Jimmy Johnson/photo: Dianne Bruce Dunklau
Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the Chicago Independent Venue League are presenting live shows that should be exciting for any fan of Chicago Blues. Here’s the information:
Chicago Blues Club City Tour
Wednesday, September 1 – Monday, September 6, 2021
DCASE and CIVL (Chicago Independent Venue League) will partner to present and promote a FREE city-wide Blues club tour with 20 shows in 11 venues. Club tour will take place during "Chicago In Tune '' and will be promoted as part of the Year of Chicago Music. Programs will be free-admission, first-come, first-serve. COVID protocols and social distancing to be implemented and followed, as needed, per CDC guidelines.
Formed in 2017, CIVL now represents 50+ venues in the city of Chicago. Members include some of the preeminent independent music venues, comedy clubs, performing arts centers, concert promoters, dance centers, and festivals in our city. The CIVL member community consists of for-profit independent businesses of all shapes and sizes, and non-profit organizations.
CIVL acts to secure the long-term future of these and other venues for the benefit of our communities and emerging artists. Member venues have played a crucial role in the development of Chicago’s music over the last 50 years by nurturing local, national and international talent, and providing a platform for these artists to build their careers and develop their music. Chicago's independent venues provide thousands of jobs, as well as millions of dollars in salaries, revenues, charitable donations and taxes. CIVL strives to gain recognition for the essential role these venues have played in defining the music culture as it exists in Chicago today. Visit civlchicago.com for more information. #CIVL #beCIVL
Participating Venues: Golden Dagger, Hungry Brain, Independence Tap, Martyrs’, Reggies, Rosa’s Lounge, Taylor Street Tap, The G Man Tavern, The Hideout, The Promontory, The Quarry Chi
Schedule of Events:
Golden Dagger - 2447 N. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60614
Saturday, September 4
Anne Harris & Dave Herrero (75 min)
Katherine Davis
6pm doors, 7pm show
FREE, 21+
Hungry Brain - 2319 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL 60618
Friday, September 3
Erwin Helfer with Katherine Davis (60 min)
7pm doors, 7:30pm show
FREE, 21+
*Hungry Brain requires people to show proof of vaccination. Either by paper or by a photo on your phone
Independence Tap - 3932 W. Irving Park, Chicago, IL 60618
Saturday, September 4
Rico McFarland (75-90 min)
8pm
FREE, 21+
Martyrs’ - 3855 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL 60613
Thursday, September 2
Jimmy Johnson Blues Band (75-90 min)
Dave Weld and the Imperial Flames (45-60 min)
Support at 7:30pm, Headliner at 9pm
FREE, 21+
Friday, September 3
Mike Wheeler Band with Demetria Taylor (75-90 min)
Luke Pytel Band (45-60pm)
Support at 8pm, Headliner at 9:30pm
FREE, 21+
Saturday, September 4
Mud Morganfield (75-90 min)
Chicago Bound Blues Band (45-60 min)
Support at 8pm, Headliner at 9:30pm
FREE, 21+
Reggies Music Joint - 2105 S. State St., Chicago, IL 60616
Friday, September 3
Billy Branch & The Sons of Blues (75 min)
Joey J. Saye Trio (45-60 min)
8pm doors
FREE, 21+
Rosa’s Lounge - 3420 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL 60647
Wednesday, September 1
Pete Galanis Band featuring Dave Herrero (75 min)
9pm
FREE, 21+
Thursday, September 2
Nora Jean Wallace
Chicago Wind featuring Matthew Skoller (75 min)
9pm
FREE, 21+
Friday, September 3
Nora Jean Wallace (75 min)
7:30pm
FREE, 21+
Saturday, September 4
Johnny Iguana
Jimmy Johnson with Billy Branch (60 min)
7:30pm
FREE, 21+
Sunday, September 5
Johnny Iguana’s Chicago Spectacular featuring Matthew Skoller, Billy Flynn, Bill Dickens, Michael Caskey (75 min)
7:30pm
FREE, 21+
Taylor Street Tap - 1358 W. Taylor St., Chicago, IL 60607
Friday, September 3
The Kinsey Report (75 min)
8pm
FREE, 21+
The G Man Tavern - 3740 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60613
Saturday, September 4
Gerry Hundt
4-8pm, 2-40 min sets with intermission
FREE, 21+
Sunday, September 5
The Smiley Tillmon Band featuring Kate Moss
4-8pm, 2-40 min sets with intermission
FREE, 21+
The Hideout - 1354 W. Wabansia Ave., Chicago, IL 60642
Thursday, September 2
Erwin Helfer (60 min)
Devil in a Woodpile (60 min)
8pm doors, 8:30pm show
FREE, 21+
The Promontory - 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. W., Chicago, IL 60615
Thursday, September 2
Taildragger (75-90 min)
The Jamiah Rogers Band (60 min)
Support at 8pm, Headliner at 9:30pm
FREE, 17+
The Quarry Chi - 2423 E. 75th St., Chicago, IL 60649
Sunday, September 5
Freddie Dixon’s Chicago Blues Allstars (75 min)
5pm doors, 6pm show
FREE, 21+
Monday, September 6
Michael Damani Band (75 min)
5pm doors, 6pm show
FREE, 21+
Soul City Blues - Austin
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Chicago & Mayfield
12-8pm
Through the years, Chicago’s West Side has cultivated a rich and lasting blues legacy. Some of our city’s most legendary blues venues have been located there. Silvio’s, originally at Lake and Oakley and later at Lake and Kedzie, was for years a home base for Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and many others; it stayed alive and rockin’ as the Riviera Lounge well into the 1980s; Mel’s Hideaway (a.k.a. the Tay May Club) at Roosevelt and Loomis was the inspiration for the Freddie King classic “Hide Away”; the Alex Club, a few blocks west at 1816 Roosevelt, became world-famous after Eddie Shaw, Wolf’s longtime saxophonist and bandleader, purchased it in the mid-1970s. Other venues that were vital in making the West Side a thriving blues nexus included Walton’s Corner at Roosevelt and Fairfield; the Big Squeeze on 16th St.; the Zanzibar on Blue Island; the Majestic and the Golden Slipper on Pulaski; the Avenue Lounge, Big Duke’s, and Ma Bea’s on Madison; and the Peppermint Lounge at Harrison and Kedzie (where the waitstaff dressed as candy canes, and the Jackson 5 played some of their earliest Chicago gigs).
Today, clubs such as Smooth’s Venue on W. Madison and Rooster’s at Ohio and Kedzie continue in that same tradition. Join us to celebrate the living legacy of Chicago blues! Performers include Lurrie Bell, Vance Kelly, Jimmy Burns, Mzz Reese, Mary Lane and Larry Taylor.
# # #