A Southern road trip through the towns that shaped American music

Everyone knows the greatest hits—Nashville, Memphis, Austin, New Orleans. But tucked between these music hubs are places like Lubbock, Clarksdale, and Macon, which have shaped some of the most iconic musicians of all time. Intrigued by these unsung heroes, I decided to explore them myself. I wanted to see where soul lives, where blues began, where rock ‘n’ roll first rattled the rafters.

Although these stops just scratch the surface of the Southern-music record, I left each one with a new appreciation for the music playing through my speakers.

Stop 1: Lubbock, Texas

The Hub City—a big small town servicing rural West Texas with healthcare, commerce, wine, a robust food scene, and an even more robust art scene. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and so many other big names all have a common tie to this dust-swept city: It is the birthplace of their musical influence, Buddy Holly.

Holly’s legacy is subtly seeped into every crevice of Lubbock. Murals cover city walls, Holly’s iconic glasses (which inspired the eyewear of John Lennon and Elton John) are painted on downtown crosswalks, cocktails are named after his songs, and a sparkling state-of-the-art performing arts center, the Buddy Holly Hall, hosts big names like Bob Dylan. You can feel the imprint that Holly's short, 22-year life left around every corner.

Stay at the Cotton Court, an industrial-chic boutique hotel. Check out a guitar from the lobby to play around the fire pits in the courtyard and grab a Chilton (Lubbock’s signature cocktail) at the hotel’s Midnight Shift Bar, named after a Holly song. Make a stop by the Buddy Holly Center, a museum housing Holly’s 1958 Ariel Cyclone motorcycle, his childhood home, and even the black-rimmed glasses recovered from the fatal 1959 plane crash that killed him. Across the street is the memorial walk, paying homage to other Lubbock-born classics, and a few minutes down the road is Holly’s gravesite, where his headstone is covered in pairs of thick-framed spectacles left behind by fans.

Stop 2: Shreveport, Louisiana

For a shining moment in the 1940s and ‘50s, this river city was the heartbeat of American music. Shreveport is the home of the Louisiana Hayride, a radio show where Elvis, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and James Burton cut their teeth. The coalescence of radio power and a hungry live audience gave way to one of the most influential radio shows, second only to the Grand Ole Opry, earning it the nickname “The Cradle of the Stars.”

Stop by the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, where young Elvis once shook in his boots. Book a night at the Royal Inn, the hotel where Sam Cooke was denied a room (then called the Holiday Inn North Hotel) because of his race, inspiring his civil rights anthem “A Change is Gonna Come”. Make sure you eat at Herby-K’s, a hole-in-the-wall seafood classic that's been run by the same family since 1936.

(Follow in Malcolm X's footsteps on a civil rights history tour in Boston)

Stop 3: Clarksdale, Mississippi

This dusty Delta town is where Robert Johnson is said to have left his soul at the crossroads. Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and John Lee Hooker all came from here, carrying the raw sound of the Delta to Chicago and, eventually, the world. “You can’t throw a rock in Clarksdale without hitting a musician,” I was told. It seemed like you could hear blues playing around every corner, seven nights a week.

Spend an afternoon at the Delta Blues Museum, where you can see Muddy Waters’ cabin preserved inside. At night, duck into Red’s Lounge. For an authentic stay, check into the Shack Up Inn, a collection of shotgun-style sharecropper shacks with corrugated tin roofs and no shortness of character.

Stop 4: Macon, Georgia

Macon is a colorful town caught in the crosshairs of 19th-century charm and the heavy shadow of its antebellum and Civil War past. The city stole my heart the second I arrived. The people, history, architecture, food, and music blend together like a gospel choir. Macon is called “the city where soul lives,” and it’s true.

Little Richard, the “Architect of Rock' n’ Roll”, and Otis Redding, the “King of Soul” himself, were both raised in Macon. Visit the Otis Redding Museum downtown then take a tour of Capricorn Sound Studios, home of Capricorn Records—the incubator of Southern rock.

(Take a mouthwatering trip down Alabama’s Barbecue Trail)

“There is something in the water in Macon. No town this small should breed this much talent,” said my server at H&H Restaurant, a must-visit, “stick-to-ya-ribs,” home-cooked haven where the Allman Brothers would scrounge grub through their struggling years. You can also walk through the bedrooms of the Allman Brothers ’ 1970-1973 home, called the Big House Museum, preserved and stocked full of Southern rock memorabilia. After, Grants Lounge is where you should go for live music. A back-alley dive vibe where string lights twinkle over a small stage that hosts some of the best musicians in the South, including the city’s pantheon of greats.

Stop 5: Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia

Bristol is a city split right down the middle (half in Tennessee, half in Virginia) and officially designated as the “birthplace of country music.” It seemed like a bold claim for a town I’d never heard of, but the pull of Appalachian fiddles and Smoky Mountain ballads earned it a spot on my road-trip list.

Back in the 1920s, Bristol had a railroad, thriving retail and pharmaceutical industries, and a central location that drew in talent from five surrounding states. It also sat squarely in the heart of what was then called “hillbilly music.” In 1927, record producer Ralph Peer of the Victor Talking Machine Company set up shop here for a two-week recording session that would become known as the “Big Bang of Country Music.” Thanks to the invention of the microphone in the mid-20s, recording equipment was finally portable, and Peer captured 76 songs from 19 acts, including Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. The goal wasn’t to turn Bristol into a music capital, but to bottle the sound of the mountains and send it out into the world.

“The country music faucet was dripping across America, and the Bristol Sessions turned it on,” says Erika Barker, curator of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate and a must-visit. Also stop by Bristol native Tennessee Earnie Ford’s home and stay at the Sessions Hotel, a rustic, historic building turned cozy stay that pays homage to country music through tasteful art, decor, and in-room record players and vinyl.

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