King Street Blues opened in 1990, the same year I moved to Washington, but it probably wasn’t until the mid-1990s that I learned of its existence. A block off its namesake street in Old Town Alexandria in a funky old townhouse, the place has been serving up Southern comfort food and — on and off — live music ever since.
The bar is tiny. Small. Size-of-your-rec-room small. The actual restaurant is in the two floors above the bar, and half of the ground floor is taken up by the kitchen, so the bar gets a sliver of space that might hold 25 people if you don’t mind sweating on your neighbor a little. Nonetheless, bands and acoustic acts regularly jam into the corner of that space, which is filled with neighborhood regulars and the occasional confused European tourist who wants to hear some American roadhouse music.
It’s Live Music Week in Alexandria, and my contribution was to play at King Street last night with my longtime musical soul brothers Joe Chiocca and Joe Wells. The bar was full but not insane and the people seemed to like what we put down. Setting up there requires a stripped-down rig and all of 25 minutes all so (when I play with Hypnotic Willie, setup takes around 90 minutes).
It’s not easy to keep a joint open for a quarter-century. The crowd has aged some over the years, and the Blues Brothers-ish theme that dominates the decor has come and gone as a concept, and frankly you shouldn’t order the barbecue (go with pretty much anything that’s fried). Every once in a while a new bartender will come in and do something dumb (house music in the background in a bar with this name?) until he/she learns better. But I’ve done dozens of gigs there and can’t remember one that I didn’t enjoy. That’s all you can ask in a bar, especially one that’s been open for so long.
King Street Blues puts the phrase “Get in here!” on a lot of its advertising. I give that advice for you, especially if you’re looking for an unpretentious place to have a drink or two, maybe watch a little sports, hang out with some neighbors and listen to that band in the corner.
