Soul Central: Tommy Lee Cook builds a blues mecca in Buckingham
What began as a general store and local hangout in the 1950s, eventually transforming into a biker bar in the ’70s, is now considered one of the premiere destinations for live Blues in Florida.
And it’s located right in Lee County, Buckingham to be exact.
The list of performers who have appeared at the Buckingham Blues Bar reads like a who’s who of blues. It includes four-time Grammy winner Delbert McClinton, two-time Grammy nominee guitarist Lee Roy Parnell and rising Blues star Selwyn Birchwood.
The bar is the fulfillment of a lifetime of the love of music, and particularly the blues, of local builder and avid Blues fan Tommy Lee Cook who purchased it in 2002.
“I’ve been a builder my whole life which gives me the ability to do this. We started 24 years ago and we’ve done over 4,000 shows. I called it the World Famous Buckingham Blues Bar,” Cook said.
Cook began playing at the bar along with other local acts. But it was a call from a blues legend that put the Buckingham Blues Bar on the map.
“After I opened it and was playing a little bit, I got a phone call from a guy named Pat Ramsey, who is a world-renowned harmonica player. He had played with Johnny Winter on his ‘White Hot & Blue’ album and also the Allman Brothers. At the time he was living in Tallahassee.”
Ramsey heard about the new blues joint and wondered what Cook was playing at the bar.
“He asked, ‘What are you all doing down there with that blues sound, playing ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughn?'” Cook recalled. “I told him I played a lot of original music. He said if you ever want a lesson pay me what I want and I’ll come show you.”
Cook agreed and Ramsey kept his word.
“He came down here and blew the roof off this place. He was a great harmonica player, singer, and a great man. Within a couple weeks Albert Castiglia, a great blues guitarist, called. He said ‘I’m an original act on the east coast and can’t get nobody to book me. He said will you book me?”
Cook, of course, booked Castiglia and quickly learned a lesson about the blues legend from Castiglia’s aunt.
“Albert has these shirts that say ‘It’s Ka-Steel-Ya Dammit!’ Cause when I introduced him that night I introduced him as Albert CaSTIGlia. And his aunt was here and she goes ‘It’s KA-Steel-Ya Dammit’ And I said you ought to put that on a shirt. You still see ’em all over the world and that was 24 years ago! He still sells ’em!”
Word quickly spread about the little blues establishment in Buckingham that was now attracting a growing list of prominent blues artists. This also meant it was beginning to build a loyal clientele such as Scott and Judy Miller. They’ve been regulars since the late ’90s.
“We moved down here in 1995 and began looking for live music,” said Judy. “This was the place we found. It’s just great music. Even the house band is great.”
That house band is the Buckingham Blues Band, headlined by none other than Cook himself.
The Buckingham Blues Band are regular performers, often opening for the major acts he books and sometimes includes guest performers such as Bobby Capps, keyboardist for 38 Special.
“He came in one night and played with us and I said ‘You’re pretty good.’ He said ‘Well, I’ve been practicing.’ Then they told me who he was. We laughed and have become great friends.”
Cook says he has been playing music ever since The Beatles first invaded the U.S. He was 9 at the time. He recounted how hearing The Beatles began to spark his interest in music.
“When The Beatles came that’s when you begged your momma to buy you a cheap guitar, a $39 guitar and a piss-ant amp and you got electric!” Cook said. “I played talent shows in ninth grade, played a bassoon in a concert band. That was kinda crazy. I had to teach myself to play. ”
His interest in the blues began in the ’80s when a guy he grew up with was playing the harp and singing the blues. Cook had begun recording music in his make-shift studio he built in his house which led to recording a country vinyl album at a recording studio in his town. It got some play on the radio in the mid ’80s. But Cook’s love of the blues continued to grow so he formed the Buckingham Blues Band in ’86. By then he had moved to Lee County. Six CDs later the band is now as popular as many of the acts Cook books.
“We played around the area in different clubs and I had different guys playing with me that were blues guys. They turned me onto Albert Collins, all these different blues guys I never knew or listened to,” said Cook. “When I discovered Delbert McClinton, that was like meeting St. Peter you know? That was a whole world change for me.”
The band has opened twice for 38 Special among others and often does gigs around Lee County in addition to regular shows at his Blues Bar in Buckingham, which took some hard work before it became the go to blues establishment it is today.
“I had been coming here for years. I drank here, I lived here. The beer wasn’t very cold, the bathrooms sometimes worked. It just wasn’t a place you wanted to take anybody.”
That was all about to change when Cook heard it was for sale.
He bought the bar. Being a builder Cook knew exactly what needed to be done. They gutted the entire structure. In just over three months they built a new roof, put new floor boards in, rebuilt the bathrooms, added a new septic system and opened with a whole new image.
To begin attracting customers Cook used marketing ploys that would make anyone on Madison Avenue envious. As an avid crossword puzzle solver he knew the perfect place to go.
“I advertised right next to the ‘New York Times’ crossword puzzle,” he said. “I wanted smart people that get the blues.”
In addition to the bar itself Cook has added an outdoor concert venue behind the bar itself which includes a sound stage. Beginning in October, acts perform live.The highlight is the Sunday Blues Fests that include the Buckingham Blues Band. If you’re lucky you’ll get to meet Bucky, Cook’s mule he purchased in 2002.
“I grew up in rural Virginia around horses and cows and stuff and I always wanted a mule,” Cook explained. “A painter who worked for me… told me about a friend of his that had a year-old mule he had to get rid of. So I asked if it was tame and he said yeah and I said go get it. I built a shack out back for him. Right now he’s running with the cows next door. When we do the Blues Fest I’ll bring him back.”
Cook believes people are attracted to the Blues because it offers something for everyone.
“It’s the momma and daddy of all music,” said Cook. “The Blues is so broad a spectrum, it’s fast, it’s slow, it’s happy it’s sad. The lyrics have meaning, it’s just great beats. People are blown away by it. If people get subjected to it, they like it”
The Buckingham Blues Bar is at 5641 Buckingham Road in Fort Myers. It is open Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.