The Red Shed Tapes: A McMenamins Podcast

Welcome to the first B-side episode of The Red Shed Tapes! In these episodes we play recordings and interviews from our archives… In this episode you’ll hear Top Gun pilot David Fravor’s play-by-play of his close encounter with the “Tic Tac” UFO, made famous by The New York Times. Commander Fravor spoke at McMenamins UFO Fest 2019 in what he called, “probably my first and last public appearance.” We’re...

Customers at McMenamins pubs and hotels often look around in wonder at how nothing matches, but everything goes together. They contemplate unusual objects from floor to ceiling and marvel at bars...

What kind of pub/hotel/handcrafting/live music business has a history department? And why? In Episode 3 of The Red Shed Tapes we’re talking about how history is an integral part of the McMenamins experience and how 28-year historian Tim Hills built a department from the ground up as the company was restoring buildings from the roof down. We’ll meet staff historians, hear from superstar drag queen Poison Waters, and sto...

Creating a place to hear music is a lot like creating music itself: You have to know when to leave space for drama and resonance, and every decision counts. In Episode Two of The Red Shed Tapes, we’ll hear about reopening the legendary Crystal Ballroom during the height of Portland’s indie rock era. We’ll find out why curating playlists for each McMenamins pub is a lot like mixing the perfect cocktail, and Scot...

Join host Shannon McMenamin on a long, strange trip through McMenamins’ destiny-altering love of beer, art, music, history, and community. Opening the Barley Mill in 1983, helping pass legislation that forever changed Oregon's pub and dining culture, hiring Thursday Jane (who's still with the company 40 years later), and unearthing the Red Shed itself from a tangle of wild blackberry bushes –– it's all in episode one of The Red She...