A guide to experiencing the blues in St. Louis

A handy primer on exploring the city’s musical past and present.

by

The history and culture of the blues is St. Louis is so rich that, even if we could fill an entire magazine issue with content about the scene, we couldn’t cover it all. So use this guide as a jumping-off point, not a limitation in your exploration of this rich and varied city of music. For a primer on local musicians, the St. Louis Blues Society has five different compilation CDs available on its website, and STLBlues.net maintains a full calendar of local shows. 

History

Blues music was born in the South, from influences including African-American spirituals, ballads, and folk music. When the Great Migration saw millions of Black people move north in the first half of the 20th century, they brought the blues with them, and cities including St. Louis, Chicago, Memphis, and Detroit became staples in the blues scene. 

In 1914, the composer and trumpeter W.C. Handy penned a song called “The Saint Louis Blues,” which became one of the first crossover blues hits, eventually covered by the likes Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Eartha Kitt, and Benny Goodman (and inspiring the name of a certain hockey team.) 

The blues has always been mobile and adaptive, traveling with its musicians across the country and developing distinct regional identities. St. Louis was “the place to be in the ‘20s and ‘30s,” says Andy Lewis, the programs and education manager for the National Blues Museum, while Chicago rose as a blues stronghold in the 1950s. But if you think blues music is a matter for the history books, the modern artists, events, and venues of St. Louis are here to remind you otherwise. 

Big Events

Each spring and fall, St. Louis boasts seemingly endless festivals at which to celebrate the city’s music past and present. 

On April 7, the 15th annual Gateway Blues Festival will bring artists including Tucka, Pokey Bear, and Calvin Richardson to the historic Stifel Theatre. On May 21, explore St. Louis’s oldest neighborhood at the free Soulard Blues, Brews and Bites festival, where the John McVey Band will round out an evening of local acts. Don’t miss the beginner harmonica workshop with St. Louis icon Eric McSpadden. The National Blues Museum will partner with the National Park Service to put on Blues at the Arch August 11–13, a free weekend festival on the grounds of Gateway Arch National Park, granting visitors easy access to some of the city’s highlights. 

One of the city’s newest festival offerings, Music at the Intersection, was launched in 2021. Spread across multiple stages and venues in the Grand Center Arts District, this September 9-10 event draws national soul, R&B, and blues talent while also providing a stage for local artists. 

Since 2001, the Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival has highlighted local musical acts at a free, family-friendly festival in the heart of Webster Groves. The festival takes place in September, with the exact 2023 date yet to be announced. 

For folks willing to travel, Columbia, Missouri’s premier music festival, Treeline Music Fest (formerly known as Roots N Blues) will fill Stephens Lake Park with “a broad array of Americana'' from September 29-October 1. Lineup announcements are forthcoming and festival passes are already on sale. 

Notable Venues

BB’s Jazz, Blues and Soups is a St. Louis institution, featuring a menu of Southern comfort food and jazz and blues shows. BB’s closed for a month and reopened in the spring of 2023, so it’s a good idea to check the venue’s Facebook page for event listings before heading out. 

Just down the block from BB’s, Broadway Oyster Bar boasts nightly music, with many free shows throughout the week and a broad menu of New Orleans-style seafood dishes and, of course, several varieties of oysters. 

For free nightly music, Soulard is the place to be. Stop by Hammerstones to sip a local brew and see a different act every night of the week—sometimes two. The building dates back to 1884, and the sharing of ghost stories is encouraged. The nearby 1860 Saloon offers pizza, sandwiches, a game room, and plenty of local blues mainstays and up-and-comers. 

A skip southwest into Benton Park brings music tourists to the iconic Venice Cafe, an eclectically curated emporium of a venue that defies description—you need to see it to believe it. Bring your camera for the decor and cash for the bar. 

Local and touring acts can be found at Blue Strawberry in the Central West End, which leans more into jazz, cabaret, and Broadway musical offerings. Evangeline’s is another jazzy venue in the neighborhood. Don’t miss their weekend brunch, where live music accompanies a Cajun and Creole menu and bottomless mimosas, perfect for recovering after a weekend full of shows. 

The National Blues Museum

The well-arranged, interactive displays at the National Blues Museum are sure to entertain adults and kids alike. Touch screen displays allow museum goers to practice recording and mixing their own blues tunes and even learn the tricks to playing instruments such as the washboard and the spoons. The museum’s geographic scope lives up to its name, highlighting the blues’ spread across the country and its influence on varying genres, with exhibits on the British Invasion and outlaw country. 

The museum opened in 2016 in a former department store, and modern musicians play shows in the Legends Room, where civil rights activists staged St. Louis’s first lunch counter sit-in in 1944. This spring, catch local artists including Cheri Evans, Billy Barnett, Laka, and more on the museum’s stage on Friday and some Saturday nights. 

According to Atem Richardson, the museum’s operations and programming lead, supporting musicians is key to the organization’s mission. “They’re a part of the cultural essence of this city,” says Richardson. During the pandemic, the museum began holding outdoor concerts in downtown St. Louis to give musicians a chance to work in a safe setting. Blues on the Block will return beginning June 3, with shows at 6th and Washington every Saturday from 4-7 p.m. 

The National Blues Museum is open every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the average visit lasts about 45 minutes. Tickets are $10-$15, and children under 5 can attend the museum for free. 

Weekly Shows to Know

Jeremy Segel-Moss, a longtime local musician and the vice-chairperson of the St. Louis Blues Society, recommends catching the Soulard Blues Band on Monday nights at the Broadway Oyster Bar, a show which bills itself as the longest-running blues jam session in the country. Guests are often stopping by to jam. “It’s the epitome of St. Louis blues music,” Segel-Moss says. “You have no idea who you’re gonna see there and who’s gonna play.”

Another can’t-miss weekly act, he said, is found at the Venice Cafe, where Sharon Bear, a singer, guitarist, and bassist, frequently holds down Tuesday nights accompanied by bassist Gus Thornton, who’s toured with Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. 

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