Bluebird, a cultural Mecca for music junkies

One of Bloomington’s most diverse music venues, which in its history has seen everyone from John Lee Hooker to Del the Funky Homosapien, was named after an ice cream stand in Washington, Ind.

The Bluebird Nightclub, 216 N. Walnut, was opened in 1973 by two brothers from Washington: John and Steve Ross. The venue’s exposed brick walls belie the history of the building itself. These walls housed businesses as early as 1920.

Since 1973, the venue has hosted hundreds of local and national touring musicians, including musical trends from jazz to blues, rock and hip hop. The club’s artists throughout the years show the truth of the matter: The Bluebird has been an essential part of Bloomington’s musical and cultural scenes since it opened in ’73, said current co-owner Dave Kubiak.

In the ’80s, the Bluebird’s shows became more heavily rock- and blues-inflected. The ‘Bird saw acts such as Hooker and Luther Allison in the 1980s, said Kubiak, who has been an owner of the club for nearly five years.

“The Bluebird is a reflection of popular culture,” he said.

The ’Bird’s popularity was in a lull when Kubiak first arrived, he said, but he worked to revive the nightclub as an active venue featuring a wide variety of musical genres.

Kubiak said some of the most interesting acts of the Bluebird’s past are those that management chose not to feature.

“All the people we passed on – Steve Martin, the first tour of The Police,” he said.

Though the building itself has seen some renovations, including acquiring part of what was Opie Taylor’s building and raising the stage for a higher sight line in 2002, it has been the Bluebird since ’73.

From 1920-22, the Bluebird building was occupied by the Tosti Louis fruit business. Bloomington city directories then list the Yellow Cab Company as occupying 216 N. Walnut St., from 1922 through 1928.

In the 1930s, the space saw a large variety of businesses for a short time – from the Karmelkorn shop in 1931 to the Donelson Electric Company in 1937.

Another part of the Bluebird’s history that is still around is bartender Leo Cook.

Cook, who has been pouring drinks and making friends at the Bluebird for eight years, was a huge fan of the venue for at least 10 years before that, he said.

Cook was actually performing as part of a Hank Williams tribute show to benefit the local organization Options for Better Living when he found out there was an opening for a bartender. He had learned bartending from a job at Applebee’s and was hired on the spot.

“I figured if I hung out around here enough they’d give me a job,” he joked.

On nights like last week’s Keller Williams show, Cook whirls behind the bar, pouring beer, shots and mixed drinks for customers stacked three deep at times. He tosses empty cans of Red Bull and pineapple juice into an adjacent trash can without really even looking, as he memorizes several drink orders in advance.

One of Cook’s favorite parts of being a Bluebird bartender – besides the shows – is making friends with people who frequent the club. However, he said it can be difficult for him when the friends he’s made move on.

“It’s hard when you made friends with students who are so transient,” he said. “You’ll be friends with someone for two or three years and then you might see them again or you might not.”

One of Cook’s friends, Jason Apple, a fifth-year senior, greeted the bartender last week at the Keller Williams show with an enthusiastic shout of “Leo!”

“I’ve been coming to Leo for, like, three years now,” Apple said. “He is the best bartender ever.”

Though the nightclub’s bookers strive to bring many unique acts to the Bloomington audience, cover bands are what bring people back to the club time and again.

Dot Dot Dot and Hairbanger’s Ball, a cover band out of Chicago, are the cover bands Kubiak lists as the most popular among the club’s customers.

The Bluebird is the heartbeat of Bloomington – a cultural Mecca for music junkies, Kubiak said.

“I do cover bands on the weekends,” he said. “I don’t think it’s my place to judge what’s culturally significant, as long as everyone is going out to see some sort of performance. People will always be critical, but just so long as people go out and enjoy watching performances somewhere, it doesn’t matter what venue it is.”