Kingston Mines is a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

nightclub in

Lincoln Park, Chicago Lincoln Park is a designated community area on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Lying to the west of Lincoln Park, Chicago's largest park, it is one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Chicago. History In 1824, the United States ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The club derived its name from the Kingston Mines Theatre Company founded by June Pyskacek in 1969 at 2356 N. Lincoln Avenue and named after

Kingston Mines, Illinois Kingston Mines is a village in Peoria County, Illinois, Peoria County, Illinois, United States. The population was 259 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Peoria, Illinois Peoria metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located on the ...

, where the father of one of its actors, Jack Wallace, worked. Pyskacek allowed Harry Hoch and a partner open a café and performance space in the front of the building. Called the Kingston Mines Company Store, it was acquired circa 1972 by Lenin "Doc" Pellegrino,

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

, and renamed the Kingston Mines Café. Although the original production of '' Grease'' was written and first premiered at the Kingston Mines Theatre in 1971 before moving to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

a year later, the theatre company expired in 1973, while the Café survived as a blues club. It moved to its current location at 2548 N. Halsted in 1982. Kingston Mines showcases a variety of blues by two separate bands, every night, on two stages, 365 days a year; from

delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

. Their featured bands/artists cover a broad and diverse spectrum of the genre. Kingston Mines is still owned by the Pellegrino family and it is "the oldest, continuously operating blues club in Chicago." Blues legends such as

Koko Taylor Koko Taylor (born Cora Anna Walton, September 28, 1928 – June 3, 2009) was an American singer whose style encompassed Chicago blues, electric blues, rhythm and blues and soul blues. Sometimes called "The Queen of the Blues", she was known for ...

Carl Weathersby Carl Weathersby (born Carlton Weathersby; 24 February 1953, in Jackson, Mississippi) is an American electric blues vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. He has worked with Albert King and Billy Branch, among others. He is now a solo artist. He was ...

, and

Magic Slim Morris Holt (August 7, 1937 – February 21, 2013), known as Magic Slim, was an American blues singer and guitarist. Born at Torrance, near Grenada, Mississippi, the son of sharecroppers, he followed blues greats such as Muddy Waters and How ...

have played there; among a myriad more. The Kingston Mines has two alternating "headline" performances on its two stages into the early morning, every night. Carl Weathersby, Linsey Alexander,

Eddie Shaw Eddie Shaw (March 20, 1937 – January 29, 2018) was an American Chicago blues tenor saxophonist, arranger and bandleader. He led Howlin' Wolf's band, the Wolf Gang, from 1972, both before Wolf's death in 1976 and subsequently. Biography ...

, Mike Wheeler, Peaches Staten,

Joanna Connor Joanna Connor (born August 31, 1962)] is an American Chicago-based blues singing, singer, songwriter and virtuosa guitarist.] Early life Connor was born in Brooklyn of New York City, and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. After moving to Chic ...

, and Ronnie Hicks are regular performers. The club was awarded the "Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Blues Clubs" by the

Blues Foundation The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 blues organizations from various parts of the world. Founded in 1980, a 25-person board of directors governs the ...

in 2014.

References

{{Music venues of Illinois Music venues in Chicago Chicago blues Nightclubs in Chicago