The Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation (a.k.a. Archie’s Barbershop), which was founded more than 20 years ago, could have easily fallen victim to the real estate boom on the Route 1 corridor. Instead, it’s thriving.

With all the changes happening in downtown Riverdale Park, including rising rents, last year the foundation moved from its home in Riverdale Park just off the train tracks to its new location at 4502 Hamilton St. in Hyattsville’s Arts District.

Named for Piedmont blues musician Archie Edwards, who lived and worked in Northeast D.C., the nonprofit has long held a weekly acoustic blues jam on Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m. All skill levels are welcome; if you don’t play an instrument, you may be handed a washboard.

The Archie Edwards All Stars, a rotating group of blues musicians from around D.C., recently played a two-hour set at Pizzeria Paradiso in Hyattsville, performed at the Folklore Society of Greater Washington’s mid-winter festival and has a regular gig every second Saturday at Maryland Meadworks, which has become a local music hotspot on the Route 1 corridor.

The foundation’s mission reflects the life of Edwards, who grew up playing at logging camps, served in World War II and opened the Alpha Tonsorial Palace barbershop before befriending Mississippi John Hurt and being discovered as a blues musician late in life.

Edwards believed that blues should be open to all — he played songs old and new by both black and white musicians alongside everyone from blues legends to young kids who stopped in the barbershop. Founded after his death in 1998, the Blues Foundation is keeping that spirit alive.

The foundation is funded almost entirely through donations.

Be sure to catch their next performance at Maryland Meadworks on Saturday, Feb. 8 from 7-10 p.m.