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MORE TOP US MUSIC CITIES
Austin, Texas Branded the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin has more than 250 show venues. They range from intimate spaces such as the Continental Gallery to auditoriums including ACL Live at the Moody Theater. Festivals such as South by Southwest and the Austin City Limits Music Festival draw visitors from around the world.
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans is known as the birthplace of jazz. Visitors can tap their feet to tunes while sipping cocktails and soaking up the vibe at bars and clubs in the French Quarter. The long-established Preservation Hall and Chickie Wah Wah are two of the city’s many live venues.
Seattle, Washington Influential guitarist Jimmy Hendrix is commemorated at a park bearing his name in the city of his birth. Distorted guitars became characteristic of grunge, the genre which evolved in Washington during the 1980s. The Crocodile is one of the Seattle venues to have hosted gigs by the likes of Soundgarden, Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
Austin, Texas
DESTINATIONS TENNESSEE | THE US
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Blues musician, Memphis; Elvis Presley’s bedroom, Graceland; Blues Hall of Fame, Memphis; Jungle Room, Graceland PICTURES: Memphis CVB/Andrea Zucker; Shutterstock/jejim; Stuart Forster
The 120-acre complex straddles Elvis Presley
Boulevard, 2.5 miles from Memphis International airport, whose Terminal B reopened in February following a £183 million revamp. After viewing the mansion and meditation garden,
where members of the Presley family are buried, visitors board minibuses and are dropped across the street. Here, Elvis’s private jets and cars are on display. So too is memorabilia, ranging from the star’s army uniforms to jumpsuits and posters from his film career. Fans have the option of staying on-site at the 450-room Guest House at Graceland, whose rooms are inspired by designs from the Graceland Mansion.
MUSICAL THREADS But Graceland – and Elvis – is by no means the only reason for music fans to visit Tennessee. “It’s better for Elvis and his legacy and it’s better for the Memphis music and tourism industry for us to be part of a fabric of different musical threads,” says Jack. The Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, created by the Smithsonian Institution, explains how musical influences including gospel and country flowed together in the Mississippi Delta to create new genres. “It’s as much a civil rights story as it is a music story,” says John Doyle, the museum’s executive director. “It
33The story tells how black and white musicians created music that was heard around the world
tells how black and white musicians created music that was heard around the world.” After watching a 12-minute introductory video featuring interviews with greats of the genres, visitors view exhibits including music memorabilia. The audio guides are loaded with more than 100 songs, making the experience all the more fun. The museum also manages the Memphis Music Hall
of Fame, whose inductees range from Jerry Lee Lewis and Justin Timberlake to hip hop act Three 6 Mafia. From there it’s a short walk to Beale Street, nicknamed the ‘Home of the Blues,’ with its bars, clubs and music venues including the original B.B. King’s Blues Club. Music history aficionados may also appreciate visiting the two-room home of W.C. Handy, the cornet player and composer known as ‘the Father of the Blues’. The wooden building he lived in was relocated to Beale Street in the 1980s.
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