Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar has been an institution so long that it’s easy to forget there still aren’t that many Nashville places offering blues — and even fewer that welcome and support local and regional blues musicians who are immersed in the classic sound, rather than ones who pass the blues through a more modern filter. Stacy Mitchhart and Whitey Johnson are among the regular players whose shows are dynamic and extremely popular — the lone negative is that Bourbon Street doesn’t bring national acts to town with the regularity it once did. But what they’re doing to promote and keep the blues alive on a local level more than compensates for fewer shows with out-of-town headliners. RON WYNN
Best Blues Venue
Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar
