RCBS - Peoria

05/14/2026

05/07/2026

Alberta Hunter had one of the craziest comeback stories in blues history.

She was a huge star in the 1920s, singing in Chicago and New York clubs, writing songs other artists turned into standards, and touring Europe long before that was common.

Then her mother died, and Alberta basically walked away from music.

Not for a year. Not for a break.

For TWENTY YEARS.

She became a nurse and worked in healthcare until mandatory retirement age forced her to stop. Most people figured her music career was ancient history by then.

Instead, she came back in her 80s and started performing again.

And somehow? She still sounded incredible.

While a lot of artists spend their whole careers chasing authenticity, Alberta Hunter didn’t have to fake anything. By the time she returned to the stage, she’d lived multiple entire lives.

The emotion in those later recordings hits differently because you’re hearing somebody who survived nearly every era of American music and still had stories left to tell.

Go listen to “Downhearted Blues.” Then imagine walking away from fame for two decades and casually returning like nothing happened.

05/06/2026

The River City Blues Society is bringing an afternoon packed with live music, great people, cold drinks, and serious talent to Ozz Bar & Grill on Sunday, May 31.

Join us for performances from Ray Long & The Highway 61 Band, Adara Rae, Randall the Scandal, and Mike Aldrich as we celebrate the blues scene that keeps Central Illinois alive and kicking. We’ll also be celebrating Becky McDaniel’s birthday, so expect a full day of music, friends, and good ol’ Mouth of the South chaos!

$10 cover
RCBS members get in for $5
Not a member yet? Join for just $20!!

50/50 drawings, great food, cold drinks, and live music all afternoon long.

Music starts at 2PM. Come support local music, support the blues society, and spend your Sunday with us!

05/06/2026

Long before the world connected the crossroads legend to Robert Johnson, another Delta bluesman was already telling that story across Mississippi juke joints and back roads.

Tommy Johnson was known for drinking hard, disappearing for days at a time, singing in a strange high voice that sounded almost ghostly, and playing guitar well enough to make people stop and stare. According to the stories, Tommy would tell people he met a large black man at a crossroads late at night, handed over his guitar, and got it back with supernatural talent.

Years later, that same tale became attached to Robert Johnson and turned into one of the most famous legends in music history.

Thing is, Tommy was telling it first.

That’s what makes old blues history so fascinating. These weren’t polished celebrity stories written by publicists. They were rumors passed around juke joints, whiskey bottles, front porches, and late-night jam sessions until nobody knew where the truth ended and the folklore began.

The blues has always lived somewhere between history and ghost story.

Fun fact: “Cool Drink of Water Blues” was later covered by The White Stripes, helping introduce Tommy’s music to a whole new generation of listeners.

04/21/2026

He pulled a gun on stage.

Not as a stunt.

As part of the show.

Long before shock value was a strategy, he was already doing it.

In the 1950s, Johnny “Guitar” Watson built a reputation for unpredictable performances. At one point, he started pulling a pistol mid-song, turning every set into something people couldn’t look away from.

Listen to “Gangster of Love.”

That confidence isn’t an act layered on top of the music. It is the music.

Sharp guitar. Commanding presence. A sound that feels like it might go off the rails but never does.

He started in blues, moved into funk and R&B, and influenced artists across genres without ever fitting neatly into one.

Most artists follow the sound.

Johnny “Guitar” Watson helped shape it.

04/16/2026

Victoria Spivey wasn’t just a blues singer. She was a boss before that was even a thing.

She started recording in the 1920s and dropped one of her biggest hits, “Black Snake Blues,” in 1926. The song walks that line early blues loved, playful on the surface, but loaded with double meaning if you’re paying attention. That kind of lyric writing shaped the entire genre.

When the blues started fading, she didn’t disappear. She built her own label, Spivey Records, in the 1960s and started recording again on her own terms.

She also helped bring younger artists into the spotlight during the blues revival. She was one of the first to record a young Bob Dylan.

While people talk about the men who “built the blues,” Victoria Spivey was out here running the business side and keeping it alive when it could’ve died off.

Go listen to Black Snake Blues. You’ll get it.

04/14/2026

Peoria blues fans, you need to hear this.

In 1930, Geechie Wiley recorded “Last Kind Words Blues,” one of the most haunting songs to come out of the early blues era.

On the surface, it sounds like a woman singing about a man leaving on a train.

Underneath that story is something heavier. The song reflects the reality of war, soldiers leaving, and the fear that they might never come back.

The quiet, eerie guitar and her delivery make the whole thing feel frozen in time.

There is no big moment. No dramatic ending.

It leaves you sitting in that feeling.

This is the kind of history we are working to keep alive right here in Peoria.

04/13/2026

Check out this podcast featuring Devin C. Williams!!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/23ETOsgp3ETCBvtMWGH5Xa?si=P79YAPdOQ-auNAig_6ukjA

12-Bar Talk: A Blues Podcast · Episode

04/10/2026

Just wanted to take a quick second to thank the musicians who came out tonight and spoke with us about their ideas and things they’d like to see us working toward to strengthen and promote Peoria’s local blues scene! You guys have got our wheels turning so keep an eye out for more events coming your way really soon!

04/07/2026

You’ve heard this song before… you just don’t know where it came from.

In 1928, Henry Thomas recorded “Fishing Blues” using an instrument called quills, a set of reed pipes that gave the song its eerie, almost hypnotic sound.

That melody didn’t stay in 1928.

It resurfaced decades later as “Going Up the Country” by Canned Heat, one of the most recognizable songs of the 1960s blues revival.

Most people know the later version. Almost nobody knows where it actually came from.

Thomas disappeared from the public eye not long after his recordings, and for years, people weren’t even sure what happened to him.

But his sound never really went away.

It just kept showing up in ways people didn’t realize, even now.

If you’re in Peoria and part of the local music scene, this is the kind of history RCBS is here to keep alive.

04/05/2026

Local blues musicians, we need you in the room.

The River City Blues Society is hosting a meeting this Thursday at 6:30 PM at Hilltop Grill in Creve Coeur, and this is your chance to help shape what comes next for our local scene.

We’re not here to guess what musicians need. We want to hear it directly from you.

What would actually help support your shows? What’s missing right now? What kinds of events would you want to be part of? How do we bring more people out and put a bigger spotlight on local blues?

If we’re going to grow this scene, it has to be built with the people making the music.

If you’re a musician, in a band, or involved in the blues community in any way, come be part of the conversation.

Thursday
6:30 PM
Hilltop Grill, Creve Coeur

Show up. Speak up. Help us build something better for blues in our area.