Michael Monroe Goodman: Crafty Celebrity Stories

Country singer Michael Monroe Goodman joins The Beer Connoisseur for the next installment of Crafty Celebrity Stories, which features the best tales of ale (and more) from leading actors, celebrities and persons of interest.

Goodman is a country singer who starred in Chicago's production of Ring of Fire, a musical about Johnny Cash and has released three highly regarded albums: Unbreakable Heart, No Filter and The Flag, The Bible and Bill Monroe.

Beer drinkers like to laugh. What’s the funniest drinking story you can share with us?

Me and my buddy were out one night at a local restaurant bar having drinks. This girl meets us there. My friend invited her cause he thought we would hit it off and we did. Things were going great with me and her but then this guy from the kitchen comes out and starts chatting us up and asking how we are and such. We didn’t think anything of it and invited him to sit down for a minute. At this point we were about to leave and me and the girl agreed to go to another bar to keep the night going. As I’m paying the tab at the register she disappears and I look outside to see her getting in the car with the guy from the kitchen. My friend is like “What the hell just happened?" I was dumbfounded. I was like, “I thought we were hitting it off, then all of sudden the Cock Block Ninja swoops in and she is gone.” As we told the story to friends I made up a little comical song about being thwarted by the Cock Block Ninja and they encouraged me to finish the song, and so I recorded it on my next album and it's now a fan favorite. 

Who's the coolest person you've had a beer or drink with?

This might be dorky but I think it’s cool. I was doing a musical in Gettysburg, PA area a few summers ago, and the production right after us was starring Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter. They got to see our show and we got to see their rehearsals and they couldn’t have been nicer. Before leaving town a few of us met up with Gross and had some beers and some laughs. Me being a kid of the 80s and growing up on sitcoms, I just thought it was the coolest thing to be having a beer with the dad from Family Ties. He was such a fun dude to chat with. 

What are a few of your favorite craft beers and why?

I love stouts. My favorite is Left Hand Milk Stout. The malt beer thing is right up my alley. I either go with a great stout, or sometimes a wheat beer like Allagash White or Blue Moon, or if I’m feeling nostalgic, I grab a PBR cause that’s what my grandmother use to chug sitting on the couch watching soap operas all day. It reminds me of my youth.

Do you have a favorite (craft) brewery or breweries and why?

I spent time in Chicago and really fell for everything from Lake Effect Brewing Co. I just like what they do. I also love Yuengling, one because that’s just a great beer, but I love that they are as big as they are and have stayed independent. To me that’s the way it should be. I respect the mom-and-pop companies and always love seeing them grow without selling it off. 

Have you attended or played at any beer events or festivals that you particularly enjoyed? What made them stand out?

I can’t remember the name of it but I played a festival in downtown Chicago once and it was a beer festival, and the whole day you just walked around with your small glass that you bought and all the breweries there just gave you all the sample flights you could handle. It was a great way for people to sample it all and, you know what they say, that variety is the spice of life.

What types of beer do you like to have in your cooler when touring?

When touring, a couple of my bandmates love IPAs so I try to keep some Sierra Nevadas for them. I think if you’re on the road and just need a good light beer to fill up your cooler, why not Coors. If Burt Reynolds would risk his life bootlegging it across state lines in a Trans Am then it must be worth it. 

What upcoming projects or new music do you have brewing? 

I am releasing two new singles in the next couple months “Only If It’s With You,” which is a total beer drinking anthem song and a song called “It Never Rains.” The rest of the album should be out in the summer as soon as I have it finished and ready to launch.