Where Calgary Magazine September / October 2018 | Page 20

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KING EDWARD HOTEL
THE NATIONAL MUSIC
438 - 9 Ave SE, 403-476-
VAGABOND CALGARY
1129 Olympic Way SE, 40
vagabondcalgary.com
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Turning up the dial on
Music Mile
BY JENNIFER FRIESEN
The historic King Eddy officially
reopened this past July, adding
another permanent live venue to
the city’s music district
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
“mixed bag” — from bikers to police to
blue collar to white collar.
“Everyone was there,” she says. “And
everyone was there because of the music.”
The venue affectionately called the King
Eddy closed its doors in 2004 after falling
into disrepair, and soon faced demolition. But
Calgary’s National Music Centre opted to
restore the building in 2008 — taking it apart
and rebuilding the exterior brick-by-brick —
officially reopening the live music venue on
July 20, 2018. That weekend, McIlwaine took
the stage in front of a buzzing crowd once
again at her old stomping grounds.
The newly rejuvenated King Eddy is now
l
hip
JJ S
the
western
pillar of
Calgary’s new music district:
the Music Mile.
Stretching all the way from the King Eddy
to The Blues Can along 9th Avenue, the
Music Mile Society is a non-profit collective
of venues, businesses and organizations
working to bring more live music to the
city. There’s a minimum of 25 live shows
t
et
When Ellen McIlwaine first started playing
Calgary’s “home of the blues” in 1982, it was
packed full of low-hanging cigarette smoke,
melodic chords and a crowd dancing just a
few feet from her guitar.
She started coming to the historic King
Edward Hotel while travelling through a
North American blues circuit. Originally
based in the U.S., she never missed a
chance to stop in, and eventually relocated
to Calgary in the early ’90s. On an average
Saturday, she’d host the jam at the King
Edward Hotel all afternoon and then play
three sets into the night. Looking back, she
laughs and says the crowd was always a