Best American Cities for Musicians and Music Lovers? (place to live, move to)

[BlackOut]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

The 'Mats and Husker Du? They're old and defunct now, but they were incredible.

And they are still influencing many musicians.

[BlackOut]

I think the following map is gives a pretty accurate portrait of where the musical centers are (i.e. Seattle, NYC, Chicago, New Orleans, Minneapolis, San Francisco, etc...).

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by Xpat

I've always heard that Austin is a great town for both musicians and music lovers - just haven't experienced it myself. Has anyone else?

It's okay. Probably a little overblown.

[toughguy]

Seattle is also known for being a center for doom/sludge/drone music, and believe it or not the hiphop scene in the northwest will blow up nationally, very soon.

[skelley2001]

Cincinnati should make this list. We have CCM, which is one of the best music conservatories in the world, and our symphony orchestra is ranked in the top ten in the country. Nearby Dayton and Springfield also have outstanding music and art scenes. We are lucky to have major, major corporate funding four our very rich performing arts offerings.

[thriftylefty]

To be in the music business and a music fan can be problematic. I have known professional musicians who say the only place to get paid is the Midwest. for instance a Zydeco band can make more money touring KC,OKC,Omaha,St.L ,Denver than he can in New Orleans , because he's got no competition or not not a lot , but if you want to hear Zydeco, its 24/7 no cover no minimum in New Orleans because the market is flooded with upstarts who will play for beer and tips (who also might be dammed good) I met great old Jazz and blues men in Kansas City who can't make the rent without a patron, and a Jazz musician tearing it up and living large in some place like in Idaho?

[EastSideMKE]

1. NYC (every kind of music, especially good for international artists)

2. LA (every kind of music)

3. Nashville (Country, Gospel)

4. Atlanta (Hip-Hop, R&B, Gospel)

5. Austin (Folk, Indy Rock)


Honorable mentions

Miami (Latin music, Hip-Hop)

Chicago (electronic music, Blues)

New Orleans (Jazz, Zydeco)

[xS☺Be]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

It's okay. Probably a little overblown.

I think Austin is overblown too. Yes they have a great live music scene but do the bands make any money? How good are they? And what famous stars have come from Auston other than the Buttholes, Willy and SRV?

Britain is the without question music capital of the western world.

I wouldn't really recommend Boston unless you're really really good, but Beantown certainly has a music resume. Between berklee and the two conservatories, The BSO, Boston and all the big acts coming out of Beantown, there's obviously something there.

Here's just a few I know about - I skipped minor acts:

* Arthur Fielder
* Aerosmith -- Band
* Bell Biv DeVoe -- Music Group
* Boston -- Band
* Bobby Brown -- singer
*Tracy Chapman
* The Cars -- Band
* Evan Dando / Lemonheads -- Musician
* Dinosaur Jr. -- Band
* Dream Theater
* Dresden Dolls -- Punk-Cabaret Duo
* Dropkick Murphys -- Band
* Extreme -- Band
* Godsmack -- Band
* Guster -- Band
* J Geils Band
* JoJo -- Singer, Actress
* Killswitch Engage -- Metalcore Band
* Marky Mark (Wahlberg) and the Funky Bunch -- Rap Group
* John Mayer -- Singer/Songwriter
* Pat Metheney Jazz Great / Berklee Professor
* The Mighty Mighty Bosstones -- Band
* New Edition -- Music Group
* Donnie Wahlberg / New Kids on the Block -- Band.
* Powerman 5000 -- Metal Band
* The Pixies -- Band
* Sebadoh
* Staind
* Til Tuesday/ Aimee Mann
* Donna Summer -- Singer
* James Taylor -- Folk singer
* John Williams: Boston Pops (Jaws, Star Wars)
Steve Vai

Throwing in the Berklee grads, you have to add:

Quincy Jones, pianists Bruce Hornsby, Keith Jarrett, Hiromi Uehara, and Diana Krall, guitarists John Petrucci, Steve Vai, Rivers Cuomo, Ian Thornley, Kevin Eubanks, Shane Gibson, John Mayer, John Scofield, Paula Cole, Bruce Cockburn, Gavin DeGraw, Tracy Bonham, and Melissa Etheridge, film scorers Alan Silvestri and Howard Shore, jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis

I imagine NY and LA could make this list look short. And I am sure Britain is the best in the world.

[thriftylefty]

Another indicator is where ever professional musicians settle down to live and raise their family. Sometime a place with lots of access to International airport travel, also happens to a good place to hear music . Boston, Washington DC, (Baltimore) and New Jersey come to mind. The inner-mountain west seems to be home to a lot of Folkies. Particularly places where it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to pay rent. I read and article back during the grunge years where a well know band said they really were only making $50,000-$75,000 a piece per year (only! ha) pretty good for a 20 year old college drop out, but you would be amazed at what some very well know musicians don't make.

[electric_lady]

New Orleans has more than zydeco. Mind-blowing music. EVERYONE playing there is f****** amazing. Absolutely the best music city in the nation.