The History of the Blind Pig:

The Blind Pig was formed during the early stages of the 70's, a time in Ann Arbor especially for revolution, freedom, peace, love, and music. Two entrepreneurs, Tom Isaiah and Jerry Del Giudice, decided to open this bar/cafe that would focus musically on the wonderful music of blues. Presumably these two college seniors named the cafe after the 'blind pigs' of the prohibition era during Prohibition era of the 20's, where saloonkeepers would sell alcoholic beverages illegally.

The Blind Pig Cafe was known for its excellent music, and was more popular compared to other Ann Arbor venues such as Mr. Flood's Party, Flick's Bar, Mackinac Jack's, Rick's Cafe and The Golden Falcon. Blues greats like Johnny Shines, Hound Dog Taylor, J.B. Hutto and The Hawks, Koko Tayler, Boogie Woogie Red, and Roosevelt Sikes would play there past 2 o'clock, and according to some regulars, during the after hours was when the party started. Most interestingly, the Blind Pig bar could probably only hold 30 people tops when the music was going. Regulars would attend nightly, and the social scene was primarily that of a family (at least after 2 o'clock). Furthermore, counter-culture revolutionary John Sinclair was a regular attendee and the SDS had a printing company stationed right above the bar. With an extremely small performance stage, constant music, drinks of eccentric and sophisticated tastes, occasional celebrity appearances in the crowd, a blended social scene of college students, locals, and even Herb David employees, the Blind Pig cafe had definite character and contributed greatly to the thriving blues scene in Ann Arbor. Clearly, the essence of the Blind Pig during this time was playing music, having fun, and keeping the blues spirit alive by forming tight bonds of friendship.

Somewhere between 1975 and 1977, Jerry Del Giudice and a friend of his, Edward Chmelewski, decided to create a record label out of this blues venue. They each started from scratch in different locations: Jerry in Chicago and Edward in Los Angeles. Eventually, the blues label became quite popular, and today it is known as one of the more prominent blues labels in America. Blind Pig records signed blues legends such as Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Pinetop Perkins, and Buddy Guy while they posed as an effective porthole into musical success for new and fresh artists. With several Grammy nominations, the Blind Pig has definitely earned its name in history. When one searches for "blind pig" on www.wikipedia.org, one will get a brief text on the Blind Pig Record label as well as the definition of the historical term.

A local couple, Roy and Betty Goffett, obtained ownership of the venue in 1981 after Tom and Jerry left. The Goffetts renovated the area entirely: Made the upstairs cafe a bar and concert area big enough for 400 people and renamed the downstairs bar "The 8 Ball Saloon." This new venue was good for the Ann Arbor music scene because now bigger acts of different musical orientations would come. This diversified Ann Arbor's aesthetical agenda and provided the locals with a new looking glass into the contemporary music scene.

From then on, the Pig thrived as more and more popular acts played there and became more and more popular. Bands like Pearl Jam, Ben Harper, Joan Baez, Bo Diddley, REM, 10,000 Maniacs, The Smashing Pumpkins, Goober and the Peas, The Circle Jerks, Paradigm, and the Misfits have played there, proving the musical diversity. While many local bands would claim playing at the Blind Pig to fame, Classic Rock band Nirvana announced that the Blind Pig was the best venue to play at. Furthermore, George Thorogood filmed a music video in the Blind Pig, and the motion picture High Fidelity contains scenes where stickers of the record label can be seen in the background. Even John Lennon was said to have played there during the unforgettable time of "The John Sinclair Freedom Rally."

The Current Blind Pig:

In terms of character, the Blind Pig maintains this aspect, while locals and college students persist to commingle and the music scene varies every night of the week.

Histories of the Blind Pig from other websites.

www.blindpigmusic.com - History of the Venue

www.thayrone.com - History of the Record Label

www.blindpigrecords.com - History of the Record Label

www.tommycastro.com - Brief History of Label and Summary of Recent KBA Award