Kingston Mines, which opened in 1968, is Chicago’s largest and oldest continually operating blues club. Magic Slim, Koko Taylor, Sugar Blue, Billy Branch, Junior Wells, Mike Wheeler, Joanna Connor, and a slew of other musical legends have performed on its two stages.
Kingston Mines has received multiple honors, including the Chicago Reader’s 2016 Best Blues Club, the Chicago Music Awards 2016 Most Popular Blues Club Award (again!) & 2016 Torch Bearer of Blues in Chicago Award, a Chicago Concierge Favorites Award, and a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence. What keeps the Kingston Mines alive today is the same thing that gave birth to it in the turbulent 1960s…passion!
From delta blues to Chicago blues and everything in between, Kingston Mines presents a wide range of blues music every night of the year on its two stages, performed by two different bands each time. Their featured bands and artists represent a wide variety of the genre’s subgenres and subgenre subgenres. It is said that the Pellegrino family still owns Kingston Mines, which is referred to as “the oldest, continually functioning blues club in Chicago. Legends of the blues genre who have performed there include Koko Taylor, Carl Weathersby, and Magic Slim, amongst a multitude of others. Every night until the wee hours of the morning, both of the Kingston Mines’ stages play host to a pair of “headline” performances that take turns rotating. Regular performers include Carl Weathersby, Linsey Alexander, Eddie Shaw, Mike Wheeler, Peaches Staten, Joanna Connor, and Ronnie Hicks.
We encourage you to come on down, relax, enjoy some delicious Doc’s Kitchen grub, and listen to some of Chicago’s best live music – and remember our motto: “Hear Blues – Drink Booze – Talk Loud – You’re Among Friends!” Read more about Progress Bar Chicago in our another post. In Lakeview another fabulous club is situated which is Chicago Suicide Club.