June 17, 2005
Porky's Rib House swings
Fresno bar attracts diverse crowds with live music and dance
By Michael Battipede
For Choices
FRESNO -- It's the only place in the Central Valley where a bar-hopper can start the night listening to a world-class blues guitarist and end it watching a cowgirl bounce on a mechanical bull.
It happens every Thursday at Porky's Rib House, a Fresno bar that also features a bathtub full of free peanuts and customers ranging from bikers to businessmen to jitterbugging happy-hour hipsters.
The mechanical bull is a fairly new addition, along with a lively country-western band that follows the blues performance, sometimes hitting its first note when the blues band hits its last.
And you can't beat the cover charge: There's not one.
Even with all of the stuff going on, most people say it's the live music that keeps everybody coming back, Thursday after Thursday.
For over two years, rhythm-and- blues legend Ron Thompson, who has strummed with blues greats like Etta James and B.B. King, has played the Porky's happy hour from 6-9 p.m. every Thursday.
Thompson said he feels a special connection with the crowd.
"People get into it," he said. "I give them energy and they give me energy. It works both ways."
Although he has played around the world, Thompson wouldn't miss his gig at Porky's.
"I drive all the way from the Bay Area to come out here, so I really like it that much," Thompson said.
Joe Villareal, 62, has been a huge Thompson fan for more than 20 years and feels privileged that he and the rest of Fresno can see him perform on a weekly basis.
"I'm very surprised that for a glass of beer we can hear probably the best blues musician on the West Coast," Villareal said. "Ron is not only an artist, but an icon in the blues field."
Besides enjoying the music at Porky's, Villareal likes hobnobbing with new friends he has acquired over the past year.
"Not only is Porky's a very friendly place, but I like to compare it to the TV show Cheers," Villareal said. "The atmosphere is very friendly and there are a lot of people I have made friends with."
While Thompson undoubtedly is the King of Cool at Porky's, the Prince of Panache is Johnnie Ray. The self-titled Dancin' Man of Fresno, decked out in dark shades and a derby hat, flips his partner upside-down and offers to dance with all willing to try.
Ray, and his dance partner, Stephanie DeAngio, combine her ballroom dancing skills and his jitterbug moves to create what he calls, "Fresno Freestyle Swing." It's become part of the environment at Porky's.
Ray has danced at Porky's for several years, primarily because of Ron Thompson music, but also because of the bar's great neighborhood feeling.
"I love the atmosphere of people of different ages and backgrounds all joining together to listen to blues and dance," he said.
It's practically a seamless transition when the blues stops in one corner and a country western band starts in another. Soon the Porky's staff rips open bags of wood chips and straw and scatters the contents all over the floor. Then the mechanical bull comes out for those willing to ride.
The overlapping blues and country fans often come early or stay later to fully enjoy both genres of music. One such style-straddler is Lucinda Roth, a 27-year-old country fan who once came early to hear what all the Ron Thompson talk was about.
She enjoyed Thompson electrifying performance so much that she has kept coming early.
Roth has been to other live music venues around Fresno. She said Porky's has an edge.
"It's not a meat house like some other places," Roth said. "It's very casual, the dancing is terrific and you can come with friends just to hang out."