For lovers of blues, Teddy’s Juke Joint is a must-visit destination.
As 225 reports, the iconic juke joint, founded by blues legend Lloyd “Teddy” Johnson, sits just off Highway 61, the fabled “Blues Highway, in Zachary.
The music venue is celebrating its 40th year in business this year. Half a dozen bands will play at onsite festivities taking place June 28 through July 4.
Decorated with year-round Christmas lights, guitars and license plates from fans around the world, blues enthusiasts from around the globe make the pilgrimage to Louisiana just to visit Teddy’s Juke Joint.
Bands travel as far as the United Kingdom and mainland Europe to perform there.
“After I opened up this place, different bands from everywhere started coming,” Johnson says. “Out of Chicago, Mississippi—90 percent of the bands I use now are out of Mississippi.”
Johnson, 71, was born in the property’s original shotgun house.
Before opening Teddy’s Juke Joint, he worked as a DJ from the late 1960s through most of the ’70s, booking shows in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Chicago.
He opened Teddy’s Juke Joint so he could stop traveling and to spin records at a place of his own. But Teddy’s isn’t only about the music—Johnson serves dinner plates and comfort food like gumbo, turkey wings and fried chicken.
“I put my own seasonings on my food,” he says. “Even my red beans. I mix it myself. Everybody says it’s the best in the world.”
