'Let's Talk' with Rock 'n' Bowl's John Blancher: music, social media, still rolling at 70

John Blancher has spent exactly half his life letting the good times roll.

Thirty-five years ago, Blancher, now 70, bought a rundown, second-floor bowling alley at the corner of South Carrollton and Tulane avenues. He re-christened it Rock ‘N’ Bowl, and a quintessentially New Orleans nightspot was born.

In 2009, he moved Rock ‘N’ Bowl to a bigger bowling alley he built at Carrollton Avenue and Earhart Boulevard and has exported the brand to Lafayette.

He’s kept on rolling through health scares, a social media kerfuffle or two, and a shift in Rock ‘N’ Bowl’s booking strategy.

The following interview with Blancher, edited for clarity and length, is excerpted from a recent episode of “Let’s Talk with Keith Spera” on WLAE-TV.

You’ve averaged, what, four nights a week at the bowling alley for 35 years?

Four nights would be conservative. For the first 20 years, it was seven (nights a week). Now I get a break every now and then on Sundays and Mondays. But any time there’s live music going on, I’m there.

You’ve easily spent 10,000 nights at Rock ‘N’ Bowl.

If I step back and think about it, it is staggering. When I first decided to take this journey, I would wake up in deep sweats, because I knew my life was going to change drastically. I knew all these things I had been doing — going to wedding receptions, family gatherings, Sunday dinner at my mom and dad’s house, coaching my son — was going to change.

But I was so broke, I had no alternative but to just get in there and try to outwork myself from failure.

So many times in the early days, I was on the brink of bankruptcy. I was there 38 days when I first started consulting on how to file for bankruptcy, because I just didn’t see — nor could anyone else see — how I would stay alive. If I’d had one cooler go out or had any type of unexpected expense, I was finished.

Some kind of way, the good Lord kept me in business. The local media was really helpful. Occasionally I’d get a little write-up or a little television coverage. Following that coverage, there was always a little spike in business. It was always just enough to get me to the next month.

In the first 10 years, you took off only two Friday nights.

In 10 years, I never missed a Saturday. I missed two Fridays. My life all of a sudden became Rock ‘N’ Bowl. I was fortunate that I had the support of my wife. My children would come and visit (at the bowling alley), so I would see them.

When my son was playing ball around ’95 or ’96, there were no cellphones, so I didn’t know what was going on at the bowling alley when I would occasionally run off to see a ballgame.

In the first year, I’d never taken off. I was there seven days a week from 9 a.m. to midnight. One day, I ran home to see my family. As soon as I got home, the phone rang: “John, there’s a fire at the bowling alley, get here quick.”

This is a few days before I had my first band, Johnny J & the Hitmen, on Nov. 2, 1989. There are fire engines everywhere. My mechanic had put a cigarette in a plastic trash can behind the bowling machines and the trash can went up in flames.

But it was right next to the washing machine. The flames melted the water hose connected to the machine and the water put the fire out.

You’ve missed chunks of time more recently because of health issues. You had heart bypass surgery in 2016. The cardiologist who diagnosed you played in a band and ended up getting a gig at Rock ‘N’ Bowl.

I’d gotten the diagnosis and they tried to put in some stents, but it was worse than they thought. I had a 100% blockage, a 99% blockage and a 95% blockage — I needed bypass surgery. The cardiologist came in to discuss what he’d recommend and said, “By the way, here’s my band card.”

I was taken aback a little bit, but I had to figure that he thought my chances of survival were good. He thought there was a chance he’d get a gig at the Rock ‘N’ Bowl — and he did.

This year, you were sidelined by an appendectomy.

On June 20, I was watching the LSU-Wake Forest ball game and my stomach just wasn’t right. The next morning, I called my doctor. He recommended some things. Eight days later, I get a CAT scan and they tell me to get to the hospital right away — I had a ruptured appendix.

That’s usually a bad thing.

By this time, the doctor felt that because I had low fever, I was past the worst of it and he suggested I wait six weeks (to have surgery). When they went in for what was supposed to be a 20-minute operation, it was two hours and 40 minutes — my appendix had exploded.

So anyway, I came through. I’ve been feeling great since then.

When you’re at Rock ‘N’ Bowl, you like to have a drink or two. I don’t know if that helps or hurts your health.

I don’t know. I didn’t drink during that six-week period (while awaiting his appendectomy). I have at times overly partaken in alcohol. But by the grace of God, my liver and kidneys are excellent. I’ve been very fortunate that my body processes alcohol pretty well.

In the early days of Rock ‘N’ Bowl, you booked legendary Louisiana artists like Snooks Eaglin, Johnny Adams, Ernie K-Doe, Boozoo Chavis and Beau Jocque. Now much of the Rock ‘N’ Bowl schedule consists of cover bands.

What I’ve enjoyed the most since I’ve been at Rock ‘N’ Bowl was the early New Orleans R&B guys. That’s the music I love.

But the fact is, Snooks passed away two months before I opened the new bowling alley. Snooks kept telling me, “I can’t wait until the new place opens.” But it was never meant to be.

Eddie Bo passed away a month later. Ernie K-Doe had been gone for awhile. Johnny Adams had been gone since ’98.

I have their statues above the bowling lanes. I refer to them as the Moses who brought me to the promised land, but they never got to see it.

Some guys have outgrown me. Trombone Shorty played the early Rock ‘N’ Bowl often, then he got so big. The majority, I’ve lost by attrition.

(Trumpeter) Kermit Ruffins will occasionally play. If I could book Kermit every week and get a crowd, I would. But I’ve got to mix it up.

My business is music, but my primary revenue generator is private parties. Weddings, rehearsal dinners, birthdays, anniversaries — we’ll easily do 1,300 or 1,400 parties a year. That’s all sizes — it could be 16 to 600 (guests).

I always try to have music that will be attractive to the parties. They want festive, let’s dance, let’s party, mainstream music. To make them happy, I tend to go the cover band route.

There was a time when I’d book classic rock tribute bands and nobody would show up. That’s changed. Classic rock has been doing very well for me lately.

I do yearn for the days of old on the music end, but the days of old just aren’t bringing in the people.

You post quite a bit on social media. Some people object to some of your political content. As a guy whose business is built on attracting a wide swath of the public, is it a risk for you to post things that some folks may find controversial?

There’s definitely a risk. I don’t ever post anything on my business pages. On my personal pages. ... I feel like I have an opinion, you have an opinion, everybody has an opinion, and that’s fine. If you have an opinion, you should express it.

It’s been surprising and elucidating to me that people could be so self-righteous instead of (just) having a disagreement. “OK, I don’t think you’re right, this is why I think you’re wrong” is what a conversation should be.

I fully expect not everyone to agree with me. But I do fully expect them to hear my opinion. I hear your opinion and I don’t think you’re evil.

If I told all the stories the old-time musicians told me, these same self-righteous people would have been horrified. 

You’re 70 years old. Do you plan to retire? And are you confident your son Johnny, who runs Rock ‘N’ Bowl Lafayette, can keep the brand going?

I don’t have any intention to retire. I don’t know how I can. I owe too much money to retire.

Before Katrina, I leased the old bowling alley. Now I have a square block at Earhart and Carrollton and a square block in downtown Lafayette. It cost me a lot of money to accumulate that.

My son is a champion. My son-in-law works with me. I have great in-laws, great children. I think the future is brighter once I leave.

But I’ve had a great run. It’s been a total blessing to have been given this opportunity.

Thirty-five years, thousands of nights, so many memories made for so many people at Rock ‘N’ Bowl. It’s a heckuva legacy, but you’re going to be there as long as you are able. One day they might roll you out in a wheelchair and set you at the end of a bowling lane. You do bowl, right?

I have not bowled a game yet in the new place. I’ve been busy. If I stop to bowl, the phone rings and somebody needs something. There’s always something that needs to be taken care of.

I hope you find time to bowl at some point, because it can be a lot of fun.

It is a lot of fun.

"Let’s Talk with Keith Spera," a partnership between WLAE-TV and The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com, airs Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., with repeats on Sundays at 9:30 p.m., on Channel 32, COX Ch. 14 and 1014, Spectrum Ch. 11 and 711 and AT&T and DISH Ch. 32. Episodes are also available on the WLAE YouTube channel.