Bobby’s Idle Hour has been a staple of Music Row for the better part of a century. In its decades of existence, it has operated under six different owners who have all attempted to retain its essence and identity throughout its three locations, each a stone’s throw from the other.

 

In 1978, Bobby Herald and his future wife Dianne (they would marry at the bar 12 years later), took over the already-renowned Music Row dive, prefixed the name with Bobby’s, and served as stewards to the bar as the neighborhood around it changed throughout the decades. In 2013, songwriter and longtime regular Thom “Lizard” Case, took over from Dianne. In 2018, as Case was already contemplating retirement plans, he was informed that the bar’s lease would not be renewed. It was at this point that he decided to continue the tradition of stewardship and hand the baton to us: longtime employee and regular, Josh, who teamed up with Sebastian to oversee the bar’s relocation and transition to its beautiful new location. 

 

While the neighborhood continues to change and develop, we remain focused above all on retaining the integrity and energy of the bar, which has traditionally included a mix of neighborhood residents, students, and some tourists, not to mention songwriters who work on the Row. There is a casualness and sense of community at Bobby’s, a place where people mix and relax, and where off-duty songwriters pick guitars and bounce ideas off of each other.

 

Bobby’s isn’t a place you go for a special occasion — it’s where you go every other time.