Most old Calgary rooms get a plaque and a polite nod. The King Eddy got a stage, a sound system and a second act.
The King Edward Hotel went up in 1905 on 9 Avenue SE, in what is now East Village. It earned the nickname Calgary’s Home of the Blues. Studio Bell lists John Hammond, Buddy Guy, Pinetop Perkins and Otis Rush among the blues greats tied to its stage.
Canada’s History goes a step further and calls it possibly the oldest blues bar in the country. That is a big claim, and we like it. Even if you only half believe it, you have to admit the room has history.
It closed. Then it came back.
The hotel closed in 2004 as the city’s longest-operating bar and hotel, according to Studio Bell. Plenty of places end there. This one did not.
The National Music Centre took the building on and rebuilt it beside Studio Bell. The neon sign went back up in October 2015, and that alone is worth a walk down 9 Avenue.
Here is a fun detail from Studio Bell. The same building also houses National Music Centre offices, CKUA Calgary and the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. A hotel from 1905 now sits under working radio and a recording legend. We would pay the cover for that alone.
Go and hear it
The King Eddy reopened to the public in July 2018 as a restaurant, bar and live-music venue. These days the acts play every genre, so you can bring the friend who says they do not like the blues.
Our favourite kind of heritage has a stage in it. You can walk into this one.
Check what is on, grab a seat early and let a century of music at one address do the talking.
Next up for you is The Building That Rebuilt a Blues Hotel. After that, Mahler, a sprinkler leak and a very Calgary opening night. Or try The King Eddy Got a Second Act and Nailed It for a change of pace.
Keep going with How Alberta Ballet Found Its Calgary Home and They took the King Eddy apart brick by brick.
Quick answers
The King Edward Hotel went up in 1905 on 9 Avenue SE, in what is now East Village. It earned the nickname Calgary’s Home of the Blues. The hotel closed in 2004, and the building reopened to the public in July 2018 as a restaurant, bar and live music venue.
Studio Bell lists John Hammond, Buddy Guy, Pinetop Perkins and Otis Rush among the blues greats tied to the King Eddy stage. Canada’s History goes a step further and calls it possibly the oldest blues bar in the country, which is a big claim.
The same building houses National Music Centre offices, CKUA Calgary and the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. The National Music Centre rebuilt the hotel beside Studio Bell, and the neon sign went back up in October 2015. Acts of every genre play there now.
