Art, sweat and rhythm and blues will meet in one spot to reign in the 5th anniversary of the BUTTER Fine Art Fair.
GANGGANG invites visitors to its first-ever Ju’s Juke Joint exploring Black musical heritage Aug. 29-31 at The Stutz.
Ju’s Juke Joint will take place in The Stutz’s pink building, where attendees ages 21 and over will learn about the evolution and presence of juke joints in Indiana. The event, which is in partnership with I Made Rock N’ Roll, pays tribute to cultural spaces like Indiana Avenue, where African American communities historically gathered to dance.
If you go
Ju’s Juke Joint
🗓️ 6-10 p.m. Aug. 29 & 30; 2-6 p.m. Aug. 31.
📍 1060 N. Capitol Ave. (in the pink building)
🎟️ 21+, free admission with a BUTTER ticket (starting at $50)
Buddy Red, a rock and blues musician, will headline the three-day event with a special 45-minute family-friendly performance on the outside stage at 8 p.m. Aug. 30 on 10th Street.
The event will also feature a line-up of local talent like Rob Dixon, Bashiri Asad and artists from the Chreece hip-hop festival.
Red, 25-year-old son of rapper and entrepreneur T.I., said he was inspired to play the guitar at 18 after watching “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a biopic about Queen’s frontman Freddie Mercury.
Red describes his music as blues fused with classic, punk and psychedelic rock and funk. It is riddled with the influences of jazz and blues legends like Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Charley Patton and Jimi Hendrix.
But it’s the Indy native and jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery that makes Red excited for his first stop in Naptown for BUTTER.
“I can’t stress this enough. (Montgomery) is one of the people that I really have been studying,” Red said. “I’m really excited. And to have an opportunity come up, where I can go to his city and play my own guitar, I did not predict that this year.”
Audiences may be familiar with the term “juke joint” because of the 2025 horror blockbuster, “Sinners.” In the film, twin brothers (played by Michael B. Jordan) set out to open a juke joint in Jim Crow-era Mississippi, but they encounter vampires.
Alan Bacon Jr., co-founder of GANGGANG, said music has been an important part of BUTTER since its inception in 2021. He said Ju’s Juke Joint will invite people to delve deeper into the contributions Black Americans have made to mainstream music since slavery.
“It’s a culmination of the stories we’ve been telling for 18 months with I Made Rock N Roll in a contemporary and refreshed way,” Bacon said. “We’re trying to make the spirit of Indiana Avenue come alive.”
In addition to live music, guests to Ju’s Juke Joint can enjoy food and drinks prepared by local chefs and culinary professionals.
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Mirror Indy reporter Mesgana Waiss covers arts and culture. Contact her at 317-667-2643 or mesgana.waiss@mirrorindy.org.
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