Ground Zero Blues Club plans
expansion to Memphis
Renowned Blues Club hopes to open second location this year

BY ALAN TAYLOR
DBJ Contributing Writer

As the growing interest in Delta blues music has attracted visitors from around the world to the region, certainly Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale has become one of the favorite destinations for enthusiasts. Now the club that has made Clarksdale a blues music mecca is poised to expand to another town with its own rich musical heritage—Ground Zero’s Blues Club founders are looking to bring the authentic Delta blues experience to Memphis later this year. Attorney Bill Luckett, who owns the renowned music venue along with actor Morgan Freeman and Memphis entertainment executive Howard Stovall, says that plans are moving ahead to open a second location in the River City.

“We have an agreement in concept with two partners in Memphis,” he explains. “This has been in the works for about two years, and right now—as they say—the devil is in the details. We’re still working out the contract, but we’re definitely headed in that direction. I’m hoping for an opening in the late summer.” Partners in the planned club are Performa Entertainment and River City Management, according to Luckett.

The proposed location is a block from the new Fed Ed Forum in downtown Memphis, across the street from the Gibson Guitar complex, he says. It is part of a planned larger project that will likely include a hotel, other restaurants, and a parking garage. The size of the Memphis Ground Zero Blues Club will be similar to that of the original Clarksdale club, approximately 4,000 square feet.

“I hope for it to be as authentic as our Clarksdale club,” Luckett says, “with blues music all the time and down-home cooking. It may be perhaps the first building ever built to be a ‘juke joint’ right from the beginning. Most juke joints come into being during the latter stages of a building’s life—the building was used for something else, then vacated or abandoned. Then, it is turned into a juke joint until the roof falls down or something and the building is finally demolished.”

The one variance from the purist’s definition of a juke joint is that Ground Zero Blues Club in Memphis will have a raised stage, Luckett points out. “But beyond that, we’re going to make it look like a classic old juke joint, with beer signs and strings of Christmas lights everywhere. It’s going to use our same distinctive logo with a zero and a guitar—we’re licensing out the use of our name.”

Launched in May 2001 to create local and national fanfare, Ground Zero Blues Club is housed next to the Delta Blues Museum, in a downtown Clarksdale building that dates from 1900. It came about because of a desire to establish an accessible, artist-friendly venue where live music could be heard on a regular basis and where the region’s rich musical history could be showcased.

The club’s glittering grand opening attracted celebrities such as Freeman’s film co-star Ashley Judd and her sister, country music superstar Wynonna. Since that time, the club has helped focus much international attention on the Delta and its blues musicians by celebrating the area’s musical heritage and providing a performance site for a broad range of acts.

The Ground Zero Blues Club has been featured on CNN, Turner South, The Food Network, The Travel Channel, and The Discovery Channel. It was the site of the filming of “Last Of The Mississippi Jukes” and an eight-part concert film series called “Blues Divas” which is scheduled to be released later this spring. National publications ranging from People and USA Today to Southern Living, National Geographic Traveler, Gourmet and Food and Wine have spotlighted the club in articles as well. Visitors from around the world have made their way to Clarksdale to hear authentic blues music at Ground Zero Blues Club, and national and international audiences had an opportunity to hear a live broadcast segment from the club by National Public Radio on New Year’s Eve.

Luckett says Memphis visitors to Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale have often expressed a wish that such a club might come to their hometown.

“Now with all the excitement and potential for growth being generated by the opening of the Fed Ex Forum, the timing seems right,” he says.

“The Forum was obviously a major factor in selecting the site for Ground Zero Blues Club in Memphis, as well as the fact that we’ll be situated across the street from Gibson Guitar. We’ve always had a great relationship with Gibson—for example, when we had our grand opening in Clarksdale, Gibson helped spread the word, and donated a beautiful Les Paul guitar. It also promotes our club on its Web site.”

Far from being seen as competitors for blues music lovers’ business, Luckett says there will be a close and mutually-beneficial relationship between the two locations. “For example, I can envision bands on road trips making a stop at both Ground Zero Blues Clubs.

“We’re going to utilize our Memphis club to help promote the original location in Clarksdale. While that’s our primary plan, I imagine we’ll do a little vice-versa promotion, too." DBJ