10 musician-owned businesses worth a road trip

Hey Seeker readers!

Lynyrd Skynyrd couldn’t be more wrong: Tuesday is here, and we hope our weekly dispatch is one of the highlights of your morning.

This past weekend, some of the biggest concerts upped the ante with major surprise guests. Noah Kahan folk-rocked the Rose Bowl and brought out Chappell Roan. Cynthia Erivo joined Ariana Grande at London’s O2 Arena for a Wicked reunion. And Bruno Mars popped up at Karol G’s show at L.A.’s SoFi Stadium to perform their collaboration “Still” for the first time.

Those appearances got us thinking about another kind of artist surprise: opening a brick-and-mortar business fans can actually visit. That might mean a bar, coffee shop or record store. It could also mean a Buc-ee’s-sized truck stop, a restored motor lodge or a fast-food joint serving spaghetti sandwiches.

We’ve collected 10 of our favorite musician-owned businesses across the U.S. If your favorite isn’t here, hit us up, because we already know we’ll be planning a part 2.

You can discover plenty more artist-owned spots in the Music Roadtrip app. It’s a guide to the venues, record stores, museums, landmarks and hidden corners that give a town its sound and soul.

Download it free from the App Store or Google Play.

The Gables

Where: Raleigh, North Carolina
Musician Owner: Tift Merritt
Established: Opening September 2026

Raleigh-raised singer-songwriter Tift Merritt drew on years of touring to help turn a restored 1928 Route 1 motor lodge into an 18-room boutique retreat in the city’s Mordecai neighborhood.

“The Gables, to me, is a table set for kindred spirits, family dinners, stories of traveling, comparing notes on good things,” Merritt tells Music Roadtrip. 

“It is a love song to both my hometown community and those open door days exploring cities where you know no one at all.”

Expect warm, layered rooms, a central lawn and Alcove, an indoor-outdoor neighborhood bar built for coffee, cocktails and conversation.

Madame Zuzu’s

Where: Highland Park, IL
Musician Owner: Billy Corgan
Established: 2012; reopened at its current location in 2020

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and his wife, designer Chloé Corgan, created this plant-based café, teahouse and record shop in suburban Chicago. Stop for loose-leaf tea, matcha, vegan comfort food and shelves filled with vinyl, including limited and exclusive Smashing Pumpkins releases.

Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop

Where: Cornersville, Tennessee
Musician Owner: Dolly Parton
Established: 2026

Move over, Buc-ee. Dolly Parton has given the roadside rest stop a 50,000-square-foot makeover—and yes, it’s open 24 hours. Along with fuel and EV chargers, travelers will find DLY BBQ, “Cup of Ambition” coffee, a full-service meat-and-three restaurant, a mountain of Dolly merchandise, a tour-bus photo op and a dog park christened “Doggy Parton.”

Trill Burgers

Where: Houston, Texas
Musician Owner: Bun B
Established: 2021; first brick-and-mortar location opened in 2023

Houston rap legend Bun B started Trill Burgers as a pop-up before opening its first permanent counter in Montrose. The compact menu centers on crispy-edged smashburgers layered with American cheese, caramelized onions, pickles and Trill Sauce, plus a vegan version that gets the same treatment.

Reba’s Place

Where: Atoka, Oklahoma
Musician Owner: Reba McEntire
Established: 2023

Reba McEntire helped transform a restored 1915 Masonic Temple in her home state into a three-story restaurant, bar and mercantile. The menu runs through Southern favorites such as chicken-fried steak, pinto beans and cornbread, while Jac’s Library displays books that belonged to Reba’s mother.

Third Man Records

Where: Nashville, Tennessee, and Detroit, Michigan
Musician Owner: Jack White
Established: Nashville in 2009; Detroit in 2015

Jack White’s Nashville headquarters is the rock and roll equivalent of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, packing in a record store, label offices, photo studio, recording booth and the Blue Room live venue. White followed it with a Detroit outpost in 2015, then added something Nashville doesn’t have: an on-site vinyl pressing plant, where visitors can watch records being made from a public viewing platform.

Mom’s Spaghetti

Where: Detroit, Michigan
Musician Owner: Eminem
Established: 2021

Eminem turned one of the best-known lines from “Lose Yourself” into a walk-up pasta counter in a downtown Detroit alley. The intentionally short menu offers spaghetti with or without meatballs and the bread-loaded ’Sghetti Sandwich; upstairs, The Trailer sells Eminem merchandise and displays memorabilia inspired by 8 Mile.

Cardozo

Where: Miami Beach, Florida
Musician Owners: Gloria and Emilio Estefan
Established: Built in 1939; purchased by the Estefans in 1992 and reopened after renovation in 2019

Gloria Estefan admired the Cardozo as a child and dreamed of owning it one day. She and Emilio eventually made that happen, restoring the 41-room Art Deco landmark into a stylish Ocean Drive hotel directly across from the beach.

Atlantucky Brewing

Where: Atlanta, Georgia
Musician Owners: Nappy Roots members Skinny DeVille and Fish Scales
Established: 2022

After Nappy Roots began homebrewing together in 2017, the Southern hip-hop group opened its own brewery and taproom two blocks from Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The name connects the group’s Atlanta and Kentucky roots, while the taps, pizzas, wings and music-referencing paninis make it an easy pregame stop.