Most of y'all don't even know how lucky you are. I mean, right now, at this
moment, you got Bill Neumeier's Rib Room serving up the best damn barbecue on either side of the Mississippi River. That's right. I said EITHER side.


Not too awful long ago, Bill only served up his barbecue on special occasions. And there was never enough to go around. Never. Show up late and
you were sure enough out of luck. All you'd ever find would be a big pile of bones.
They'd be the cleanest bones you'd ever seen. 'Cause there wouldn't be a scrap of
meat left on any of 'em. All the plates would've been licked clean. Oh, there might've
been some slaw left. But that's just 'cause some Yankee left it and didn't nobody
wanna eat after a Yankee.


In fact, that's exactly what happened back in 1990 when Bill, by his
ownself, produced the very first Riverfront Blues Festival. There was
blues enough for everybody. But only a handful of people got to gnaw on one those
delectable, mouth-watering pig bones. And when the festival was over, everybody
still had a big hankering for more blues. Man, we was hungry for mo blues. Mo blues.
Mo blues. Mo blues. And mo bones.


Things changed back in 1994. That's when Bill took a rack of his dry-rub pork
ribs to the Arkansas State Barbecue Championship Cook Off. Kicked ass, too. Won
first place. Smoked 'em. Made 'em holler. Brought the championship trophy home
and put it on a shelf. Then, thank the Good Lord and pass the biscuits, Bill opened
up the Beer Garden and put up an outdoor stage.


Wasn't long before Carey Bell brought his harp down from Chicago
and played a few tunes for us. Then the late legendary Luther Allison burned
the damn place down. So did Doyle Bramhall, Magic Slim and the Teardrops,
Buckwheat Zydeco, Joe Louis Walker, Bugs Henderson, Keb' Mo', and a whole
bunch of others.


Now everybody knows about Bill Neumeier's Rib Room and Beer
Garden. There's always plenty to go around. And the music is as hot as a pork
loin simmering over hot coals. Nah. Most of y'all don't even know how lucky you are.
Damn lucky. That's what you are. Damn lucky.