Where to Find Music on Beale Street

Beale Street is one of the few places you’re allowed to walk around with an open container (as long as it’s a plastic cup), so you’re free to explore as many bars as you want. Here are six music venues that should be on the top of your list.

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Alfred’s

If you like rooftop bars, Alfred’s has two patios plus a dance floor. The bar is most known for hosting karaoke nights throughout the week.

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Rum Boogie Café

James Govan and the Boogie Blues Band provide music for this venue, winning the award for Best House Band on Beale Street no less than three times. They also decorate Rum Boogie with their extensive guitar collection, but if you want a change of scenery, head to the attached sidebar Mr. Handy’s, which claims to be the last real juke joint on Beale Street.

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Blues City Café

Come here if you want some classic Southern food with your music. Specialties include fried catfish and their famous barbecue ribs, smothered in their homemade hot sauce. The music is diverse, ranging from Gary Hardy’s Johnny Cash tribute to the jazz-funk fusion of Freeworld.

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Silky O’Sullivan’s

Memphis isn’t really a town for Irish bars, but Silky O’Sullivan’s is a Beale Street favorite for its dueling piano bar and gallon-sized “Diver” cocktails served in a plastic bucket. It’s also the only bar where you can find a live goat, let alone a goat that drinks beer.

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B.B. King Blues Club

You knew this one was on the list. B.B. King’s Blues Club is the first in its national franchise, with entertainers including Blind Mississippi Morris, Preston Shannon and for a long time B.B. King himself before his unfortunate death last year.