Chicago blues singer-saxophonist Eddie Shaw with his son, guitarist Eddie Vaan Shaw, at the Maintenance Shop in 2011. Photo by Michael Swanger
Nov/Dec 2024 (Volume 16, Issue 6)
By Michael Swanger
During the process of researching and writing the cover story about the Maintenance Shop’s 50th anniversary for this issue of Iowa History Journal, I felt a bit nostalgic recalling the many terrific performances I witnessed at the legendary music venue.
For the better part of my 20-year career writing for central Iowa newspapers (1993-2013) I worked as a music critic. Covering the M-Shop was part of my beat and the allure of the quality and diversity of top-notch music acts that it booked drew me to dozens of shows there. If I wasn’t previewing an M-Shop show by interviewing a musician for a feature story, or critiquing their latest album, I was reviewing their performance at the Ames venue; always with my camera in tow as I served as photographer for my concert reviews, too.
To this day, I fondly recall the familiar sight of the M-Shop’s stained-glass window onstage … the olfactory sensation of the popcorn machine … the intimacy of sitting a few feet away from the musicians who were performing … and the pleasing sound quality of the shows.
The M-Shop not only booked some of my favorite musicians, including those whom I thought would never perform in central Iowa, but it also introduced me to some rising stars whose music I still enjoy.
Iowa History Journal Owner and Publisher Michael Swanger with Chicago blues legend Junior Wells in the Green Room at The Maintenance Shop in Ames, Oct. 6, 1995. Photo by Rebecca Swanger
Of the many shows that I’ve seen at the M-Shop it would be impossible to choose my favorites. But here’s a list of some that stand out to me: Son Seals, Doyle Bramhall, Leo Kottke, Kim Wilson, Arlo Guthrie, Dick Dale, Junior Wells, Leon Redbone, Thelonious Monk, Jr., Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise, Lou Ann Barton, Hank Williams III, Alejandro Escovedo, The John Doe Thing, Nickel Creek, House of Large Sizes, Todd Snider, Richard Thompson, Trailer Records Showcase, John Hammond, Billy Joe Shaver, Mike Morgan and The Crawl, Robin and Linda Williams, Alison Brown, A.C. Reed, Atomic Fireballs, Kelly Joe Phelps, Deke Dickerson, Dave Alvin, Allison Moore, Wayne Hancock, Chris Whitley, John Primer, David Lindley, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Clarance “Gatemouth” Brown, Commander Cody, and Eddie Shaw & The Wolf Gang.
Cheers to 50 years, M-Shop!
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