A music lover’s guide to Charleston
This week, we’re heading east—to a city where a lot of shows come with salt air and a nice view, whether you’re looking out at the Atlantic or up through a canopy of live oaks and Spanish moss. There are a few ghost stories in the mix, too.
It’s time to drop anchor in Charleston, South Carolina.
Between the church steeples, centuries-old homes lining narrow streets and way too many ghost tours, it’s clear this place has some serious history. So does its music scene. These spots may not go back centuries, but in rock ’n’ roll time, they basically do.
The Windjammer has been booking bands by the beach for more than 50 years. The Charleston Pour House has spent decades building a community around its stage and deck. And newer spots like The Commodore and Groovers have taken over beloved old club spaces without wiping the slate clean, carrying forward the stories, sounds and even some of the décor of the rooms that came before.
The Windjammer
Brothers Malcolm and James Burgis opened The Windjammer in 1972 as a beachfront locals’ hangout on Isle of Palms. Back then, the draw was cold beer, burgers, pool tables, pinball and volleyball—plenty of good times to tide you over on the long drive through Sullivan’s Island, before the IOP Connector was a thing.
The live-music era took off in the early ’80s, when they started bringing in bands to play on a movable makeshift stage near the shuffleboard table. Hurricane Hugo washed the place away in 1989, but the Jammer reopened nine months later in a bigger, raised building, and eventually grew into one of the Southeast’s great beach-bar stages.
In the ’90s, it became a regular stop for Drivin N Cryin, Edwin McCain, Sister Hazel, Widespread Panic and a fledgling regional act known as Hootie & the Blowfish.
“The ’Jammer was that club everyone wanted to play,” Hootie frontman Darius Rucker told The Post and Courier. “It has been a staple of the Eastern live band scene for decades. We wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for The Windjammer.”
A couple of generations later, local favorites and touring acts are still singing the same tune. Upcoming beach-stage shows include The Brook & The Bluff, Easy Honey, Matisyahu, Wilderado, Steep Canyon Rangers, The Wood Brothers and Moon Taxi. There’s also The Hang on Hazelnut Isle, Sister Hazel’s annual weekend festival that serves as a three-day beach-club homecoming.
Groovers
Like the vintage vinyl behind the bar, the room that holds Groovers has changed hands a time or two.
The first-floor space at 139 Calhoun Street was The Reef Club in the 1960s, Copa Lounge in the ’80s and later Hound Dogs. Then came the original Groovers, a DJ-driven party room that operated in the ’90s. When Kate and Eric Gussin opened the current Groovers in October 2024, they leaned fully into that winding nightlife legacy.
Today, it’s a 23-and-up listening bar with hand-drawn DJ flyers from the original Groovers on the walls and records stacked behind the bar. You can order a Purple Rain (grapefruit-and-rose vodka, crème de violette, orgeat and citrus) or a Smoke on the Water (mezcal, cinnamon, mole bitters and orange bitters).
Wednesdays bring MTV Rewind nights, Fridays pair live music with disco DJs and Saturdays move from vinyl sets into late-night dancing. Sounds like you’ll have ample opportunity to get into the groove.
Awendaw Green
Awendaw Green sits outside Charleston proper, about 15 miles north of the city at Sewee Outpost. It’s worth the drive. In fact, the Wednesday-night Barn Jam may be the most authentic music experience in the Charleston area.
The series grew out of house shows hosted by Eddie White, a Charleston dentist and serious music fan who wanted to give original music a place to breathe. After a few temporary homes, the Barn Jam settled at Awendaw Green about 15 years ago.
Today, the crowd gathers around a barn with a covered stage, a first-rate sound system, a pond, picnic tables and food from The Roost, including wood-fired pizza. It’s BYOB, and non-aggressive dogs are welcome on leashes. Barn Jams happen every Wednesday, year-round and rain or shine. Walk-up admission is $10 cash, and kids under 12 get in free. The Aug. 12 lineup includes Asphalt and Gravel, North State Grass, The Trousers, Jake Clayton and Creatio.
White has called the Barn Jam “a backyard barbecue with a built-in PA.” It may be a little farther from your hotel than you’d like, but trust us: head up Highway 17 on a Wednesday night and you’ll see the Lowcountry music community in its natural habitat.
The Commodore
Say “A Touch of Class” to the right Charleston local and you may get a story.
That was the name of the Eastside jazz and R&B club that once occupied this Meeting Street room, and the people who spent nights there still talk about it warmly. In its heyday, A Touch of Class was part of the jazz and R&B circuit for acts including James Brown and Marvin Gaye.
When The Commodore opened in 2016, its owners carried that tradition forward. They preserved the murals of Duke Ellington and Sarah Vaughan, kept a lot of the old furniture, then completed the room with green velvet, glossy black tile, low lighting and a disco ball over the dance floor. Come early for the Jazz Series from 7:30 to 9 p.m., or arrive later for house bands like Lady & The Brass, The Majestics, The Funktastics and Future Funk. With live music up to five nights a week, the disco ball is seeing plenty of action.
Ask any Deadhead: folks who are passionate about jam bands are willing to follow the music around. But in Charleston, that crowd has had an enviable home base for nearly 25 years.
Alex and Vanessa Harris took over the original Pour House in 2002, then moved it to Maybank Highway in 2005, into a former 7-Eleven that became one of the city’s most reliable music spots. Stellar touring acts are a constant, but so are the weekly hangs, like Monday Mash-Ups, The Reckoning’s Grateful Dead nights, Sunday Motown Throwdown, even a brunch farmers market.
The Pour House has also been part of some formative Charleston music stories. Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent of Shovels & Rope became deck regulars around 2010, before the duo had even settled on its name, and some of that era later appeared in the doc The Ballad of Shovels and Rope. Sol Driven Train became part of the room’s extended family, as did bands like The Reckoning and Runaway Gin.
Even as artists it helped nurture gain prestige, the Pour House still feels handmade. Its story keeps evolving with each new mural on the wall and each musician cycling through the deck.
More Charleston Spots
The Royal American
Downtown bar and venue with local bills, patio shows, and a loyal crowd.
Burns Alley Tavern
Hidden downtown dive with regular live entertainment.
Tin Roof
West Ashley room for rock, punk, alt-country, and small touring acts.
Forte Jazz Lounge
King Street jazz room with regular live sets.
Ohm Radio 96.3
Nonprofit community radio station supporting local music.
Charleston Jazz / Charleston Jazz Festival
Concerts, education, and festival programming tied to the city’s jazz legacy.
International African American Museum
Cultural context for Charleston’s Black history and Gullah/Geechee roots.
Former Jenkins Orphanage / Old Marine Hospital
Historic site tied to the Jenkins Orphanage Bands and early jazz history.
Cabbage Row / Catfish Row
Church Street landmark tied to Porgy and Bess.
Monster Music & Movies
West Ashley record store with vinyl, CDs, movies, and collectibles.
Record Stop Charleston
Downtown King Street vinyl shop.
Charleston Music Hall
Historic downtown performance hall hosting concerts, comedy, film, and events.
Music Farm
Long-running downtown club for touring and local acts.
Credit One Stadium
Daniel Island outdoor venue for major touring concerts.
Firefly Distillery
North Charleston distillery with outdoor concerts.
The Refinery
Outdoor venue in Charleston’s Refinery development.
North Charleston Coliseum & Performing Arts Center
Regional arena and theater complex for major concerts and touring productions.
Dock Street Theatre / Spoleto Festival USA
Historic theater and festival programming central to Charleston’s performing-arts scene.
Charleston Bluegrass Festival
Awendaw Green’s larger bluegrass gathering.
Swamp Sessions
Awendaw Green’s songwriter-retreat project.
