Ten Great American Music Cities

Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Seattle, and Austin may all be epicenters of American music, but there are tons of incredible music destinations in between those cities that are woefully underappreciated on a national scale.

In fact, this list could be hundreds strong. When you’re booking your own shows, there’s no limit to where you can go and build an audience for your music if you take a creative, open-minded approach. That’s why we (our friends at Soundfly!) created our free course on DIY booking, management, and marketing called Touring on a Shoestring: to empower artists with the tools to successfully break new ground on the touring circuit.

If you’re here to pick up a few extra cities to anchor your next tour, we got you covered as well.

Philadelphia

Venues like Union Transfer, Kung Fu Necktie, and Johnny Brenda’s make Philly a can’t-miss destination for rising musical talents and established household names alike. The City of Brotherly (& Sisterly!) Love is also home to a flourishing class of critically acclaimed indie darlings including (Sandy) Alex G, The War On Drugs, and Kurt Vile.

Omaha

Sure, Saddle Creek’s heyday was a couple of decades ago, but Omaha is still a great place to hear and create music. With a tight-knit scene led by seasoned veterans that are perpetually energized by newcomers passing through, Omaha’s low cost of living and strong musical infrastructure makes it a solid choice for musicians who are being priced out of America’s more popular music cities, or who are just looking for a great night on the road spent with a welcoming musical community.

Taos

What makes this tiny New Mexico town so great? Well, the fact that despite having a population of literally only 6,000 people, you can still hear live music every night of the week. Music festivals and spiritual meetups like the one Meow Wolf threw here with The Flaming Lips and Dr. Dog is another reason. Between small but earnest venues invested in bringing great music to the city, like the Taos Mesa Brewery, cheap artist-friendly rent, and some of the most stunning scenery in the American West, Taos should be a fitting home for live music for years to come.

Memphis

Memphis is not only a living museum of the American blues music tradition; it’s also hosted a boatload of garage rock bands over the years, like the late Jay Reatard. It’s a place where you’re just as likely to see incredible musical talent up on a big stage as you are in a small, darkened bar. From Big Star to What We Do In Secret to Reigning Sound, the city is a proud home to a slew of critically acclaimed bands.

The Twin Cities

Prince’s purple ghost looms large over Minneapolis and St. Paul. But the Minnesota area is a great place for music even if you take the legendary musician out of the equation. Some readers will be surprised to learn that Bob Dylan spent a few formative years of his early career in the Twin Cities, and that the area is home to one of alternative hip-hop’s most thriving music communities. First Avenue’s Mainroom and its smaller 7th St. Entry venue help make the Twin Cities one of America’s best places for music.

New Orleans

We all know that New Orleans is a hugely important international destination for not only music, but history, culinary culture, and art. The Big Easy is an insanely wonderful place to sip on a hurricane and listen to big, brassy jazz music, or catch a weirdo DIY show in a basement somewhere. 

Asheville

Asheville’s earned a reputation for music over the last couple of decades because of venues like the Orange Peel and the Grey Eagle, and its knack for incubating bands like the Steep Canyon Rangers and River Whyless. It’s a bastion of creativity and acceptance in a place that’s not exactly known for those things — the Appalachian Mountains. The blending of old and new music traditions help make Asheville one of America’s most important mountain music cities, for sure.

Boston

Boston has been producing some of the world’s most important musical acts for decades, including Aerosmith, The Pixies, and The Cars. The city’s strong ties to higher education make it the perfect place for a wide range of young musicians from all over the world to meet, play, communicate, and organize all kinds of crazy stuff.

Louisville

Kentucky has had a wealth of music history pass over this city like a dense fog, from early bluegrass and country to blues, gospel, and folk. And later in the 20th century, post-rock and new Americana indie rock. It’s been doing things on its own terms throughout all of those movements, but Louisville still happily flies under the rest of the nation’s radar. Meanwhile, the city’s music scene has supported such rising artists as My Morning Jacket, Slint, Bonnie Prince Billy, and Mansions. Go to the Mercury Ballroom or Headliners Music Hall for the show and stay for the bourbon.

Chicago

We absolutely couldn’t forget the king of the Midwest, the Windy City itself. Schuba’s, the Empty Bottle, Lincoln Hall — these incredible Chicago music venues will give L.A. and NYC a run for their money any day of the week. Home of the still influential and widely loved Lollapalooza music festival, as well as the Pitchfork Festival, Chicago has continued to play a major role in developing and launching musical talent since the early days of jazz in the 1920s. Also, did you know that like Boston, the band from Chicago is actually from Chicago? Whaddaya know!

This article was originally written and posted on Soundfly. Take 15% off any of Soundfly's mainstage courses with promo code: SONGTRUST15