All Blues All the Time

Not far from a stretch of the Ventura Freeway in Sherman Oaks that could give anyone the blues sits Cozy’s Bar & Grill. Appropriately, says owner Steve Rakoczy, “We do nothin’ but the blues.”

Rakoczy remodeled the former Thai restaurant himself and then--more or less--named the place after himself. It has a big band room and separate pool and game room. In the adjacent dining room, the music sounds just fine and even the menu has the blues, as in T-Bone Walker steaks and Leadbelly prime rib.

Rakoczy’s favorite artists have their pictures on the wall: Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, John Lee Hooker and Robert Cray are up there--but he’s left room for future heroes. Further, imagine an all-blues--and no Metallica--jukebox.

“I’ve always been a big blues fan ever since I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan. I was looking for a blues club until I opened this place,” the owner said. “I think Cozy’s fills a void in the L.A. market. . . . You can go to the House of Blues and sit there a month and not see any blues.”

Rakoczy is the Vibe Master in his club, controlling everything from the lighting of the candles to the selection of music that’s played between sets.

“The No. 1 thing about Cozy’s is the atmosphere. Every place has a different vibe, and people seem to love the vibe here. It starts in the kitchen, then to the personnel, then to myself and on to the bands,” he said. “My whole game plan is to make Cozy’s known citywide. I think now there’s a reason for people to drive over the hill and come to the Valley.”

It’s no secret that most club owners love Fridays and Saturdays because that’s when they make their money. At Cozy’s, that’s when the big names roll in: the musicians who have CDs, fans and a plan. This month Cozy’s will host Rod Piazza, the Paladins, Smokey Wilson and other big-time blues acts that usually don’t play small clubs.

Weekends are the easy part. It’s those other four nights of the week that can be blues-inducing. None of this scheduling brain-strain appears to faze Rakoczy. First of all he figured out what to do with Sunday: Cozy’s is closed.

Monday is Open Jam Night hosted by John Marx & the Blues Patrol. Marx hasn’t just been around the block a few times, he was probably around when the block was built.

“All the young musicians can show up and play [at the open jam], but the cool thing is you never know who’s going to show up,” Rakoczy said. “Sometimes, the weekend headlining acts show up, and just the other night, Bruce Willis was here. It can get pretty crazy.”

Tuesdays, it’s the Scarletts--a guy drummer and four women--who have been playing Cozy’s for years. They do the mandatory blues songs plus a bunch of covers. Wednesdays it’s L.A. music scene veteran Preston Smith, whose picture hangs in the front window. Since Smith always attracts a lot of good-looking young women, Rakoczy has accepted the inevitable and turned Wednesday into Ladies Night.

Tonight and future Thursdays it’s B.J. Sharp, she of the Richter Scale, speaker-threatening blues voice that jeopardizes all windows within a 12-block radius of Cozy’s. She’s funny, too.

“Some of these blues Nazis don’t think it’s real unless it’s traditional, but I don’t buy that,” Sharp said during a recent interview. “I’m just a hillbilly chick that does contemporary blues my own way. I’ve had seven ugly husbands and three ugly kids; that’s enough to give anyone the blues.”

BE THERE

Cozy’s Bar & Grill, 14058 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. No cover on Monday and Tuesday, $5 Wednesday and Thursday; $6 to $10 Fridays and Saturdays. This weekend: Karen Lawrence & Blue by Nature, Friday; Kid Ramos, Saturday. Full menu. (818) 986-6000.