The Cedar Cultural Center is the anchor. Songwriter-in-the-round nights at the 331. Acoustic on the river at the Aster. A real folk infrastructure for a city that has always cared about the song.
The Cedar Cultural Center has been booking world music, folk, and roots since 1989, with curation that reaches places few American venues bother with. The Aster Cafe on the river runs acoustic shows on a tiny stage with the Mississippi as the backdrop. The Hook and Ladder does an eclectic local-Americana program. And the 331 Club hosts songwriter rotations and string-band nights most weeks, free.
The Cedar publishes their bookings months out — most of their best shows sell out the week of. Buy ahead.
A nonprofit listening room that has been booking world music, folk, and roots artists from across the globe since 1989. The room is small, the sound is excellent, and the curation reaches places few other American venues bother with. A West Bank institution.
A small Mississippi-riverfront cafe with a tiny stage that punches well above its size. Acoustic shows, jazz brunches, and a patio that is one of the best in the city for a quiet drink and a song or two on a summer evening.
A converted 1907 firehouse running an eclectic music and theater program with a strong local-artist focus. Two-room setup with a big outdoor lot for warm-weather shows. The kind of room where you discover three new bands in a night.
A small corner bar at 13th and University running live music almost every night of the year. No cover. Two or three sets a night, often a 7 PM act and a 9:30 PM act, sometimes a third late. Strong local rotation, Harold's House Party on KFAI broadcasts from the room some Wednesdays. The kind of place you walk into in flannel and stay until last call. Northeast institution.