The Legendary Zoo Bar

by Julie Nichols 

Since 1973, iconic artists have rocked, rattled, snarled and sweat upon a dark, unremarkable stage in downtown Lincoln—Albert Collins, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Koko Taylor, Jay McShann, Pinetop Perkins, Son Seals, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, James Cotton, Otis Rush, Charlie Musselwhite, James Harmon, Magic Slim. This scarred wood floor has been anointed by the holiest practitioners of the greatest and truest American form: the blues. 

Yellowed scraps of show posters cling to the walls beneath the high ceiling. The low stage barely holds a three-piece band. Literally arms’ length from the musicians, the bathroom doors slam shut on squeaky springs, people crammed around the stage. Diehard fans who abandoned their college homework night after night in the 70s and 80s are still coming. No-nonsense bartenders pull the taps. Devotion runs so deep an anonymous patron sent a $500 check to atone for the storefront’s sign broken over forty years ago. You’re entering a place where patrons feel a sense of ownership—they’re boisterous, opinionated, passionate, joyous. The Zoo seems an extension of their living room. It’s family. Don’t mistake them as unschooled: they’re sophisticated and discerning listeners. And if you love live music, the regulars will embrace you with open arms.

Welcome to the legendary Zoo Bar.  

Lincoln got lucky by sheer geography. The Zoo Bar is the kind of club known on the road circuit as a ‘pickup gig.’ Within striking distance of Kansas City, Denver, Chicago, and Minneapolis, bands can ‘pick up’ a show without spending travel money on an overnight with no gig. The cultural imprint has been long-lasting—even profound. The Zoo has anchored Lincoln’s local music scene for two generations. It is the oldest blues bar in the country still in its original location.  

It wasn’t the spot on the map, though, that opened the floodgates to the influx of blues artists—it was Larry Boehmer, a grad student in visual art at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a musician himself. (He played in Little Jimmy Valentine and The Heartmurmurs, whose Friday shows had people lined up down the block.) He bartended at the Zoo, then bought into it. In 1974, Boehmer booked guitarist Luther Allison, the contract drawn up on a paper bag. Allison, then on the brink of major success, was the first national act to play the Zoo. Many followed. Enduring friendships formed. More and more greats came. Boehmer eventually retired to the Ozarks, but his influence and advice were always at hand. In 2011, Larry Boehmer was diagnosed with cancer. He threw himself a last birthday bash, attended by blues artists and friends from all over the U.S. He passed the following year.

Pete Watters, now the Zoo’s owner, began bartending at the Zoo between jobs, then came on board as a manager/owner under Larry Boehmer’s tutelage. With his wife Amanda, they keep the Zoo’s blues tradition while also showcasing young touring bands, and giving plenty of airtime to Lincoln’s new bands and its roster of established professional artists. After over 30 years at the helm, Pete has lost none of his enthusiasm. 

“Once I started coming, I came here a lot,” Pete says. “A whole world opened up. I knew who B.B. King was…that was the extent of my blues knowledge. It was just wild; I couldn’t believe what I was seeing—Albert Collins and Magic Slim were just absolutely mind-blowing to me.” 

Admission was cheap then—three or four bucks (sometimes only $2) to see somebody like Koko Taylor, Son Seals, Bo Diddley. “All of a sudden there’s a band I’d never heard of, and they were a big jump in the cover. It was six or eight bucks!” Pete recalls. “I was really poor. It wasn’t easy, but I said, ‘man, I’ve seen all these unbelievable things for three dollars. I’ve gotta check out this $6 or $7 or $8 thing.’ That’s the first time I saw Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. I had no idea who they were. The only reason I went was because The Zoo Bar had never let me down.”

If the Zoo had a blues laureate, it was Magic Slim (Morris Holt). Mississippi born and schooled of the juke joint stages of Chicago, Slim’s love for piano ended when he lost his little finger in a cotton gin. He turned to guitar, followed the exodus of great bluesmen to Chicago’s South Side, and with his band, the Teardrops, he ventured to Lincoln, and for the first time, played for a white audience; he hadn’t played Chicago’s North Side. Magic Slim’s licks raised the roof, his local devotees were many, and his friendship with Larry Boehmer a strong one. Before moving his family to Lincoln in the 90s, Slim would book a whole week at the Zoo. Shawn Holt, Slim’s son, took up the guitar, playing with his father in the early incarnation of the band. In 2013, Shawn rejoined the Teardrops when a chance came to open for Johnny Winter’s tour. His father became ill on the tour, and died in a Philadelphia hospital. Magic Slim’s widow and much of the family remain in Lincoln.

And the Zoo continues to deliver. It’s still a cheap ticket to excellence, often $10 or $15, very rarely $25+. There’s a lot of bang for the buck—the artists electrifyingly close, the crowd drawn in. Bonds form between audience and artist in this shared experience. Tonight, there’s fifty people; if the bar is packed, maybe 100. Tomorrow the same band may be headlining in a big Kansas City club, or playing to thousands at a festival. The Zoo is more than living blues music: it’s been an incubator for Lincoln’s local scene and new regional bands. A gig at The Zoo helps touring bands get established. Beyond serving as a showcase, the Zoo has created a community interfacing Lincoln’s robust music scene with venerable recording artists. The Zoo has always offered more than blues, but over the years, its variety has grown—zydeco, reggae, jazz, surf rock, psychobilly/rockabilly, country, hip-hop, punk, Latin, country, Americana/roots, and afrobeat. 

As age claims more of the old guard of Chicago and the Delta each passing year, the demise of blues may seem inevitable—but then comes another wave. The children of the greats (Cedric Burnside or Bernard Allison, for example) and emerging artists stretch the blues form or answer to its traditions. Elders like Buddy Guy now play concert halls and high-profile festivals. Others, like Charlie Musselwhite, come back time and again to play either the bar or Zoofest, a street festival begun in the late 90s. The younger wave of artists—some the heirs of blues tradition, some stretching into rock, gospel, rockabilly, jazz—Bernard Allison, Eric Gales, Sugaray Rayford, Coco Montoya, Anthony Gomes, Candye Kane, Jason Isbell, Dave Alvin, Cedric Burnside, Tab Benoit, Nikki Hill, Selwyn Birchwood, Samantha Fish, Jason Isbell, Rascal Martinez, Carolyn Wonderland, Mike Zito have all appeared at the bar, some as Zoofest headliners, and some off to much larger pastures. The number of Grammy nominees and blues award winners is nearly impossible to track.

Last summer, the Zoo celebrated its 50th anniversary, and Zoofest its 25th. Every July, 14th Street shuts down and the outdoor stage goes up. A bundle of great acts perform from afternoon until closing, beginning first in the bar. As evening approaches, the outdoor stage brings on the headliners. Past artists include Mavis Staples, Los Lobos, Shemekia Copeland, Booker T and the MGs, Irma Thomas, Dale Watson, The Paladins, Tinsley Ellis, Selwyn Birchwood, Laura Chavez, Lil’ Ed and the Imperials, and John Primer and the Real Deal Blues Band. Grammy winner Charlie Musselwhite headlined both the inaugural and the latest Zoofest. He doesn’t recall when he first played the Zoo—a place he cherishes as “an oasis.” The anniversary celebration staged a “Last Waltz” finale, with over 30 local musicians, combining veterans of the early times and emerging artists, in a tribute to the Zoo. The love glowed from both sides of the stage.  The Zoo hosts music (usually two shows) at least six days a week, 6:00 and 9:00. On certain Mondays around 5:00, you may hear a slightly out-of-tune piano and the soulful voice of Emily Bass (and friends). She takes requests and dishes versions you’ve never heard. Mondays are sporadically a top night for touring shows; a regular blues jam happens around 7:30 (no cover). Jazzocracy, a popular jazz jam on Tuesdays, features university music faculty and local players, followed by Shake a Tail Feather dance night (no cover charges). Wednesday and Thursdays often deliver touring artists for the early show. Every Thursday after the 6:00 o’clock show, it’s live karaoke with Shithook, a trio of some of the best musicians in Lincoln. (If they don’t know the song, they can play it anyway. They’ve done this for decades.) FAC bands begin at 5:00 on Friday before the main evening show. Saturday afternoons are often for sports viewing, with live music in the evening. Wine tastings happen on selected Sunday afternoons. Zootenanny resumes popular comedy shows in the evening, after the unexpected death last year of local comic and organizer Brad Stewart, who oversaw eight years of Zoolarious, a popular comedy night featuring touring and local comedians. Check artists, lineups and showtimes at zoobar.com.