Thirsty Thursdays Brings Nick Bosse, Food Trucks and a Beer Garden to Deans Mill Farm

Thirsty Thursdays Brings Nick Bosse, Food Trucks and a Beer Garden to Deans Mill Farm Thursday, Sept. 24, turning a historic Stonington farm into an outdoor country-music hangout with drinks, dinner and three hours of live music.

The weekly series runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and is free to attend, with rotating food trucks and drinks available for purchase from the farm’s seasonal Beer Garden.

This week also brings a particularly local performer to the farm.

North Stonington singer-songwriter Nick Bosse has built an increasingly large following well beyond southeastern Connecticut while making a deliberate case for country music that sounds more like Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard than contemporary pop-country.

Country Music From North Stonington to Nashville

Bosse is a New England-based singer-songwriter and Nashville recording artist whose music draws from traditional country, Southern rock and bluegrass.

His career started modestly.

Bosse began playing cover gigs in local bars in 2013 before forming The Northern Roots, his Connecticut and Rhode Island-based backing band.

The local shows eventually led to original music and trips south to record in Nashville.

His breakout song, “What Happened to Country,” was released in 2021 and has since surpassed 2 million streams.

The title pretty effectively explains Bosse’s musical philosophy.

His influences include Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings along with more recent artists such as Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers. The result is modern country built around guitars, storytelling and a rougher traditional-country sound rather than highly polished country-pop production.

That approach has earned Bosse a New England Music Award for Best Vocalist, while he and The Northern Roots have appeared at venues including Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun and The UNITED in Westerly.

He’s also become a familiar presence around Stonington, playing vineyards, festivals, restaurants and community events throughout the region.

The Farm Is Part of the Experience

Thirsty Thursdays isn’t taking place in a conventional music venue.

Deans Mill Farm Bed & Breakfast occupies more than 70 acres off Pequot Trail in Stonington, with open fields, meadows, wooded areas, historic buildings and an active equestrian operation sharing the property.

The farm’s history stretches back to the mid-1700s.

Today, the property has been restored and adapted into an event venue and lodging destination while retaining the landscape that gives the place much of its character.

The grounds are also home to Dragonfly Equestrian Center, with dozens of horses on the property, and Dragonfly Disc Golf, a 19-hole course winding around the equestrian center through woods and changing terrain.

For Thirsty Thursdays, however, the destination is the farm’s seasonal Beer Garden.

A Beer Garden in the Middle of a Farm

The concept is deliberately uncomplicated.

Find a place outside, grab something from the food truck, get a beer or another drink and listen to music.

The Beer Garden serves local craft beer, wine, canned cocktails and other cold beverages, while food trucks rotate through the property during the season.

Thirsty Thursdays have been running weekly throughout the warmer months, with live music scheduled from local and regional performers.

It’s the kind of recurring event where the venue matters almost as much as who’s playing.

Instead of sitting inside a club, audiences are spending the early evening on a Stonington farm surrounded by fields and an equestrian property as the sun begins dropping.

And the Thursday series is only half of Deans Mill Farm’s regular music schedule. The farm has also been hosting Sunday performances during the season, turning the Beer Garden into a recurring outdoor music destination rather than simply an occasional event space.

One of the Last Thirsty Thursdays of the Season

By late September, these evenings begin feeling a little different than they did in June.

The sun disappears earlier. The temperature starts dropping after dinner. And the outdoor music calendar that seemed endless at the beginning of summer suddenly has only a few weeks remaining.

Deans Mill Farm currently plans to continue Thirsty Thursdays through October, weather permitting.

That last part matters.

The series is outdoors, and performances can change because of weather or other conditions. The farm advises visitors to check for updates before heading over.

The event is family-friendly and free to attend.

There are a couple of important farm rules: no animals and no outside alcohol.

Food and drinks are purchased separately.

For Bosse, Thursday’s setting also makes unusual sense.

Much of his music romanticizes the kind of rural, working-land world that traditional country grew out of. On Thursday night, he gets to play it on an actual Stonington farm.

More information is available at the Event Website link below.

Details

Event: Thirsty Thursdays at Deans Mill Farm with Nick Bosse
Date: Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026
Time: 5:30–8:30 p.m.
Location: Deans Mill Farm
Address: 1189 Pequot Trail, Stonington, CT 06378
Admission: Free
Music: Nick Bosse
Style: Country, Southern rock and roots music
Food: Food trucks on site; selections vary
Drinks: Local craft beer, wine, canned cocktails and other beverages available for purchase
Setting: Outdoor Beer Garden on the farm
Family Friendly: Yes
Animals: No animals permitted
Outside Alcohol: Not permitted
Weather: Weather permitting; times and programming are subject to change
Event Contact: Kayla Simon, 860-245-5487

 

 

Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.