• December to Remember
    Dec 8 2025

    In this episode marking the 20th anniversary of Portland's iconic concert series December to Remember, we listen in on a conversation between co-founders Jimi Biron, McMenamins' music director, and Mark Hamilton, program director for 94/7 fm. You'll hear how the series is unique and why so many Portlanders who've been to December to Remember shows are still saying, "I heard them when."

    Check out the transcript & photos here on the BLOG

    Produced by McMenamins and Gretchen Kilby

    Host: Shannon McMenamin

    Sound design & audio editing: Gretchen Kilby

    Writing: Michelle "Jake" Robbins

    McMenamins audio and interview: Kat Nyberg

    McMenamins production team: Kat Nyberg, Michelle "Jake Robbins, Renee Rank Ignacio

    Art: Lillian Ripley

    Email The Red Shed Tapes: podcast@mcmenamins.com

    Website: mcmenamins.com/podcast

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    20 mins
  • From Here to Forever: Celebrating 40 Years of Oregon's Brewpub Law
    Nov 25 2025

    Today when you go to a pub in Oregon, you'll find a long list of locally brewed craft beers. That wasn't always the case. In 1985 a handful of brewing pioneers, including Mike and Brian McMenamin, changed the future of beer in Oregon forever. Host Shannon McMenamin and her cousin Conners take a look back at the role their dads played in passing the Brewpub Bill; we hear from some of the original pioneers, talk to brewers today, and muse about how pub culture has changed.

    Check out the transcript & photos here on the BLOG


    Produced by McMenamins and Gretchen Kilby

    Host: Shannon McMenamin

    Sound design and audio editing: Gretchen Kilby

    Writing: Michelle "Jake Robbins

    Editing: Michelle "Jake" Robbins, Gretchen Kilby, and Kat Nyberg

    McMenamins archival audio and photos: Kat Nyberg

    Additional archival photos courtesy of John Foyston

    McMenamins production team: Michelle "Jake" Robbins, Kat Nyberg, and Renee Rank Ignacio

    Art: Lillian Ripley

    Get in touch with The Red Shed Tapes: podcast@mcmenamins.com

    Website: www.mcmenamins.com/podcast

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    35 mins
  • UFO Festival: Garrett Graff Examines the Government's History of UAP Secrecy
    May 2 2025

    On this B-side episode we dip into our archives to hear journalist Garrett Graff's expert take on the government's 80-year search for alien life. The Pulitzer Prize finalist explores everything from CIA insiders to the "summer of the flying saucer" to the odds of life out there.

    Check out the transcript & photos here on the BLOG

    Produced by McMenamins and Gretchen Kilby

    Host: Shannon McMenamin

    Sound design & audio editing: Gretchen Kilby

    Writing: Michelle Jacobson Robbins

    McMenamins' production team: Kat Nyberg, Michelle Jacobson Robbins, Renee Rank Ignacio

    Video Production: Kat Nyberg

    UFO Fest archival audio, video & photo: Kat Nyberg & Patrick Chapman

    UFO Fest A/V engineer: Rand Deahl

    Music: Jim Brunberg & Ben Landsverk at Wonderly

    Art: Lillian Ripley

    Get in touch with The Red Shed Tapes: podcast@mcmenamins.com

    Website: www.mcmenamins.com/podcast

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    37 mins
  • UFO Festival: Kathleen Marden and the Abduction of Betty & Barney Hill
    Apr 25 2025

    Today on the B-side… In 1961 a couple driving across New Hampshire spotted something unusual in the night sky. What happened next is the stuff of science fiction – only it wasn't to Betty and Barney Hill. On this episode of The Red Shed Tapes, B-side you'll hear the detailed account and evidence of their alien encounter from ET contact researcher and the Hills' niece, Kathleen Marden.

    Check out the transcript & photos here on the BLOG

    Produced by McMenamins and Gretchen Kilby

    Host: Shannon McMenamin

    Sound design & audio editing: Gretchen Kilby

    Writing: Michelle Jacobson Robbins

    McMenamins' production team: Kat Nyberg, Michelle Jacobson Robbins, Renee Rank Ignacio

    Video production: Kat Nyberg

    UFO Fest archival audio, video & photo: Kat Nyberg

    UFO Fest A/V engineer: Rand Deahl

    Music: Jim Brunberg & Ben Landsverk at Wonderly

    Art: Lillian Ripley

    Get in touch with The Red Shed Tapes: podcast@mcmenamins.com

    Website: www.mcmenamins.com/podcast

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    52 mins
  • UFO Festival: Top Gun Pilot, Witness to the "Tic Tac" UFO
    Apr 18 2025

    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 playing this rare presentation in its entirety – prepare to be amazed.

    Check out the transcript & photos here on the BLOG

    Produced by McMenamins and Gretchen Kilby

    Host: Shannon McMenamin

    Sound design & audio editing: Gretchen Kilby

    Writing: Michelle Jacobson Robbins

    McMenamins' production team: Kat Nyberg, Michelle Jacobson Robbins, Renee Rank Ignacio

    Video production: Kat Nyberg

    UFO Fest archival audio, video & photo: Kat Nyberg, JD Breneiser

    Art: Lillian Ripley

    Get in touch with The Red Shed Tapes: podcast@mcmenamins.com

    Website: www.mcmenamins.com/podcast

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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Look for Something Built to Last
    Dec 18 2024

    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 intricately carved. In episode 4 of The Red Shed Tapes, host Shannon McMenamin delves into where it all came from. She talks to antiques dealers and a local historian

    Check out the transcript & photos here on the BLOG

    Produced by McMenamins, Gretchen Kilby and Jess Is Creative

    Host: Shannon McMenamin

    Sound design & audio editing: Gretchen Kilby

    Writing: Jess Lyness of Jess Is Creative

    Video production: Kat Nyberg

    McMenamins archival audio, video & photos: Kat Nyberg

    McMenamins archival photos: Liz Devine

    McMenamins production team: Kat Nyberg, Michelle "Jake" Robbins, Renee Rank Ignacio

    Art: Lillian Ripley

    Get in touch with The Red Shed Tapes: podcast@mcmenamins.com

    Website: www.mcmenamins.com/podcast

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    40 mins
  • One Man Gathers What Another Man Spills: Chasing History
    Aug 22 2024

    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 stop by the second biggest UFO festival in the U.S. But first, a story about the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.

    Check out the transcript & photos here on the BLOG

    Produced by McMenamins, Gretchen Kilby and Jess Is Creative

    Host: Shannon McMenamin

    Sound design & audio editing: Gretchen Kilby

    Writing: Kat Nyberg and Jess Lyness of Jess Is Creative

    Editing: Michelle "Jake" Robbins

    Video production: Kat Nyberg

    McMenamins archival audio, video & photos: Kat Nyberg

    McMenamins archival photos: Liz Devine

    McMenamins production team: Kat Nyberg, Michelle "Jake" Robbins, Renee Rank Ignacio

    Art: Lillian Ripley

    Read more about Tim Hills's evening with James Brown in his essay.

    McMenamins UFO Fest

    McMenamins History Pubs

    Get in touch with The Red Shed Tapes: podcast@mcmenamins.com

    Website: www.mcmenamins.com/podcast

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    36 mins
  • Let There be Songs to Fill the Air
    Jan 31 2024

    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 Scott Avett of the Avett Brothers will tell the tale of a yearslong friendship that all started with a meeting at McMenamins.

    Check out the transcript & photos here on the BLOG

    Produced by McMenamins and Maxwell

    Host: Shannon McMenamin

    Featured Guests: Jimi Biron, Scott Avett, Dan McMenamin, Mike McMenamin, and Tim Hills

    Audio Editor: Gretchen Kilby

    Writer: Jess Lyness, Maxwell

    Archival Recordings: Kat Nyberg

    McMenamins team: Renee Rank Ignacio, Kat Nyberg, Jake Robbins

    Maxwell team: Jen Maxwell-Muir, Kate Castillo, Janelle Jordan, and Tyler Brewington

    Podcast theme music by Jim Brunberg & Ben Landsverk of Wonderly

    Additional music from Epidemic Sound and AudioHero

    Artwork by Lillian Ripley

    Thanks to the staff at McMenamins Crystal Hotel.

    A special thank you to all of the artists who have played at McMenamins!

    And we're especially grateful to Scott Avett of the Avett Brothers for joining us on this episode.

    Get in touch with The Red Shed Tapes: podcast@mcmenamins.com

    Website: www.mcmenamins.com/podcast

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    38 mins