Lansdowne, PA (WPVI) — Paid Sponsor Partnership: Philadelphia Corporation for Aging
Bass player Jamey Reilly really knows how to strike a chord when it comes to playing the blues.
“The blues is a feeling,” says Reilly, founder and owner of Jamey’s House of Music.
Reilly opened Jamey’s House of Music ten years ago in Lansdowne, PA, after literally starting it out of his West Philadelphia home in the 2000s.
“We turned the whole first floor into a theater and started having concerts there. We had 60 seats,” he says.
Now, this house maintains that same intimate vibe with live music four days a week.
“We’re known around the world as a blues club,” he says. “It’s 90% blues.”
Reilly says the other 10% encompasses “every other genre of music,” from folk and rock to country music.
“You name it, it all comes through here,” he says.
Reilly joined his first band in the 1960s, called The Abstract Design.
He says, back then, he wanted to be “a rock and roller.”
Though he moved around, playing the blues became a mainstay while working other jobs, like doing sound and managing the Fenway Theater.
“I turned it into Boston’s rock and roll palace,” he says. “It led to Aerosmith’s career, actually.”
Two separate accidents left Reilly sidelined from playing.
“Same arm, paralyzed twice for a year,” he says.
He transitioned to business, got into yoga and worked as a physical therapist, picking the bass guitar back up.
Now he plays in four of the five house bands that perform every Sunday, including Gypsy Joe and the Perpetrators.
“It’s our free Sunday Blues Brunch & Jam,” he says.
And Reilly’s wife, Suyun, runs the kitchen.
“Mostly American food, some Chinese food, but it’s all always Asian inflected,” he says.
Reilly also partnered with Conshohocken Brewery for its drinks.
“And it’s a great boutique bar,” he says.
Though he’s playing the blues, there are a lot of smiles.
Reilly says he loves people and music, and if those concepts can be married, “I’m a happy guy.”
Jamey’s House of Music is also the home venue for the Philadelphia Blues Society, which Reilly helped found in 2023. And Saturday, October 10, 2026, that organization is hosting the 2nd annual Philadelphia Blues Festival. That’s being held at Temple University’s Ambler Campus Theatre. It’s going to be a great day of live music. You can find more details and purchase tickets at https://www.philadelphiabluessociety.org/festival/
Jamey’s House of Music
The Philadelphia Blues Society – 2nd annual Philadelphia Blues Festiva
Link to tickets for 2nd annual Philadelphia Blues Festival
Jamey’s House of Music
32 S. Lansdowne Ave.
Lansdowne, PA 19050
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