Montana
Taking Shots And Talking Montana With Jason Momoa
Blaine Halvorson and Jason Momoa share laughs and a budding alcohol brand.
Meili Vodka
If you ever go out drinking with Jason Momoa, a word of advice — be careful. The burley actor you know from the Aquaman series and Fast X is even bigger in person, so he’s got the body mass to out-shot you. And then there are the actual drinks he’s handing you. We don’t know if it’s his piercing eyes or the flowy, Poseidon-like tresses, but he hypnotizes you into drinking almost anything.
“Can you grab me a Guinness,” Momoa asks a young lady working at the liquor store. Guinness? Wait, aren’t the megastar and his longtime buddy Blaine Halvorson on the road promoting their new single-distilled vodka, Meili? Sure are. So, what in the world does he want with an Irish beer? “I’ll show you how good it is with it,” Momoa says, as he begins to combine the two, creating the self-declared “Momoa Maker.” Maybe it’s the fermented grains talking, but the beer and the smooth Meili pair incredibly well. “To be able to do hard liquor with beer? This is about as clean as it gets. No hangover from this.”
But Momoa’s world is filled with contrasts. He stars in blockbuster action movies yet he pirouettes in funny TV commercials with Zach Braff. He plays bass guitar for the rock band Öof Tatatá, but he gets nervous every time he takes the stage. You’ll likely find him on the Hollywood red carpet promoting next year’s A Minecraft Movie, but he’d rather be lost somewhere in the Montana wilderness.
And as soon as they finish their drinks, Momoa and Halvorson will get into all of it with us.
Meili is meant to be enjoyed with friends.
Meili Vodka
How are things going with the vodka promotion?
Momoa: It’s been good, man. Good crazy. It’s fun going to every city and seeing [the reactions]. Just meeting people. Going to top restaurants and bars and seeing the turnout and people excited. It’s like promoting a movie that you actually love. Everyone’s showing up. They’re really happy with the product. They’re coming up and they’re experiencing it with us. We worked really hard for a long time to make this. It wasn’t like someone came to us and I signed my name onto it and then I just got paid.
So many celebrities have their names attached to alcohol brands. Tell me how Meili is different.
Momoa: If it’s something that I built from the ground up, I work at it. We built this as best friends. Heart and soul went into it. It definitely is different, but I personally like it that way. Now, in my life, it’s just very hard with movies and family and stuff like that, [determining what] you’re going to spend your time with. We’ve been together for 16 years and we’ve never fought once. He’s actually a huge inspiration. We both push each other, challenge each other and just enjoy being with each other. I’m pretty lucky.
Blaine, tell me a little bit about this journey.
Halvorson: It was seven years from the inception of us sitting down, having dinner with our families and going, “Let’s make something — just you and me.” We were both like, “Let’s get in the liquor business.” It was uncharted territory. Neither of us, obviously, came from that. But we enjoyed it. It just felt like something [the] vodka [industry] needed. It needed a new flame. It was kind of stale. There wasn’t much storytelling.
J and I weren’t vodka guys. Honestly, if you go out and line up 1,000 people, maybe one probably even knows what vodka tastes like. It’s been treated as an ingredient when it was brought over here. America didn’t really like it, even though it’s the biggest piece of the [alcohol sales] pie. Crazy enough, people are just used to it in a drink. It always seemed crazy to J and I that you would make something to cover it up. And this idea of vodka that’s odorless and tasteless. If that was really the case, then everybody failed horribly. Vodka just hasn’t been enjoyable to drink. Most of the brands are distilling it multiple times. The next time you go fill up your gas tank, take a hit of that. Who wants to drink that?
Meili’s distinct bottles are crafted from 100% recycled glass.
Meili Vodka
What’s a perfect meal to go with this vodka?
Momoa: Surprisingly, it kinda has a sake finish, right?
Halvorson: That’s the beauty of it. It’ll take on rum. It’ll take on sake. It’ll take on tequila in a margarita. Depending on the food pairing, it’ll [work]. And to Jason’s point, sake is all about water as well, so they have a very similar thing in that aspect. I only sip [Meili] neat, but I eat it with everything. I live predominantly on wild game, so bison and elk. But I also eat sushi.
Your schedule is crazy right now. What’s the toughest part about all the moving around?
Momoa: I own two companies. One is called On the Roam and the other one’s called Pride of Gypsies. I was born on the road. So, this is what I do. This is how I live.
Halvorson: I’ve been home four days in the last 70.
What’s the toughest thing about being on the road so much — diet, exercise, missing family?
Momoa: Well, not being with the families [is hard].
Halvorson: I try to bring the family with me. If I’m gone seven days, my family is with me half of that. Being away from them is definitely the hardest part. And food, too. When I’m home, I cook.
Momoa: But when you’re out, you know you’re gonna give up those luxuries. I mean, exercise is non-existent. When I’m playing gigs, we’re burning [calories] at a high level. We’re constantly go, go, go. I’m exhausted, but I’m not training. But when I have to train for something and dedicate to a movie, I can’t be [promoting vodka and performing] as much. I can do it wherever I’m living. Say I’m shooting a movie in London, I’ll spend time doing this. I won’t be traveling all around, you know? It’s just the balance of it all.
I wasn’t wanted [as an actor] when I was younger. When I was raising my kids, it was very hard to get jobs, so I was home for the great years, the important years. The kids are 16, 17 now, so they don’t want to hang out anyway. I’m not that missed. When I come to town, they come see me. We spend our summers together and stuff. But they’re full-on school right now. We talk every day and connect, but…
Hawaii is one of Momoa’s go-to destinations.
iStock-Randy Jay Braun
You’re performing music tonight and tomorrow. What kind of joy does that give you that movies don’t?
Momoa: I’m terrified of being on stage. I’m really scared and nervous. I don’t have that when I’m doing my [acting] profession because I’ve been doing it for so long. [But being on stage] is like going into an audition for your favorite director with your favorite actors and you have no business being in that movie. It’s like going and being in Dune and you’re like, “What the hell am I doing? Why am I here? Why did you pick me?” I didn’t have to audition for Dune, but it’s just weird. It’s like your first scene with them. I was nervous doing that. But [being in the rock band] is the same level.
I never wanted to be in a band. This is kind of us giving back so we can celebrate Meili [with fans] and all drink together. It’s hard to take pictures with thousands and thousands of people. I would rather be with the person that I wanted to be with and watch them do what they love and then receive that aloha and that energy over just taking a picture. We do that during the day — go to bottle signings and take pictures. But what would it be like hanging out with us? That’s why I was like, “Let’s do this.” And I’m doing it with my buddies, playing our favorite songs. It’s just an experience that I think people will enjoy.
Why do you love Montana?
Momoa: It’s the wilderness. It’s the West. It’s the mountains, wild animals.
Halvorson: It’s the fourth-largest state in the country. It’s about 800 miles across and has just over a million people. You still have untouched territory, which is nice. You have towns, but within five minutes, you’re in the mountains. You have that ability to sort of escape. I’m not the biggest city guy. I like to be as much as I can in nature. It’s good for you.
I’m going to Wyoming soon.
Halvorson: There you go! That’s my favorite place on earth. Dude, I spend a month in Jackson Hole every summer.
Momoa: It’s the mecca.
Halvorson: That’s the holy grail. The Tetons? Yeah.
Momoa and Halvorson can’t say enough about Montana’s beauty.
iStock-Lisa5201
When you have a chance to take trips with the family, where do you go?
Halvorson: I have a daughter and a son. We’ve gone to Jackson every single summer since she was born. That is actually our family getaway. Montana, even though I was born and raised there, has always been my mental escape. That’s the one place I can go to regenerate and recharge. Honestly, just for that comfort, that is my [choice]. It may not be as sexy, but I love the mountains. I can go tuck away. I’m cool with being away from everything.
Momoa: Hawaii and Montana are probably my spots. I love being there. And then, I love being on the road with my kids or loved ones and just being able to travel and go through small towns. I like being on the road.
Do you mean road trips?
Momoa: Yeah, I love it. I love traveling in the truck and living very whimsically.
Halvorson: Yeah, that’s cool thing — when we were building Meili during COVID, we lived in our vans. We’d do like 17, 18 days in the mountains, cooking out on the open fire. It was insane for three years of COVID. We’d shower in the lake once every 15 days. It was incredible.
You took a shower every two weeks?
Momoa: Me? No, I like to hit it every day.
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The Bridger project is a massive oil pipeline project that would come in from Alberta, Canada, into Montana at Phillips County, then go through nine counties before getting to Wyoming.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) are reviewing the project, and it could cut across private, state, and federal land.
Watch Bridger pipeline story here:
Proposed Bridger pipeline would bring crude from Canada through Montana to Wyoming
The 647-mile-long Bridger pipeline would move up to 550,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
“It’s a win for Montana. It’s a win for America,” said Yellowstone County Commissioner Mark Morse.
Morse and the Yellowstone County commissioners are among the many Montana leaders supporting the project.
Just this week, they drafted a letter to the Bureau of Land Management expressing that support.
“The energy security is again, it’s going to be on the North American continent and transporting oil via a pipeline is safer than rail or truck,” Morse said.
Commissioners also say the pipeline would be an economic boost for Yellowstone County, bringing construction jobs, supply contracts, and local spending.
“We’ll be a hub for their construction activities,” Morse said. “Supplying parts and pieces, labor.”
But there are plenty of opponents.
They say the risks are simply too high, pointing to past oil spills, including the 2015 Poplar pipeline rupture that sent 30,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone River near Glendive and a diesel spill of 45,000 gallons near Sussex, Wyoming.
“If that crossing has spilled into the Missouri River, it eventually would make it to that intake,” said Lance Fourstar, co-director of the American Indian Movement Montana. “Highly carcinogenic tar sand bitumen, so we already know it’s highly carcinogenic.”
Fourstar also has concerns about sacred tribal lands.
“The key point of concern is the sovereignty and treaty rights,” Fourstar said. “This project crosses lands, that with treaty reserved rights, hunting, fishing, and gathering.”
The Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) says the pipeline would originate in Alberta with what it calls environmentally destructive fuel sources.
“It’s an environmental disaster waiting to happen in a state that gets a lot of revenue from fishing and agriculture. A majority of the route crosses through Montana, putting land and water at risk,” MEIC spokesperson Shannon James said in a telephone interview with MTN News.
But for Yellowstone County leaders like Morse, it’s a win-win, not just for Yellowstone County, but also the country.
“I just see energy independence for America,” Morse said.
MTN News contacted True Companies in Casper, which proposed the Bridger pipeline.
True and BLM were not available for interviews.
KALISPELL, Mont. — Country music star Walker Hayes will headline the 2026 Northwest Montana Fair concert, opening the Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo in Kalispell.
Hayes is scheduled to perform Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. The 2026 Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo runs Aug. 12-16.
Hayes is known for hit songs including “Fancy Like,” “AA,” and “You Broke Up With Me.”
“We are thrilled to bring Walker Hayes to the Northwest Montana Fair,” said Sam Nunnally, Manager of the NW Montana Fair & Rodeo. “Our goal each year is to create unforgettable experiences for our community and visitors, and this concert will be a highlight of the 2026 Fair.”
Tickets for the Walker Hayes concert will be available through the Northwest Montana Fair website at nwmtfair.com.
The Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo welcomes more than 80,000 guests annually and is one of the largest summer events in the region, featuring concerts, PRCA ProRodeo action, carnival rides, exhibits, food vendors, and family entertainment.
BOZEMAN — Aaron Flint and Al Olszewski, Republican candidates for Montana’s Western District U.S. House race, squared off Tuesday in their party’s only scheduled debate before the party primary.
The two debated for about 90 minutes at Bozeman’s Calvary Chapel before an audience of about 120 people. Bozeman anchors Gallatin County, which is second in Republican votes only to Flathead County within the 18-county district.
Natural resource jobs, affordable housing and U.S. military attacks on Iran dominated the discussion. Each question drew 12 minutes of response. Both men called for an end to stock trading by members of Congress, and for federal budgets to be passed on time through regular procedures.
The Montana GOP sponsored the debate. Candidate Christi Jacobsen, Montana’s secretary of state, was unable to attend, according to state Republican Party Chair Art Wittich. State Senate President Matt Regier moderated.
Among the highlights: Flint mentioned no fewer than eight times that he is endorsed by President Donald Trump. Olszewski mentioned Trump by name only a couple of times.
Never too far from Flint’s talking points were “far-left socialists,” whom he credited for “gerrymandering” the Western House District (which has delivered comfortable wins for Republicans since first appearing on the ballot in 2022). The 2026 election cycle was the target of Democrats on the state’s districting commission, Flint said. (Both Democrats on the commission that drew the district in 2021 voted against its current configuration.)
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The near faux pas of the night came during Olszewski’s discussion of good-paying jobs in trades and natural resources: “Trades jobs, natural resource jobs, you know, high-dollar, white-collar jobs, our remote workers who have moved into Montana, and we’ve adapted an economy around them. You know, these are the people, and those are the jobs that will bring our kids home, those high-paying white-collar jobs, or a good natural resource job in western Montana, in one of those mines, or, you know, you know, a sawyer or a hooker” — big pause — “as in timber, not the other way around.”
The line that didn’t land: Flint tried and failed to get audience applause for the 2024 defeat of Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester by Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy — an unseating Flint campaigned for.
“How many of you out there are so glad that we finally got rid of the flip-flop, flat-top liberal senator, Jon Tester? How many of you are so glad we finally did that?”
After a silence, Flint explained to people watching the debate on Facebook that the audience was just being polite.
“They’re waving because we can’t have disruptions. See, they’re good rule followers here in the Republican Party,” Flint said.
Asked how to alleviate Montana’s housing affordability crisis:
Olszewski: “The only way you can afford an expensive house is you’ve got to have a job that pays good money. Tourist jobs provide rent and roommates. Trades jobs, natural resource jobs, high‑dollar white‑collar jobs … those are the jobs that will bring our kids home.” Dr. Al, as Olszewski is widely known, said Wall Street investment buyers are distorting housing prices and the federal government has weakened the dollar.
Flint: “Thirty percent of the cost of a home is all due to red tape and regulations … It costs $100,000 to build a home before you even put a hole in the ground.”
Flint said reviving Montana’s timber industry would lower home values and added, “I support President Trump’s ban on these big Wall Street firms buying single-family homes. I think that’s something that we’ve got to get across the finish line.”
“We can deliver when it comes to making the Montana dream affordable again by delivering affordable housing. But another piece is promoting trades and trades education to build up our workforce.”
Asked how Congress should respond to the Iran conflict:
Olszewski: “I supported our president with what happened in Venezuela. There’s a $25 million bounty on basically someone that was killing our people through drugs, right? I’m not so happy with what’s going on in the Iran war. I’m not a warrior. I’m a physician from the military that fixed military people … What my perspective is, is that countries can win wars, but people do not. They don’t come back.” Olszewski said Congress will have to decide whether to authorize further use of military force and set terms in about 10 days.
Flint: “Let me just say this. We are sick and tired of these forever wars, and we do not want to see a long-term boots-on-the-ground Iraq-style nation-building exercise, and I think President Trump shares that mission as well. Let me also say this about Iran. First off, [former Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro is behind bars. [Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei is dead, but the far-left socialists are on the march in Montana.”
Asked about reforming Congress:
Olszewski: “What our congressmen and congresswomen have to understand is that if you’re in the House, the House belongs to the people, and they need to, first and foremost, represent you, not themselves, not special interests. It’s not about sound-bites. It’s about actually getting work done and governing.” Olszewski said the House needs to pass a budget based on 12 agency appropriations bills before the end of each federal fiscal year, a process known as “regular order.”
Flint: “We need to return to regular order and get single-subject bills and get these appropriations bills done one by one. If they can’t get a budget done, they shouldn’t get paid. And we need a ban on congressional stock trading. Because I think part of the reason why the American people are so frustrated with Congress right now is because … they believe that Congress is so useless, because we’ve got some of these politicians back there that are getting rich off the backs of taxpayers.”
Neither candidate offered a plan for cutting taxes, once a staple of Republican platforms. Both supported reductions in federal spending without identifying particular cuts.
Voting in Montana’s 2026 primary election begins May 4 and ends June 2.
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