Richmond Fontaine are a band from Oregon. Their most recent album ‘High Country’ features a song about a fictional bar called the Chainsaw Sea, and the merchandise for the album includes Richmond Fontaine Beer t-shirts, keyrings and beermats. But not the beer. There is no R.F. Brewing Co and no Richmond Fontaine beer.
I was hoping a local brewery, say Deschutes or Rogue or one of the many microbreweries in Oregon, would brew the beer. It would have to be dark, complex and smoky to match the album’s content, although I suspect the regulars at the Chainsaw Sea would prefer a lager or Whisky.
The band’s Willy Vlautin and Dan Eccles are here performing as a duo on a short tour. We saw them at Tingewick Village Hall, a wooden hut that’s such an unlikely venue, when we first came here a couple of years ago, we thought there must be another village called Tingewick somewhere in England and we’d arrived at the wrong one. Suprisingly, it turns out to be a good little venue with great sound.
Opposite Tingewick Village Hall stands the Royal Oak, an 18th century pub with a welcoming atmosphere and cosy interior featuring beamed ceilings and horse brasses and two loveable pub dogs.
Ruddles Best and Greene King IPA were on draught, but bottles from Oxfordshire Ales were also available, so we tried Pride of Oxford, a 5% golden ale, oily and sweet with some lemon citrus.
An enjoyable drink for sure, but we’d have preferred to have had an ice cold Richmond Fontaine beer…
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