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For as long as Lindsay
Shannon can remember, he dreamed of having his own
barbecue restaurant. In October of 1990, after
leaving a good job in sales, Lindsay and his wife
Jo made his dream a reality by opening
BB's Lawnside
BarB-Q.
Jo says, "It was
a tough decision but the location had everything
we needed." Everything includes a 1950s pit
for smoking, a full kitchen, large parking lot,
and of course, a room large enough to serve up
blues as well as barbecue.
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In
1992 Jo gave up her job in advertising to
devote full-time effort to managing the
kitchen, employees and the books. Lindsay
handles the marketing, advertising and
entertainment, and together they provide the
food: Lindsay's Kansas City-Style barbecue
recipes and Jo's Louisiana recipes. Everything
is made from scratch-from the sauce to the
bread pudding. |
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BB's
main focus is barbecue, but it wasn't long
before Lindsay's love of the blues made live
music a permanent item on the menu. BB's
features live music Thursday through Sunday,
and several special events are held each year,
including the
Sherwood Center Benefit,
The Acoustic Blues Showcase, a benefit for the Kansas City Blues
Society, as well as the Hope House
benefit which helps abused women.
It lakes more than a love of
the blues to be a good blues promoter, and
Lindsay's credentials are impressive: founding
member of the Kansas City Blues Society in
1980, blues radio DJ,
and booking agent for the blues stage at
Kansas City's Spirit Festival.
Lindsay's successful radio show on
KCFX, 101FM, The Fox, "The Kansas City Blues Show,"
earned him the
Blues Foundation's
"Keeping the Blues Alive" award for
blues in commercial radio in
1992. Lindsay
doesn't credit any particular moment for his
love of the blues or barbecue.
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The
Chili Pepper.. |
When
he was a boy, the Kansas City Blues, a farm
team of the New York Yankees, played ball at a
stadium close lo all the barbecue places in
the 18th and Vine district, and eating
barbecue became part of the ritual. In the
'50s and early '60s the opportunity to hear
blues and jazz music came from AM radio
stations including KPRS in Kansas City, and a
Little Rock, Arkansas radio station that
featured all the blues greats of the time.
When Lindsay was in college he got his own
smoking pit and began to develop barbecue
recipes while listening to the blues. |
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and Jo stay busy experimenting with different
recipes and exploring new ways to promote the
music they love. A Sunday matinee with the
Kelley Hunt Band started this long
running event, where you can now
see Lee McBee & the
Confessors! The deck was added in 1999! |
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When
you come to Kansas City, be sure to stop by
this friendly, family place. It's easy to get
there. As Lindsay says, "To find it, turn
right on 85th, then go south about 60
years." |
Lawnside
Blues
(April 11, 2000)
By
MARCIE RYAN |
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