Nashville's 10 Best Live Music Venues

John & Ellen’s 10 Favorite Nashville Music Venues

 

Nashville Live Music.jpg

Why do people visit Nashville? Great food town? Of course. Professional sports? We got ‘em! Museums, culture, history? That too! But the music…if you ask people worldwide what they think of when they think of Nashville, It’s the music!

There’s nowhere better than Nashville to listen to live music, and not just country. Nashville is The Music City, not just the country music city.

Ellen and I have put together our Top 10 favorite live music venues in Nashville. This guide contains 13 pages of photos, descriptions and web site links to the best places in Nashville to see a show. From intimate listening rooms, to larger venues, there's something here for everyone!

Download our Guide to Nashville’s 10 Best Live Music Videos:
Click Here to Download the PDF

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 Visiting Nashville? Stay at Heidtke House!

Heidtke House is our beautifully restored mid-century modern home - available for booking your stay in Nashville, TN. Located in The Historic Bluefields community just east of Downtown Nashville, Heidtke House is Centrally located just 10 to 15 minutes from Downtown, East Nashville, Opryland and the Nashville International Airport.

When you stay at Heidtke House, you are never far from where you want to be. Check our Availability for an always-up-to-date calendar and rates with a variety of booking options including AirBnB, VRBO / HomeAway - and you always get the best rate when you book directly with us!

You can learn more about your hosts John and Ellen, more about Nashville and more about Heidtke House by checking out the Nashville episode of Sense of Place, a travel show that featured Heidtke House!

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Get Ready - The Music City Hot Chicken Festival is Around the Corner

YES! We Nashvillians take our Hot Chicken Seriously. Maybe too seriously? Nah...

What is Hot Chicken anyway? It is a uniquely Nashville delicacy - chicken dredged, breaded, and fried with lots of fiery spice along the way, and generously coated with an even more fiery dry spice mixture at the end. Always served on slices of white bread with pickles and sides such as cole slaw.

Nashville Hot Chicken Festival   (Love by Nashville Vacation Home Heidtke House) 

Nashville Hot Chicken Festival   (Love by Nashville Vacation Home Heidtke House) 

There are many legends that tell the tale of how this delicacy came to be, but most revolve around this dish being served as revenge by a scorned lover!

The 13th Annual Music City Hot Chicken Festival pays homage to this uniquely Nashville phenomenon, which has left its mark around the world. One of my work colleagues was in the UK not long ago and noticed that "Nashville Hot Chicken" was offered on the menu at a London pub.

Created in 2007, the annual Music City Hot Chicken Festival brings together the local community and visitors to celebrate the uniquely-Nashville dish, Hot Chicken.

The FREE event is held in East Park at 700 Woodland Street on July 4th each year. The Fire Truck Parade begins at 10:30am followed by free Hot Chicken samples to the first 500 people in line. Festival gates open at 11:00am. Visitors can sample Hot Chicken from Nashville's best Hot Chicken establishments, cold beers and other delicious edibles from many local vendors. 

Live music from local bands keeps the "Nashville" vibe going all day long and visitors can look on while five teams try their hand at cooking up their version of Hot Chicken in the Amateur Cooking Competition. 

The event ends at 3pm, when visitors can start making their way downtown for the annual fireworks display. 

A few things to keep in mind when visiting the festival:

  • The Hot Chicken Festival is a "Rain or Shine" event
  • Admission is FREE to the Music City Hot Chicken Festival
  • Best to leave pets at home
  • The Festival is all-ages, however a valid ID is required for all beer sales.
  • Not all vendors accept credit cards. There is an ATM on site
  • No outside coolers allowed
  • No tents allowed
  • Restrooms are located inside the East Park Community Center
  • Free Hot Chicken samples are given to the first 500 guests, but the line starts forming well before 11am, so plan accordingly

Visiting Nashville? Stay at Heidtke House

Heidtke House is our beautifully restored mid-century modern home - available for booking your stay in Nashville, TN. Located in The Historic Bluefields community just east of Downtown Nashville, Heidtke House is Centrally located just 10 to 15 minutes from Downtown, East Nashville, Opryland and the Nashville International Airport. When you stay at Heidtke House, you are never far from where you want to be. Check our Availability for an always-up-to-date calendar and rates with a variety of booking opotions including AirBnB, VRBO / HomeAway - and you always get the best rate when you book directly with us

 

Rolling Stone Museum Exhibit Makes its Final Stop in Nashville, TN

I'm a Nashville native and in my 50+ years of living here, I've seen a lot of change. However, some of the things I remember from decades ago are still around like old friends. One of these is the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. This is a 10,000 seat auditorium with almost 70,000 sq/ft of exhibit space, which served as Nashville's first convention center.

Nashville Municipal Auditorium

Nashville Municipal Auditorium

 

I've seen many legendary artists perform there including The Eagles, Journey, Elton John and Billy Joel. One of the more memorable shows was seeing Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. On this occasion, Silver Bullet sax player Alto Reed was wireless mic'd (yes they had those then!) and came up into the audience two rows from where I was sitting. I had the thrill of watching him do the sax lines of "Turn The Page" from less than 20 ft. away.

This Nashville institution is now home to the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. The 70,000 sq/ft of exhibit space is now a museum that displays local as well as traveling exhibits.

 

Nashville Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum

Nashville Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum

The Rolling Stones Exhibit at the Nashville Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum is on display through June 26, 2018. This display features over 500 artifacts from The Rolling Stones 54-year history. This is the exhibit's last stop, so don't miss it! The museum is open from 10:00am to 5pm Mondays - Saturdays and 1pm to 6pm on Sundays. Get more information and purchase your tickets here!

 

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Visiting Nashville? Stay at Heidtke House

Heidtke House is our beautifully restored mid-century modern home - available for booking your stay in Nashville, TN. Located in The Historic Bluefields community just east of Downtown Nashville, Heidtke House is Centrally located just 10 to 15 minutes from Downtown, East Nashville, Opryland and the Nashville International Airport. When you stay at Heidtke House, you are never far from where you want to be. Check our Availability for an always-up-to-date calendar and rates with a variety of booking options including AirBnB, VRBO / HomeAway - and you always get the best rate when you book directly with us!

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