About the scene
Music City.
Nashville's nickname is the most literal one on this list — the city is built on music, but the actual working scene happens almost entirely outside the Broadway honky-tonk strip that tourists associate with it. The real Music City lives in East Nashville and the Cannery row south of downtown. The 5 Spot, The Basement, and Basement East cover the East Nashville indie, funk, and singer-songwriter circuits with shows most nights of the week, often with the rotating cast of working session players who define the city's musical labor force.
The Cannery Hall complex south of downtown houses Cannery Hall (the main room), Mercy Lounge, and The High Watt under one roof, covering indie, alt, hip-hop, and electronic. 3rd & Lindsley is the city's funk and R&B mainstay, with weekly residencies from session-player groups. The Station Inn keeps the bluegrass tradition alive — a low-ceilinged room in The Gulch where the city's deep bench of pickers cycle through nightly. Rudy's Jazz Room handles the jazz side; The Cobra and DRKMTTR cover punk and DIY.
Genre breadth is the highest of any city on this list: country (obviously), Americana, bluegrass, soul, funk, indie, hip-hop, alt-country, jazz, gospel — Nashville's session-musician economy means the working players who back the country stars during the day are also playing the small rooms at night under their own names. The Nashville feed on Rager is the antidote to the Broadway tourist strip; it focuses on the rooms where the local scene actually happens.
This week in Nashville
Upcoming shows
Tonight
The Basement · Nashville, TN
The Bluebird Cafe · Green Hills
The East Room · East Nashville
The East Room · East Nashville
Rudy's Jazz Room · The Gulch
Tomorrow
The Basement · Nashville, TN
The Bluebird Cafe · Green Hills
EXIT/IN · Elliston Place
Sunday
Basement East · East Nashville
Monday
The Bluebird Cafe · Green Hills
The Basement · Nashville, TN
Tuesday
Wednesday
The East Room · East Nashville
3rd & Lindsley · SoBro
The Bluebird Cafe · Green Hills
Thursday
The East Room · East Nashville
The Basement · Nashville, TN
Fri, Jul 17
The East Room · East Nashville
3rd & Lindsley · SoBro
The Basement · Nashville, TN
3rd & Lindsley · SoBro
The Bluebird Cafe · Green Hills
Want filters, saves, and rewards?
Open the full app for the complete upcoming list, genre filters, and check-in points.
Open the Nashville feedThe Nashville weekly
This week's shows, in your inbox.
One email a week with the best of what's coming up in Nashville. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.