Travelling to the USA often means picking one major destination. With a country as big as the USA, it is hard to generally visit too broad of an area. Obviously, this isn’t the case if you are simply going on a road trip, but for those just looking for a fun and exciting getaway, usually there is something that is drawing them to an area, whether it is a culinary experience, museums, or even weather, usually there are different things that draw tourists to different parts of the country.

One of the most common reasons people choose some part of the country to travel to is actually music. There is no shortage of cities in the USA with a strong musical identity, and many travellers are eager to experience these spots and enjoy live shows, record stores, music clubs and all kinds of other

To get to any part of the USA, you need an ESTA, which is a travel authorisation that is allows you to enter the USA without a visa. With an ESTA, you can travel to the USA as often as you would like within a 2-year period. Which is perfect if you cannot decide where exactly you want to go first.

Nashville

Nashville is without a doubt one of the many cities in the USA that lives and breathes music. It is therefore not strange that this city is also called the “Music City, U.S.A.”. Also known as the birthplace of country and western music, the city has produced many well-known musicians and singers over the years, such as Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton who started their musical journey here in the rural Tennessee city. For full musical immersion, visit one of the many honky tong music venues in the city’s Broadway district to get a full taste of the city’s musical heritage or go to the Ryman Auditorium, formerly known as the Grand Ole Opry house, that hosted many music stars from the 1950s and sixties, such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, June Carter, Patsy Cline and Minnie Pearl.

Didn’t get enough fill of music yet? To see how Nashville truly embraces their place in music history, pay a visit to The Country Music Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry House, now a famous recording studio, and the Music Row; a historic district southwest of downtown Nashville, which is widely known as the hart of Nashville’s entertainment industry.

Atlanta

The roots of hip hop might lie in the Big Apple, surely in Atlanta Georgia, it gained widespread recognition and popularity and was accepted as a separate music genre by the widespread majority in the south. The emergence of hip hop into main stream music, can be led back to two major key events in history: the founding of the record label LaFace, founded in 1989 as a joint venture between Arista Record, and the producing duo Antonio Reed and Kenneth Edmonds, and the establishment of the Dungeon Family Music collective. The foundation of the La Face record label, was responsible for putting Atlanta on the musical map. Famous artists that signed with LaFace in the past are names such as Usher, TLC and Toni Braxton. In 1992, they signed the hip hop duo Outkast, who had their first album produced by the producing duo of Reid & Edmunds. The album, released in 1994, entered the top 20 of the Billboard 200 and ultimately achieved platinum status in the USA.

What connects Atlanta with the Hip Hop genre, can be felt as soon as you touch ground at the airport. For example, definitely pay a visit to Chicken & Beer, a restaurant owned by rapper Ludacris, who named the place after his fourth album Chicken & Beer. Next stop on the list is the Apache Café in downtown Atlanta. Formerly known as the Yin Yang Café, it was and still is an important venue for up and coming underground hip-hop artists. If you have the time, you can even stroll past the original Dungeon location, which was basement in the residential area of Lakewood. Fun fact: this was referenced as well in Player’s Ball, Outcast’s first single.

If you’re in for a good night out, the nightclub Tongue and Groove with their Hip Hop friendly sound system. If this is not enough for you and if you’re short on time, you can opt to do a “Buckhead to Bankhead” bus tour, which takes approximately five hours and takes you through two of the major hip hop-influenced areas of Atlanta.

New Orleans

Jazz and Blues are intricately woven into the history and culture of the United States. New Orleans is its birthplace, where the soulful music of the African American population of the city intermingled with that of the European influential music styles in the 19th and 20th century. Everywhere you go in Downtown New Orleans, you’ll be sure to be submerged in the musical cultural significance of the city, with street musicians and funeral bands at every corner of the historic centre of the city.

Want to have a true musical experience when visiting this Southern city? Definitely be sure to visit Bourbon Street, where every day of the week there are some performances of up-and-coming jazz artists and you’ll be guaranteed a music-filled night out. Not the clubbing type but still want to connect with New Orleans’ musical history? Visit the New Orleans Jazz Museum instead, where you can learn all there is to know about where this music originated and how its cultural significance came to be. Visiting the Bywater area, the designated hang-out spot for local artists and musicians, with lots of cool street art and hip cafés littered around, should also be part of your itinerary if you truly want to know music and art are a significant part of New Orleans culture.