Thankfully, that wasn’t my first impression on him. We’d made plans to meet earlier that day while he set up for the evening’s show, to talk about The Big Dipper and how he came to own it. But it’s also the 20th anniversary of Sunny Day’s acclaimed debut album Diary, so I was hoping to get his insights into one of my favorite records of all time.

Hours before I make my beery mess, I arrive to find Hoerner at the bar. He greets me himself, and I realize quickly that he’s a busy guy. When I walk in, he’s just finished checking in the bands and has moved on to washing dishes. He runs up and down the bar as I throw questions at him and lean with his every move, praying my recorder catches everything. Still, even with everything going on, he beams the entire time he tells me about the venue and the Spokane scene.