika Tourism (aotourism.com); Award-Winning Distiller is Alabama's First — BCA Today (bcatoday.org); John Emerald Distilling Co - WhiskeyLore (whiskeylore.org)