On the Road, Thinking About Building the Guide
The Weight of a Simple Idea
By Rafi Mercer
I’m on the road today, just watching the world slip by through the car window. Fields, buildings, signs — all of it a blur of colour and shape. And somewhere in that rhythm of travel, my mind circles back to the Guide. The Tracks & Tales Guide. The simple idea that has been tugging at me for months: list every venue where sound matters, where experience is built through listening.
On paper, it sounds easy. A directory, a catalogue, a map. But in truth, it is hard. Every venue has its own story, its own nuance. Systems tuned with care, selectors shaping the mood, drinks poured with intent, rooms designed for presence. To capture all that isn’t just data entry. It’s a form of storytelling. Each space deserves to be described with the same care that went into making it.
The challenge is focus. A guide that aims to touch every city, every bar, every listening room risks collapsing under its own weight. But then I think about the other side of it: the reward. If we can build it, if we can make it live, then it becomes more than a list. It becomes a compass for people who are searching. A way for someone in Tokyo, or Berlin, or São Paulo, to find the room where music is more than background.
The road outside keeps moving. And I realise building the Guide will feel much the same — long, sometimes repetitive, but with glimpses of beauty along the way. Small milestones that tell you it’s worth carrying on. A new venue discovered, a city mapped, a reader finding their way to sound they might never have known existed.
So yes, it’s hard. It will take more energy than I have some days. But the idea is simple, and simplicity has its own gravity. List the venues. Honour the sound. Build the Guide. The rest will come.
Rafi Mercer writes about the spaces where music matters. For more stories from Tracks & Tales, subscribe here, or click here to read more.
