Atlanta's Music Scene Pulses with Energy
From intimate listening rooms to large arenas, Atlanta hits the right note with music-lovers

Hip-Hop, R&B and Soul

The New York Times dubbed Atlanta as “hip-hop's center of gravity,” and for good reason. Long before the city's first home-grown rapper, Mo-Jo, hit the radio in the 1980s, young musicians were rhyming and performing at Shyran's Showcase in East Atlanta. During the 1990s, hip-hop rose in national popularity while two celebrated duos emerged out of Atlanta: Kris Kross and OutKast. OutKast's overwhelming success in the mid-90s placed Atlanta firmly on the hip-hop map, alongside New York City and Los Angeles. Today, hip-hop and R&B continue to thrive in Atlanta with popular artists such as T.I., Ludacris, Future and many more hailing from the city.

Hip-hop and soul enthusiasts should begin their Atlanta visit with a stop at Apache Café. Once known as a springboard for artists such as Erykah Badu and India.Arie, Apache Café remains a hub for listeners to discover emerging artists, rub elbows with locals and imbibe the Café's Latin-inspired small bites and spirits. For late-night dancing, MJQ Concourse, Compound and El Bar are known for their high-energy DJs and fun hip-hop beats. Finally, ambitious hip-hop fans can channel their inner artist at Music Camp, a series of educational seminars held at the legendary Patchwork Studios – a local hip-hop recording studio that has cut more than 60 gold and platinum records since 1994.

Country, Blues and Jazz

Atlanta's musical heritage in the genres of country, blues and jazz runs deep. Georgia's capital served as the launching pad for artists like Fiddlin' John Carson, Blind Willie McTell and Fletcher Henderson as early as the 1920s. Throughout the subsequent decades, Atlanta has served as a breeding ground for up-and-coming talent across genres, producing nationally-acclaimed artists such as blues and soul legend Otis Redding, country sensations Alan Jackson and Trisha Yearwood, and jazz artists like Lizz Wright and Michelle Malone. Today, Atlanta is home to eclectic communities of musicians and plays host to more than 20 country, blues and jazz events each year.  

 There's no shortage of places to hear toe-tapping music in Atlanta. For those with an itch to kick up their heels, Wild Bill's boasts a large stage and a roomy dance floor, perfect for line dancing. For blues, Blind Willie's and Northside Tavern are can't-miss Atlanta mainstays. Atlanta's jazz musicians and enthusiasts frequent Churchill Grounds in Midtown, Sweet George's Juke Joint in Downtown Atlanta and Café 290 in Sandy Springs. For the most devout jazz fans, May is the best time to visit Atlanta as the city's signature green space, Piedmont Park, transforms into a massive outdoor venue for the Atlanta Jazz Festival, the largest free jazz festival in the country.  

Folk Rock to Indie Rock to Hard Rock

Rock 'n' roll and folk music both rose in popularity in the southeast and across the nation from the '60s through the '90s. In Atlanta, the 1980s generated highly influential folk and rock artists, including the Grammy Award-winning duo, Indigo Girls, Shawn Mullins and The Black Crowes. Subsequent big name rock 'n' roll exports out of Atlanta include Black Lips, Deerhunter and Mastodon. Today, Atlanta continues to incubate some of the nation's most creative indie rock, hard rock, and folk talent, including Royal Thunder, The N.E.C., Little Tybee and many more. 

Music enthusiasts across genres will enjoy a trip to singer-songwriter haven Eddie's Attic in Decatur. For more than 20 years, Eddie's Attic has served as the place where musicians find a following. Best bets for hearing up-and-coming rock acts include The Earl in East Atlanta, Star Bar in Little Five Points and Smith's Olde Bar in Midtown. Atlanta's energetic mid-sized venues draw up-and-coming touring acts; such venues include nightclub-theatre hybrid Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points and The Masquerade in the Old Fourth Ward. For a more intimate listening room experience, try Red Light Café to hear inventive folk-rock, bluegrass and Americana. For a full weekend of music, visit Atlanta during Music Midtown, one of Atlanta's largest annual outdoor music festivals, or during Shaky Knees Music Festival, a popular folk and rock festival in its third year.

Electronic Dance Music (EDM)

Electronic dance music achieved some popularity in Atlanta during the 1990s, but the genre was largely overshadowed by hip-hop. Today, however, EDM is finding a home in hip-hop's capital city, thanks in large part to the city's global, melting-pot population and creative hip-hop community. One notable early EDM influencer is Atlanta-based crunk rapper Lil' Jon who mixed crunk with EDM in the mid-2000s, most notably with single, “Give It All U Got” – the song that foreshowed contemporary crunk-EDM hit, “Turn Down for What.” Over the past four years, Atlanta hip-hop artists have begun collaborations with European-based EDM DJs and producers, making the city an incubator for fresh EDM hits. The increase in the genre's popularity has given way to two massive EDM festivals, TomorrowWorld and Imagine Music Festival.

EDM heads have a variety of options for dancing the night away in Atlanta. Tuesday nights at The Sound Table are characterized by leading-edge EDM DJs – order a stiff drink from the venue's bar and spend the night mingling with the city's young and hip. Thursday nights at Havana Club are produced by IRIS Presents, Inc. and attract top Atlanta-based EDM DJs such as MK Ultra, Mayhem and Heroes x Villains. Finally, QUAD @ Spring4th Complex and Rush Lounge are both clubs dedicated entirely to EDM, dubstep and electronic-hip-hop fusion genres.   

For additional information on upcoming music events, visit www.atlanta.net/events/music.

Established in 1913, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau is a private, nonprofit organization created to favorably impact the Atlanta economy through conventions and tourism.

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