Songwriter Rounds: A Special Kind of Magic

Most visitors to Nashville might immediately think of the Lower Broadway strip as the “happening place” for music in Music City. And it’s true that you can find some of the best musicians and aspiring artists playing in the windows of the bars up and down that downtown core. BUT…there’s a whole other set of haunts where a different kind of magic happens: the songwriter venues! This is where the writers behind the songs perform their hits and hits-to-be…woven in with a healthy dose of storytelling, collaboration, and spontaneity.

If you want to laugh out loud and be brought to tears in the same night…if you want to hear the radio hits you’ve sung along with - and the stories behind them - coming out of the mouths of the songwriters who wrote them in the first place…then you want to visit a songwriter “round”.

There are 2 venues in particular that I’d recommend attending to see the best songwriter shows when you visit Nashville: The Bluebird Cafe and The Listening Room.

The Bluebird is a tiny hole-in-the-wall in a strip mall in the Green Hills area of Nashville, but it’s the legendary location (featured heavily in ABC’s Nashville TV show) where songwriter artists like Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood got their record deals. The hit-making songwriters of Music City perform there regularly, and it’s also not uncommon for celebrities in the audience to pop up for impromptu guest performances (from Steven Tyler to Carole King, it has happened!)

The Bluebird only holds about 90 people, so it’s tiny, and it sells out FAST. With the exception of Sundays and Mondays which feature different show formats, they host 2 writer “rounds” per night - a 6pm and a 9pm show. Each “round” features 4 writers who sit in a tight circle facing each other in the middle of the room to take turns telling the stories behind their songs and performing the songs acoustically on guitar or keyboard. (That’s where the term “Songwriter Round” or “Songwriter in the Round” comes from.) The audience sits at the tables surrounding the writers, right up close enough to touch them, as if you were all in a living room together. It’s cozy, intimate, and absolutely magical.

There are 2 ways to take a shot at getting in: first, be online at www.bluebirdcafe.com when tickets go on sale (8am CST exactly a week before the weekday shows - so for example Wednesday morning for the following Wednesday - and for Fri/Sat shows, at 8am CST on the Monday of the same week). You’ll be given a randomized place in the virtual line-up when ticket sales open at 8, and most people won’t get through the virtual “door” before the place sells out, but it’s worth a shot. If you can’t claim a seat that way, you can still show up and stand in line for unclaimed first-come-first-served seats on the night of the show, but you’ll need to be there at least a couple of hours in advance because usually only the first few people in line get in.

If The Bluebird isn’t in the cards for you, you’ll have a much easier time getting into The Listening Room Cafe. It’s a much bigger venue and the songwriters perform in a row (“in-the-row”) on a raised stage. They still take turns telling the stories and singing the songs acoustically, and although it’s less intimate, it’s still a magical experience. These shows also sell out sometimes - especially on weekends - but not always, and you’ll likely be able to grab tickets if you do it in advance at their website: www.listeningroomcafe.com.

It never fails that every time I play one of these shows, I have several groups of audience members tell me “this is hands-down the BEST experience we’ve had in Nashville”. It’ll probably be your favorite thing that you do while you’re here. And no two shows are ever the same…the songwriters, their song choices and stories change with each show. So next time you’re here, don’t miss your chance to check out a Songwriter Round!

p.s. Check out my Shows tab to see upcoming performances at these venues and more!

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