The Saturday Six Pack with Mark Maynard

A week or so ago, I was at the Tap Room with Ypsilanti Councilman Brian Robb and Wurst Bar owner Jesse Kranyak, when it occurred to me that the small AM radio station owned by said Councilman was just 100 yards or so away. “Let’s finish these beers,” I said, “and continue our conversation over there, on the air.” Well, they liked the idea, and we made our way over to the station, where I shared the call-in number over Facebook. Within a few minutes, the phone was ringing. The first call was from Kenya. It was my old friend Pete Larson. We talked about bacterial infections in livestock, he played a few metal riffs on his guitar, and we were off. The next call was from Robert Helms, the editor of Guinea Pig Zero, who’d called in to talk about Thomas Paine, and the fact that there wasn’t a statue of the great American revolutionary on public display in all of Philadelphia. Everything was kind of an ugly, drunken mess, but it got me thinking that there might be some potential in the format. (And, to be honest, it also occurred to me that hosting a radio show would probably be a hell of a lot easier than writing a blog.) So, after we went off the air, Brian and I talked about the possibility of my having a show.

Here, before we get into that, though, is the audio of Brian, Jesse and me on 1700 AM the other day, taking calls and discussing the merits of cheap beer.

Here’s the idea as I’m seeing it now. It would be a freeform show called “The Saturday Six Pack.” The concept is super simple. I walk into the studio at a given time every week for a certain number of weeks, with a six pack, and I have a show. If I want, I can lock the door, and drink the whole thing by myself over the course of a few hours. Or, I can invite people in, sharing my beers, in which case the show would be considerably shorter… When the beer is gone, the show is over.

I don’t know how good the sound would be, but the space is big enough that I could also have the occasional musical guest, if I wanted. Or I could just read the newspaper aloud. Or, if I wanted, I just drink quietly and mutter about the people walking by. Maybe I could even go out and interview the folks walking in and out of the strip club next door. To be honest, I’m not too terribly concerned about it. If I’ve got a six pack and an open mic, I’m pretty sure I can make something happen.

So, if I were to do this, would you call in? And, if so, what would you wan to talk about?

I still need to work things out with Brian, but I’m thinking that Saturday at 6:00 would work, and I’ve already gotten permission from my family to try it for four weeks. So, stay tuned, and keep you eye out for posters… I’m thinking that it could be fun.

[note: For those of you who may have missed the reference, the image at top of the post is from the Elia Kazan film A Face in the Crowd, in which Andy Griffith plays a hate-filled, narcissistic drifter who rises to national prominence after being given a slot on a small town radio station, where he passes himself off as a plain spoken man of the people. We watch as a demagogue is born, his sphere of influence growing as he moves to increasingly larger markets, spinning folksy tales and dispensing simple, down-home wisdom, all while amassing political power. Simply put, it’s the story of fascism… Happily, people find out what he’s all about (thanks to a microphone that’s left on), and his power evaporates… So, yeah, I’m going into this fully aware of how it might all end up for me.]