Welcome to Atlanta, a hotbed of hits

Welcome Back, Seekers!

How’s April treating you? It’s been a bit of a whirlwind here at HQ.

Did you catch our first festival preview last week? It rounds up the biggest and best fests across the U.S. through May. We’ll roll out a new edition each month, giving you a little lead time to lock in your plans.

Meanwhile, the press keeps coming, as more outlets spread the word about our Music Roadtrip app. Frommer's checked in last week, and so did The Hustle. You can read the latest coverage here.

Wherever you end up this week, make sure you take Music Roadtrip with you. You’ll have a live guide to all the coolest music spots in the palm of your hand.

Download the app now for iPhone and Android devices.

And the whirlwind continues with a trip down south this week, to a music-saturated metropolis where the players play (we’re told).

ATLANTA, GA

“The South got something to say.”

It’s one of André 3000’s most famous lines, and it didn’t come from a song. He said it onstage at the 1995 Source Awards as Outkast accepted the prize for Best New Rap Group, in a tense room filled with East and West Coast rappers who weren’t ready to take Atlanta seriously.

Ten years later, Outkast’s hometown wasn’t just at the center of rap — it was producing some of the biggest hits in the world. You’ll never attend another wedding without seeing Usher’s “Yeah!” act like a tractor beam for the dance floor. “No Scrubs,” “Get Low,” and “Hey Ya!” have the same power. 

Those hits landed as Atlanta stepped into the same conversation as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, boosted by Ted Turner’s media empire, the 1996 Summer Olympics, and a surge in film and television production. (Your favorite Marvel movie battle was probably staged down the road in Fayetteville.)

Like those cities, Atlanta’s music scene has become a smorgasbord of sound – but not at the expense of its local flavor. 

“Atlanta offers an incredible range of live music experiences, from intimate listening rooms to world-class entertainment venues,” said Logan Doctson, public relations manager, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We hope visitors have the opportunity to explore the city’s diverse music scene with each spot offering its own unique atmosphere.”

We couldn’t agree more. Whether you’re in a blues-soaked dive, a songwriters room, or the world’s first hip-hop museum, this city still has plenty to say. 

Northside Tavern

In Atlanta’s music scene, Northside is like the house from Pixar’s Up. For more than 50 years, this cash-only blues bar has been owned by the same family and has sat largely unchanged as its surroundings transformed from stockyards and factories to high-rise condos and office complexes. When owner Ellyn Webb — whose passion for the blues turned Northside into a musician’s hang — died in 2017, her brother Tommy took the reins.

“I asked a thousand people what I should do to improve it,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And they said, ‘Do not change a thing.’”

And to this day, walking into Northside feels the same way it has for decades: like you’re practically onstage with the band. Iron bars still cover the windows, and the room is tight and dim, painted black, with a low ceiling and a stage that sees constant action. There’s live music most nights, and on Mondays, that could include you — the open jam invites anyone to grab a spot onstage.

Tabernacle

The 1996 Olympic Games have a lot to do with The Tabernacle’s transformation from a 1911 church into one of Atlanta’s premier music venues. By the ’90s, services had ended and the building was looking for a buyer just as Centennial Olympic Park was being developed across the street. Turning it into a venue at the center of the action made sense. It opened as a House of Blues during the Summer Games, then became the Tabernacle as we know it today in 1998.

Three decades and dozens of industry awards later, it’s still one of the city’s best spots to catch big names. The Black Keys, Echo & the Bunnymen, and Courtney Barnett are all passing through in the coming weeks.

Trap Music Museum

As Atlanta continued to rule the charts in the 21st century, its signature “trap” style — a tense, dark, and aggressive blend of Southern rap, informed by the crack epidemic — became the sound of America, even spreading to the pop world.

In 2018, Atlanta rap giant T.I. brought the phenomenon back home, opening the Trap Music Museum as a temporary pop-up. But thousands of fans quickly petitioned to make the museum a permanent attraction, so it’s still in action nearly a decade later — with a twist you’ll never see coming. It’s also an escape room.

Escape the Trap (“Atlanta’s Dopest Escape Room”) operates seven days a week, and every session includes a private tour of the Trap Music Museum. It’s a small space, but densely packed, with art installations and artifacts from Jeezy, Rick Ross, T.I., and others around every corner.

Criminal Records

Call it the house Nevermind built. Six weeks after Eric Levin opened his record store in Atlanta’s Little Five Points, Nirvana’s game-changing album was released. “I made my fortune off that album,” he told the Journal-Constitution in 2021.

Those glory days didn’t last, of course. Like other great, long-running American record stores, Criminal Records weathered the storms of Napster, streaming, the financial crisis, and COVID, each time emerging more resilient and determined to bring record geeks together. As they put it, they’re now “celebrating [35] years of sticking it to the man.”

Everybody’s played an in-store here, from Donald Glover and Mumford & Sons to Jason Isbell and Janelle Monáe, and it sounds like it became Finn Wolfhard’s home away from home while filming Stranger Things in Atlanta.

“Criminal Records is iconic,” he said last year.

Eddie’s Attic

“We encourage a listening atmosphere in our listening room,” reads a fading banner hanging onstage at Eddie’s Attic. You’ll want to focus up, because this 175-capacity venue has proven to be the place to catch an artist right before everything changes.

When John Mayer moved to Atlanta after college, he made Eddie’s his headquarters, playing the open mics, working the door, and becoming the club’s go-to fill-in. "Somebody's car would break down on the way to a gig and, boom, I'd be on stage in 30 minutes,” he told Creative Loafing in 2003.

The first time a young Justin Bieber performed onstage anywhere besides his native Ontario, it was at Eddie’s, between his first recording sessions in Atlanta.

Tyler Childers, Jennifer Nettles and Shawn Mullins are also tied to this place. Like Mayer, Childers won Eddie’s “Bi-Annual Open Mic Shootout,” which still continues to uncover incredible talent. 

More Atlanta Spots

Junkman’s Daughter
Little Five Points counterculture shop that helps define the neighborhood’s offbeat vibe.

Variety Playhouse
Revived mid-size Little Five Points venue with a vibrant array of touring acts.

Fox Theatre
Historic theater with a starry ceiling; hosts major concerts and Broadway runs.

529
East Atlanta dive with a strong DIY scene.

The Earl
East Atlanta Village staple is a longtime stop for indie and punk acts on the way up.

Blind Willie’s
Long-running blues club with consistent live bands.

Stankonia Studios
Outkast’s former studio; a key Atlanta hip-hop landmark (not open to the public).

Apache XLR
Neo-soul and hip-hop venue tied to the city’s creative scene.

Paschal’s Restaurant
Sweet Auburn institution with deep cultural and music history.

Maple Street Guitars
Boutique guitar shop known for acoustics and vintage gear.