King of the Road

A weekly distillation of musical goings-on, local and otherwise.

I have a fondness for dimly lit bars that feel like hunting lodges. Something about mounted deer antlers on knotty pine walls stirs deep memories of my years growing up in rural Pennsylvania. These are the sorts of places in which I can properly explain myself and drink copious amounts of beer without getting anxious. Ever since I moved to the Northwest, I've been in search of a bar to approximate that rugged warmth, the kind of joint that makes you feel OK about wearing a flannel shirt and muddy work boots, yet still maintains a predilection toward great rock and roll.

Apparently, Linda Derschang shares this sentiment. Her latest venture, King's Hardware (set to open this week), is replete with all the elements you'd find by stopping into a local tavern on your way to the Wenatchee National Forest, which is Derschang's precise intent.

"It's your neighborhood bar if you lived in the mountains," she said last Wednesday, as her crew hustled to put the finishing touches on the new Ballard Avenue establishment.

I stopped over to get a sneak preview of King's, and immediately fell in love. Though the place is obviously in its infancy, it already feels like a well-worn watering hole. Much of this can be attributed to its brick walls, recycled wood, and salvaged material—most of it left over from the space's previous tenant, Ballard Hardware, which held fort there for 50 years.

Derschang and her crew have decorated the place with rustic taxidermy, old lounge chairs, driftwood lamps, vintage paintings of Mount Rainier, and a Skee- Ball table (woo-hoo!). Stylistically, King's feels like the kind of spot you'd pop into after skeet shooting in the Cascades, but with a better jukebox. And rainless evenings will be all about securing a spot on the open- air deck out back, which boasts a wood-burning stove to warm patrons on chilly nights.

Given Derschang's track record for opening successful bars (aside from her Capitol Hill namesake, Linda's, she also owns Belltown's Viceroy), it is likely King's will be a hit. Better yet, its placement next to Hattie's Hat will just add one more reason to head down to Ballard Avenue. I already envision a spillover between the places.

Though it remains to be seen, perhaps the key element for success at King's Hardware will be its ability to re-create a time and place that is currently being bulldozed. Those of us with a penchant for simplicity will no doubt hole up at King's when thirsting for a place that feels disconnected from the slick urbanization of our mayor's cosmopolis in the making.

bbarr@seattleweekly.com