Best Live Music Venues in Nashville — Beyond Broadway

Broadway’s honky-tonks get the attention, but Nashville’s real music scene lives in venues scattered across the city — rooms where songwriters play in the round, where bluegrass legends perform for 50 people, and where the next big country or indie act gets discovered.

The Legendary Rooms

Ryman Auditorium — The “Mother Church of Country Music.” Built in 1892 as a church tabernacle, home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974, and still one of the best-sounding rooms in America. Every major country, bluegrass, folk, and Americana act considers a Ryman show a career milestone. 2,362 seats. Church pew seating (yes, still). Check the schedule — shows run almost nightly.