“I’m not above or below doing anything. If there’s a job to do, I’ll do it,” says Stacy Buchanan, creator of Blood of Gods, a subversive, counterculture, metal-music-meets-wine universe. The job that Buchanan is focused on right now is connecting wine and music lovers.

Buchanan started the Blood of Gods zine in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. (See a previous feature article about Blood of Gods.) It’s a combination of homage, lampoon, art, and serious writing about heavy metal music and wine. Buchanan sees a strong similarity between the two.

“If you’re into like crazy music, it doesn’t mean you’re some knuckle-dragging, denim leather bullet ball spikes kind of guy,” Buchanan says. “Get below that teeny tiny topsoil and you’ll find like, oh, we’re actually both really nerdy about this stuff.”

While originally intended as a one-off, Blood of Gods subsequently became a semi-annual zine.  Buchanan added an annual Merrymaking event in 2022. It’s a mixture of music, wine, art, and a strong focus on camaraderie. There is, truly, no event like it, as Blood of Gods has made a universe all its own.

“It’s like the poem, the New Colossus. ‘Give me your tired, huddled masses that are yearning to breathe free,’” Buchanan says. “You feel like you’re not pretty or you’re not rich or you’re whatever, you’re you belong here. This is your thing.”

Late last year, the latest extension of the Blood of Gods universe arrived: a book. Blood of Gods: Metal. Mayhem. Wine. is a compendium of the first ten issues of the Blood of Gods zine, augmented with considerable new material.

“We dubbed it ‘The first five vintages’ because there’s two issues per year,” Buchanan says. “I’m sold out of past issues. So if you had some of those back issues but not others, you would at least be able to complete it, and then have something that’s not in my biannual print publication for Blood of Gods.”

Each of these things engender Buchanan’s approach to creating community and his DIY background. The goal is to provide the Blood of Gods experience in multiple ways.

“You could experience Blood of Gods in person or you could experience it in print, and now not just the zine but the book,” Buchanan says.

The Blood of Gods fifth annual Merrymaking event, meanwhile, is this July. Buchanan is taking the milestone seriously.

“Every single column and mark that I have, I’m just trying to do all of them better, bigger,” Buchanan says of the event.

Friday night July 17, Blood of Gods has partnered with Foundry Vineyards for a kick-off party and art opening. Saturday is a ‘No Holds Barred’ speaking panel at the Marcus Whitman Hotel.

Then comes the main feature, the Merrymaking event. It will have over 75 wineries plus artists and other vendors. The wineries will hail from Washington, Oregon, California, and beyond. The first reveal of wineries pouring included Cayuse (Walla Walla Valley), Tablas Creek (Paso Robles), Bergström (Willamette Valley), and Hermann J. Wiemer (Finger Lakes).

Merrymaking wraps up Saturday night with an after party concert at House of Smith that will feature Warp Chamber and Heiress. Of course, there will be numerous Easter eggs hidden for attendees throughout the event, in what Buchanan describes as a “choose your adventure” weekend. (See additional details about the event here.)

Merrymaking will also have numerous ripples around Walla Walla. For example, Tavern Ancestrale will feature a Blood of Gods cocktail the month leading up to Merrymaking. Anyone who buys it will receive a free Blood of Gods issue.

“I don’t want it to be like, ‘Here’s the Merrymaking,’” says Buchanan, a Walla Walla native. “I want it to spread throughout the town.”

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