A visit with “Teddy” at Teddy’s Juke Joint in the heart Louisiana’s realm of the Swamp Blues

posted in: Travel, Travel Stories | 0
Down home accents mark the entry to Teddy’s Juke Joint in Zachary, Louisiana
Photo Credit: Tom Wilmer

Following a pitch-black night drive along on a gravel road, we have arrived at Teddy’s Juke Joint for a visit with Lloyd Johnson Junior. 

Lloyd Johnson Jr., aka “Teddy” visits with correspondent Tom Wilmer (right) Photo Credit: Randi Hair

Known fondly throughout the South as Teddy, the 73-year-old has owned Teddy’s Juke Joint for the past four decades.

In the past, juke joints were typically just a sparsely-decorated front room of a sharecropper’s shack, where friends congregated to sing the blues, dance the night away, and down a pint or two.

Interior decor at Teddy’s Juke Joint is eclectic to say the least. Photo Credit: Tom Wilmer
Baton Rouge based musicians performing at Teddy’s Juke Joint. Photo Credit: Tom Wilmer

These old havens for sharecroppers at one time dotted the rural countryside throughout the Deep South, but there are just a handful still operating. 

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE NPR ONE PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH “TEDDY”


Teddy says his Juke Joint is one of five remaining in all of Louisiana.