The City With Soul & Rhythm: Great Spots For Live Music in Jackson
While Austin, Nashville and New Orleans are all known for great music, you would be hard-pressed to go a day without finding a wide variety of live music in Jackson.
It is part of the city's rhythm, tucked into brick buildings, restaurant corners, and rooms that invite you in as the lights go down. These places bring the heart to the City With Soul.
Live Music at Jackson's Restaurant Venues
At Hal & Mal's, live music is inevitable. You can come for dinner and find yourself pulled into a set without warning, the band close enough to blur the line between performer and audience. On Mondays, don't miss the Central Mississippi Blues Society's Blue Monday, a stellar night of local (and sometimes regional and national) blues musicians in a full-on jam session. Every Tuesday night, the dining room fills with live jazz, and every other night, you will either catch a local band in the main restaurant or a larger act coming through the famous Red Room on the side. Not restricted to the jazz and bluegrass of the typical dining room night, the Red Room has absorbed decades of sound, and I recently went to hear an emo band, Hawthorne Heights, performing. From blues and soul to rock and funk to music festivals, this place is a great spot for food and tunes. And the big bands? Look for them in, appropriately, The Big Room.
For something looser and a little unpredictable, Martin's Downtown is as honest as it gets. The room is worn in, not worn out, and the music reflects that. Blues, rock, and soul come through regularly, usually played by musicians who are local, or at least know the room, and have nothing to prove. Some nights you get a tight, intentional show. Other nights feel like a working jam where the band is figuring things out in real time. Either way, it is real. Martin's does not curate a vibe; it just lets the music happen. To top it off, they have a great hamburger and po-boy to smash while you're jamming with the band.
Iron Horse Grill operates on a different rhythm. The stage is permanent, the schedule consistent, and the bands are part of the reason people keep coming back. Live music here is not background noise; you're getting dinner and a show. An old smokehouse that has burned twice, the Iron Horse is now home to an incredible menu and the Mississippi Music Experience Museum. Eating, like music, is a way of life in Jackson, and Chef Pierre won't let you down. His team makes a mean steak, but the real wins are his Tex-Mex dishes. The beef enchiladas are some of my favorites in town, and as the night goes on and the plates empty, the music naturally takes over, people turn their chairs, the bar fills up, and the room tightens. Iron Horse works because it understands balance. Good bands, good food, reliable sound, and a space built to hold both music and people without forcing either one.
Also worth checking out: Urban Foxes | Soule Coffee | Offbeat | The Block Fondren
Major Concert Venues and Touring Acts
While restaurants like Martin's, Hal & Mal's, and Iron Horse Grill offer live tunes almost nightly, Jackson is home to a variety of venues pulling in acts from Robert Earl Keen to Bob Dylan. And the holidays provide even more opportunities to sit back and catch the sound of soul.
In the heart of the Fondren neighborhood, an energy takes over at Duling Hall. This music hall is where Jackson opens its doors to the wider world of music. From indie acts to major country singer-songwriters, touring acts roll through regularly, and the room carries the excitement of seeing an artist you would not expect to catch in a city this size. The old carpet and hardwood stage carry a memory of the elementary school that once called this location home. The sound is clean, and while Duling can pack in a large crowd, somehow I have never felt crowded at a show.
The recently renovated Thalia Mara Hall in the heart of Downtown Jackson hosts acts of international caliber, including Broadway shows, the USA International Ballet Competition, and bands like Wilco, John Prine and Band of Horses.
Also worth checking out: Mississippi Coliseum
