With the warmer (or colder) weather coming up, lots of people are looking to travel and immerse themselves in different environments, cultures, and music scenes. This is a great idea! I definitely recommend spending some time in a different city to not only create your own music in a new context, but to discover new styles, make new connections, and immerse yourself in a different culture.
With that being said, here are some of my favourite cities to spend some time in absorbing everything you can from the local music scene.
London, England
London has been an iconic corner of the music industry for years. It’s home to the well known Abbey Road Studios, which recorded over 90% of The Beatles’ songs. The music scene in London defined the sound of classic rock and saw the development of many other well known bands such as Pink Floyd, Queen, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin.
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is often referred to as THE music city. It’s home to many known artists like Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and Taylor Swift, and also includes the Country Music Hall of Fame. Nashville has been producing music since it was originally founded in 1806.
Vienna, Austria
If you’re a classical musician, chances are you’ve heard of a city called Vienna in Austria. Vienna is the capital of classical music in Europe. It’s home to more composers than any other city in the world. It’s well known as the city that Mozart composed and presented most of his material. You can also catch one of the best orchestras in the world here, the Vienna Philharmonic.
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is often considered to be the birthplace of Jazz music. The city has a rich history surrounding the creation of Jazz music as communities. If you’re interested in that, I highly recommend the Ken Burns Jazz documentary on PBS. In addition to the historical foundation of Jazz, New Orleans is known for its lively street musicians and clubs on Bourbon Street. The city is also well known for musicians like Louis Armstrong and Harry Connick Junior.
Berlin, Germany
Berlin is known for its eclectic music scene, having both a thriving electronic music culture and classical music culture. It is considered Europe’s Techno Mecca and has many clubs that attract people from around the world. From Jazz, to noise, to punk, to techno, you can find anything in Berlin. If you’re looking for a global music community, Berlin is the place to be. Famous musicians from Berlin include David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, and the Berlin Philharmonic
How are we feeling? Pretty inspired yet? I’d be ready to pack my bag and go travel for a year now LOL!
But… before I leave you dreaming about your next trip, I want to throw in one more place that’s pretty dear to my heart.
Melbourne, Australia
If you’re new to this blog, check out the post right before this one where I talk about the scene here in my town, Melbourne, Australia. It’s a great place to launch a music career and experience all sorts of different music communities (think of it as the Berlin of the Southern Hemisphere). Melbourne is known for being the birthplace of artists such as Kylie Minogue, Vance Joy, and Olivia Newton John. I love it here and I think you would too :)
