Nashville has lengthy been often known as the “Music Metropolis.” And for a lot of, Austin additionally enjoys appreciable cachet as an American music capital. However myriad different city aspirants covet a popularity as up-and-coming meccas for music lovers.

On this 111^th anniversary of the beginning of iconic “Mud Bowl Troubadour” Woody Guthrie, we prepare a white-hot highlight on the music-oriented actual property within the fast-growing metro proper up the street from Guthrie’s birthplace, in addition to the music-focused constructed environments of two different rising music metropolises.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Guthrie was born in Okemah, Okla., not 24 hours however somewhat 65 miles from Tulsa, on July 14, 1912. T-City noticed that legacy and proximity by christening the Woody Guthrie Middle public museum and archives within the Tulsa Arts District a decade in the past. It is smart, then, that Bob Dylan Middle, devoted to the life and works of the larger-than-life singer-songwriter whose biggest affect was Guthrie, opened in Tulsa final 12 months.

“I hear day by day, ‘Tulsa wasn’t actually on the map for me earlier than, however I heard in regards to the Bob Dylan Middle and determined to come back go to,’ they usually go on to go to the opposite music sights,” says Steve Jenkins, director of The Bob Dylan Middle.

“The Dylan Middle has change into a bonus for individuals coming by means of Tulsa on tour. These band members routinely say, ‘Tulsa is basically occurring.’ There’s an awesome ecosystem right here of reside music and music sights.”

The erstwhile Oil Capital of the World is dotted with an extended record of shrines for lovers of music and music historical past. Cain’s Ballroom, unveiled in 1930 as “Cain’s Dance Academy,” has hosted such storied acts as Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, and lives on right this moment as a standing-room-only music setting, with reserved seating for particular reveals. Different magnets for music lovers embody The Colony, the place George Harrison as soon as performed an impromptu set; the jazz speakeasy LowDown; and Mercury Lounge, the setting for performances by the town’s biggest fashionable people, nation and rock musicians.

One other treasure is The Church Studio, a church inbuilt 1915 that Tulsa-raised rock icon Leon Russell purchased in 1972 and transformed right into a recording studio and workplace of Shelter Data. Proprietor Teresa Knox studies Tom Petty was found at The Church Studio, and Willie Nelson, Stevie Surprise, J.J. Cale and Harrison all recorded there. Guests are welcome 10 to three p.m. Monday by means of Saturday to view a 6,000-piece assortment of memorabilia, starting from devices to handwritten lyrics.

Fort Wayne, Indiana

In the event you’re out to earn a popularity as a metropolis recognized for music, it helps to be dwelling floor for the most important on-site stock of any music retailer within the U.S. That’s the enviable distinction of the Hoosier State’s second-largest metropolis. Fort Wayne native Chuck Surack based The Sweetwater Music Retailer, which has grown to nearly 40,000 sq. toes of prime gear. In 2020, Sweetwater unveiled a brand new $52.5 million distribution middle 4 instances as massive as its former hub.

The brand new middle is dwelling to Sweetwater’s Guitar Gallery and Guitar Store, electronics restore, installations and extra. Sweetwater’s worldwide affect is such that 40 % of its workforce is scattered throughout the globe. Surack additionally owns Fort Wayne’s The Clyde Theatre at Quimby Village, a postwar-era film palace remodeled right into a state-of-the-art reside music efficiency corridor.

“Sweetwater and its 2,500 staff have performed an integral half in revitalizing the native and regional music scene,” stated CEO John Hopkins. “Because the nation’s largest on-line music instrument and professional audio gear retailers, we’ve got recruited among the most proficient musicians from all around the world and helped them relocate to Fort Wane. They type bands, they write and file unique music they usually carry out reside at numerous venues . . . The Sweetwater Academy has over 1,200 college students and is dedicated to creating and provoking the subsequent technology of music makers, who will guarantee a vibrant music scene in Northeast Indiana for years to come back.”

Chattanooga, Tennessee

The burg often known as “Scenic Metropolis” received’t let Nashville garner all of the Tennessee glory as a music metropolis. The downtown district options the Chattanooga Choo Choo campus, dwelling to an array of music-centric settings. Amongst them is Songbirds Basis, a museum showcasing guitar collections spanning the Twenties to the ‘70s. The Sign music venue, internet hosting reside music and creative performances, is transferring to the previous Chattanooga Choo Choo Conference Middle to welcome extra artists and friends and revitalize an present downtown cultural house. Historic Tivoli Theatre, Troopers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium and Walker Theatre are architecturally splendid music venues internet hosting scores of performances yearly.

Says Barry White, president and CEO of Chattanooga Tourism Co., “The Chattanooga Choo Choo is woven into the material of our metropolis’s wealthy historical past and can endlessly have a spot within the Nice American Songbook, due to the legendary Glenn Miller.”