JP Music

For 25 Years, the Midway Has Shaped the Sound of Jamaica Plain

When Dave and Jay Balerna bought the Midway Cafe 25 years ago, they changed the sound of JP.

No one calls it the Midway Café. Sure, there are still signs with both words outside and up above the inside stage. But to pretty much everyone, it’s just the Midway. It was probably that way even back in the 1940s, when the Boston Gas Company used to be across the street, and workers from the 8 a.m., 4 p.m. and midnight shifts kept the bar packed. But when Boston Gas moved out in 1982, business shriveled. Five years later, Dave and Jay Balerna took over the Midway’s liquor license from their aunt and uncle, who owned the whole block, and the brothers became the then-youngest bar owners in the city. Soon after, they introduced live music to the place. It's never been the same. I visited the Midway one afternoon last week to speak with Dave…

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