The Blues Room, downtown Baton Rouge’s new blues bar, will feature nationally recognized musician Jonathon “Boogie” Long on Thursday nights, along with other live music acts throughout the week.
Long received national recognition after winning a Battle of the Blues contest hosted by Guitar Center.
Long played at The Blues Room for the first time with his band, Jonathon Boogie Long and the Blues Revolution, a few weeks ago.
Long’s band will frequent the bar every Thursday when it isn’t on the road touring, he said.
There aren’t many blues joints around the city, Long said, and The Blues Room is a big step toward a recurrence of blues music in Baton Rouge.
“[The Blues Room is] incredible, the town needed this,” he said.
Sundays will feature Baton Rouge musician Kevin Ellerbee, who goes by Elvin Killerbee. The Sunday jam session dubbed “Elvin Killerbee and Friends Jam” runs from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Killerbee plays original titles as well as covers by artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix.
He said The Blues Room gives people in Baton Rouge an opportunity to experience real music, not the karaoke or dance music heard in bars across the city.
The bar is equipped with a pool table, couches, framed photographs of blues legends on the walls and a stage at the room’s focus that makes the place emit an authentic blues feeling – something bar owner Billy Stevens said he wanted to communicate to his customers. The atmosphere contributes to the bar’s slogan, which is “Enjoy the Culture.”
“Baton Rouge has a great culture of blues [and] people in south Louisiana have a great culture of having fun,” Stevens said. “That’s what we’re trying to do, give [people] a place to have fun and enjoy the culture of south Louisiana.”
The Blues Room is located a street over from Third Street near the corner of Florida Boulevard and Lafayette Street downtown, and free parking is available on the corner lot adjacent to the bar, Stevens said.
Stevens said he was looking for a niche in the city that would fit the downtown area, and he found blues music makes the place unique.
The goal is for the music to drive the direction of the business, Stevens said. Since the opening, he has been pleasing patrons with authentic blues music every Wednesday through Sunday with several renowned acts from across the city.
Stevens said he is “committed to putting quality entertainment on stage.”
The bar will be hosting a variety of specials throughout the week, with its staple being a Monday through Friday happy hour featuring two-for-one drinks from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Stevens said.
The Blues Room offers visitors a different experience, and so far, Stevens said, people have responded well.
“All of the feedback from people that have been coming through the doors have been fantastic,” he said.
“That’s what we’re trying to do, give [people] a place to have fun and enjoy the culture of south Louisiana.”
