Jim Quinn is anything but “Blue”

By: Xavier Andrews
Posted In: Entertainment

Albert “Jim” Quinn was born and raised in Newport, Rhode Island and is proud to call the seaside city his home. The 1982 Salve Regina University graduate has been an officer for the Newport Police Department for 28 years. However, he is best known in the city because of the club and restaurant he runs, the Newport Blues Café.

Quinn and wife Catherine, hold the establishment very close to their hearts. Quinn says that music has always been his passion, but he put down the guitar when he got married and began to raise a family. Nevertheless, Quinn’s passion eventually caught up with him and he opened the café 14 years ago.

The restaurant upstairs from the club has received a five-star rating and does exceptional business. Rhode Island Monthly named the café the top destination for live music in Newport County for the past three years. Newport Life magazine named the café the best venue for live entertainment so many times (12) that they retired the category.

Today Quinn works for the police department during the day and manages the café at night. The café is open weekend nights for shows. Starting Memorial Day weekend it will be open seven nights a week.

Q: Rachel Dratch, Jim Belushi and Steve Carell have all been to the Blues Café . Who else?

A: Dane Cook was here last summer. The whole improv cast of Saturday Night Live was here for the International Film Festival. Nick Nolte, and recently, we had Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers; he played drums one night with a band that was playing. Bill Parcells, former coach for the New England Patriots, has been in the club many, many times. Morgan Freeman and Matthew McConaughey.

Q: How do you choose who plays at the Café? Do people approach you or do you approach them?

A: I get approached by many, many, many people. There’s a standard thing called a press kit when somebody wants to come in and play at the café. They have to provide a press kit, which consists of a biography of the band and a CD. Those things will be submitted to the café, along with locations and different venues that they’ve played. We’ll research the band, and possibly go out and scout the band if it’s a band we’re interested in. We generally receive anywhere from 30 to 40 press kits a month.

Q: A lot of the bands that play here play multiple times a year. Who do audiences usually go the craziest for?

A: A lot of our tribute acts that we’ve recently put in over the past few years have proven to be very, very good draws with the younger audience. The Joshua Tree, a U2 tribute band, draws a very large crowd, anywhere from 250 to 300 people. Bad Fish is huge. We put Bad Fish in here at least three or four times a year, when we can get them. Pat Downs (vocalist and guitarist for Bad Fish) is a personal friend who grew up in Newport. I know he enjoys playing at the café.

Q: What is the relationship between the Blues Café and the Newport Blues Inn?

A: The owners of the property also own the Blues Inn and we network back and forth between each other. A lot of our guests that come here for the evening also stay at the Blues Inn. I sometimes will put bands up at the Blues Inn as well when touring acts are coming in from California or places like that. I’ll try to find them accommodations.

Q: You also have lounges and function rooms for rent. How often do those get rented out?

A: Quite a bit. We do a lot for wedding parties. we’ve had several wedding receptions here. Somebody will come here and rent out the whole building and go to me and ask about entertainment. I’ll provide them with entertainment depending on what type of entertainment they would like. Corporate parties, corporate functions will come through the area. We could have live entertainment out on the floor and people could come back and talk. in the vaults. The walls are four-foot thick steel. It’s a kind of unique aspect. You could be upstairs enjoying yourself, having some cocktails, hanging out with friends and look down through a hole and watch the band and watch all the activity that’s taking place downstairs.

Q: Do you watch the performances yourself?

A: I try to be here almost every night that we’re open. Sometimes it’s difficult, especially in the summer when [we’re open] seven nights a week. But I try to be here just about every night. I think it’s important for a club owner to be able to do that and be able to meet his audience and relate to the band and see how the band’s performing and that they’re performing to the expectations that are required of them.

Q: Which performance over the years has been your favorite?

A: On a national level I would say Eddie Money has probably been my favorite, followed by Dickey Betts, and Southside Johnny. Those would be my three top [favorites]. Eddie’s a great performer and I think I relate to him a little more. I really liked his music growing up and he was also a former police officer.

Q: You’ve also done fundraisers [at the café] for Toys for Tots, International Myeloma Foundation.

A: My wife unfortunately has cancer. multiple myeloma, or bone marrow cancer. As a result, we’re very dedicated to multiple myeloma research. We do a lot of fundraisers.

Q: If you could have one act past or present, perform tonight at the club who would it be?

A: Jimi Hendrix. I grew up on the music of Jimi Hendrix. I’d like to get Eric Clapton in here at some point. Maybe that will happen. I anticipate more movies being shot in Rhode Island and Newport offers a lot. With that, maybe more people will come to the city and hopefully visit the café.