I’ve always been drawn to dive bars. When going on road trips or driving in areas I’m unfamiliar with they always seem to snatch my attention. I like the ones with the yellowed out signs that look like they were hung in 1978. It makes me nostalgic to visit a place I’ve never been to. Who’s drinking in there? Who owns it? How has this bar, a little bigger than a shack, stayed open for the last forty something years? What are they doing right?
I like a place where the capacity is low and the prices are lower. Where the bartender knows your order and you know all their pressing life issues. It’s normally got a dartboard with frayed our darts. Bonus points if they have an announcement sign outside that they can slide the letters and beer prices into.
I can attribute my fascination for small time bars to my Uncle. He’s taken me to a dive bar an hour and a half away from his home where everyone knew his name. We once went to a sketchy dive in the Bahamas and said we were “fishing”. I thought I was going to be held for ransom, but that’s a story for another time.
The first dive he ever took me to was a biker bar not too far from my house. I was nineteen maybe, confident I wasn’t drinking age. We walked into the bar and it felt like a movie scene. I would have sworn the music skipped, every head turned, and a pool stick dropped to the floor. My Uncle with arms wide open, screamed “HEY WHO’S BIKES ARE OUT THERE?! I WAS CHECKING THEM OUT AND ACCIDENTALLY KNOCKED THEM ALL OVER.” I couldn’t believe this was how I was going to die. The biggest man I’ve ever seen very calmly replied, “Tell the kid to leave and start praying.” To which my Uncle said “NAAAHH I’M JUST KIDDING, BUY EVERYONE A ROUND!” And everyone cheered? With their arms too roughly around our necks, we learned the bikers were doing a charity run for children’s leukemia.
I learned a valuable lesson that day. Anyone could be disarmed with the right amount of confidence and a free drink.
I would like to start a podcast that explores that avenue. Going from town to town to find the best dive bars and listening to stories. Daytime, of course. The people drinking in the afternoon in a dimly lit dive have the most to say. I’d offer free drinks to anyone who could tell me the best story.
The story could be anything as long as it’s true. It could be happy or sad, funny or dramatic. I’m great at telling stories but I also know how to extract the most out of a storyteller. Marc Pachter once coined a term on his TED Talk on interviewing, calling it a “living self-portrait”, which I think perfectly describes my goal here. Guide regular, hardworking people, to portray their story and their lives through this medium.
I first got this idea while visiting a little Scottish bar in Kearny, NJ. My grandfather has Alzheimer’s but still remembers things from like fifty years ago. So I took him to where he first moved to when he immigrated here. Despite the sign on the wall of a list of names of people who weren’t allowed in the establishment for not paying dues, my Grandpa assured me we were fine. And we were. More than fine actually. I was shocked at the amount of people who knew who he was regardless of him not stepping foot in there for decades. There was one older gentleman who pulled me to aside while my grandfather was out gallivanting who whispered to me, “I owe your Granda my life.” These bars used to sponsor local soccer clubs. As luck would have it, this was one of my Grandpa’s old teammates. He went on to tell me a story about how their club entered a European tournament and that he roomed with Grandpa. While they were in Germany, this man was arrested. He said he was terrified and sat there for hours in a German prison not even sure what they picked him up for. He came to find out that he was arrested on the suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman outside of a bar. Which he denied, vehemently. The police took him because the victim said the attacker had a foreign accent. He said my Grandfather went down to the station and almost got locked up for yelling at the police. He swore that they hadn’t left the room the entire night since they were preparing for their big game. He told them to go out and look for the monster who actually did this. Days later they caught the bastard who committed the crime and he was released. He told me he sat there thinking about his life was ruined but that my Grandpa came every day to fight on his behalf. After his story my Grandpa came back to join us and the man said, “Great to see ya Willie,” and clasped him on the shoulder as he walked away. My Grandpa asked me “Who the hell was that?” and if you can’t see the hilarity in that then I don’t know what to tell you.
But it goes to show you that you never know what someone’s been through. Who could’ve guessed this sweet old man in a Scottish bar was once in a German prison under false pretenses and that my Grandfather fought tooth and nail to get him out?
I expect these stories to contain sensitive information. The guest could give me their first name and town like a radio show or remain completely anonymous. I understand people want to share things without taking ownership. It’s their story and however they feel most comfortable delivering it is okay by me.
Plus I’d take pictures of the bar to post with the release of an episode. The bars I plan to visit are family-owned establishments. Exposure could go a long way for a dive bar. How many people have lost their favorite bar? How many families have lost their business? This podcast could be a way for them to get there name out there to the masses.
For a project like this, I think it’d be best to do it in seasons. I think ten to twelve episodes a year would be appropriate. I’d want people to look forward to the drop of a new season. Not just another obligatory listen on the docket.
Every quarterback needs to be dual-threat nowadays. It would appear every blogger also needs a podcast. I’ll be as versatile as you need me to be.
I would like to start a podcast that explores that avenue. Going from town to town to find the best dive bars and listening to stories. Daytime, of course. The people drinking in the afternoon in a dimly lit dive have the most to say. I’d offer free drinks to anyone who could tell me the best story.
The story could be anything as long as it’s true. It could be happy or sad, funny or dramatic. I’m great at telling stories but I also know how to extract the most out of a storyteller. Marc Pachter once coined a term on his TED Talk on interviewing, calling it a “living self-portrait”, which I think perfectly describes my goal here. Guide regular, hardworking people, to portray their story and their lives through this medium.
I first got this idea while visiting a little Scottish bar in Kearny, NJ. My grandfather has Alzheimer’s but still remembers things from like fifty years ago. So I took him to where he first moved to when he immigrated here. Despite the sign on the wall of a list of names of people who weren’t allowed in the establishment for not paying dues, my Grandpa assured me we were fine. And we were. More than fine actually. I was shocked at the amount of people who knew who he was regardless of him not stepping foot in there for decades. There was one older gentleman who pulled me to aside while my grandfather was out gallivanting who whispered to me, “I owe your Granda my life.” These bars used to sponsor local soccer clubs. As luck would have it, this was one of my Grandpa’s old teammates. He went on to tell me a story about how their club entered a European tournament and that he roomed with Grandpa. While they were in Germany, this man was arrested. He said he was terrified and sat there for hours in a German prison not even sure what they picked him up for. He came to find out that he was arrested on the suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman outside of a bar. Which he denied, vehemently. The police took him because the victim said the attacker had a foreign accent. He said my Grandfather went down to the station and almost got locked up for yelling at the police. He swore that they hadn’t left the room the entire night since they were preparing for their big game. He told them to go out and look for the monster who actually did this. Days later they caught the bastard who committed the crime and he was released. He told me he sat there thinking about his life was ruined but that my Grandpa came every day to fight on his behalf. After his story my Grandpa came back to join us and the man said, “Great to see ya Willie,” and clasped him on the shoulder as he walked away. My Grandpa asked me “Who the hell was that?” and if you can’t see the hilarity in that then I don’t know what to tell you.
But it goes to show you that you never know what someone’s been through. Who could’ve guessed this sweet old man in a Scottish bar was once in a German prison under false pretenses and that my Grandfather fought tooth and nail to get him out?
I expect these stories to contain sensitive information. The guest could give me their first name and town like a radio show or remain completely anonymous. I understand people want to share things without taking ownership. It’s their story and however they feel most comfortable delivering it is okay by me.
Plus I’d take pictures of the bar to post with the release of an episode. The bars I plan to visit are family-owned establishments. Exposure could go a long way for a dive bar. How many people have lost their favorite bar? How many families have lost their business? This podcast could be a way for them to get there name out there to the masses.
For a project like this, I think it’d be best to do it in seasons. I think ten to twelve episodes a year would be appropriate. I’d want people to look forward to the drop of a new season. Not just another obligatory listen on the docket.
Every quarterback needs to be dual-threat nowadays. It would appear every blogger also needs a podcast. I’ll be as versatile as you need me to be.
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