Same venue, Same owner, Same great Blues
Same h
uge dance floor.

1638 Rice Street
Saint Paul, MN 55117

Page updated March 5, 2024
Copyright © 2024 - Blues Saloon, St Paul, MN, All Rights Reserved
Webs by Bradmo

A big Thank You to
Lonnie Mickelson
for all the years and time and effort he put into making 
Wilebski's Blues Saloon and
Blues in Minnesota what it is today!!

We aim to provide an authentic venue for premier national acts
while offering the same great stage to a variety of local and regional favorites!

Overflow parking available
in the shopping center across the street
in the front row nearest  Rice Street

Thank you for coming by...
You are appreciated!!!

$2.00 off
cover charge
 with MNBS
membership card

Wilebski's 
 is now just the
Blues Saloon

  But, now better than ever!!!
St Paul, MN's World-Famous, Legendary
place for the Best In Entertainment.

Ted Wilebski Jr., a passionate pioneer of the St. Paul blues scene, died at age 67. Wilebski died Monday, November 19, 2018, four days after he suffered a heart attack, his family said.
The Oakdale resident was the man behind Wilebski’s Blues Saloon, which he opened in St. Paul in 1979. The venue played host to blues acts of local and national prominence, including the likes of Etta James, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy and Otis Rush.
“He called himself … the Blues King,” said his wife, Jennifer Wilebski. “He was so proud. He said, ‘Honey, I brought up musicians from the South.’”
Ted Wilebski Jr. was born in St. Paul in 1951.
He opened and managed the live-music venue on the corner of Western and Thomas avenues in St. Paul until it closed in the early 1990s.
He reopened Wilebski’s Blues Saloon in 2009 at the same location in Frogtown, then moved to a newer building at 1638 Rice Street near Wheelock Parkway, opening New Year's Eve, December 31, 2009 with Willie Murphy And The Angel-Headed Hipsters as the headliners. He ran the venue for several years before moving on to new endeavors. 
The building owner now operates the Blues Saloon.
Wilebski was drawn to blues music because of its “soulfulness” and the way it made him feel, said his son, Ted Wilebski III. “The music and the people was pretty much what consumed him. That was his passion,” he said.
In the Minnesota blues scene, Wilebski was known for elevating local musicians by letting them open for national acts.
He once was recognized by the Minnesota Blues Society for his contributions to the music scene.
“Ted was really willing to bring up the names that no one had heard of if they were good,” said Curt Obeda, a longtime friend and member of a band that performed at the Blues Saloon.
“(He was) a larger-than-life promoter.” Pat McLaughlin, an Oakdale resident who knew him since high school, said Wilebski treated patrons and performers like royalty.
Wilebski’s daughter, Tracy Davies, said he gave his children the same treatment.  She said she once attended the Minnesota Black Music Awards with her father and tried to get an autograph from Prince, who was in attendance.  Prince’s entourage turned her and her father away, Davies said.  When Prince found out, he insisted on getting her an autograph.  “(My father) just had that kind of respect,” she said.  “He was a spoiler … anything we wanted, he got.”
In addition to his wife and two children, Wilebski is survived by four grandchildren

Ted Wilebski, Jr.
The founder of
Wilebski's Blues Saloon

with Jennifer & Bill Swanson

with Jimmi Langemo

with Jimi "Prime Time"

Thanks Jennifer W for the pics!!!

The steps up to the old Wilebski's

Always a great Master of Ceremonies

aaaaaaaaaaaaiii