The Bulldog

3236 Magazine Street

The Bulldog is an Uptown favorite, located on Magazine Street in the Garden District. It’s a laid-back spot that draws a mixed crowd; the TVs are above the bar if you’re a sports fan. There’s also a sweet patio and dogs are welcome.

The Bulldog’s beer selection is immense: more than 50 varieties on tap and another 100+ in bottles, imported from over a dozen different countries and from local breweries across the US.

Try the local poison — Abita’s Turbodog ale weighs in at 6.1% alcohol — or go all out with Maudite, an ale from Louisiana’s French Canadian cousins that’s a head-spinning 8% alcohol. There’s good-quality, bar food, too.

Photo by mugley

d.b.a.

618 Frenchmen Street

d.b.a. is a fixture on the Frenchmen Street live music scene, just north of the French Quarter. But beyond the nightly shows, it’s also got one of the finest beer and liquor lists in the city.

The draught beers are rotated here (with the schedule drawn up based on “personal preferences, seasonal availability, quality and constant customer badgering”), so the number at any given time won’t necessarily overwhelm.

Check the chalkboards above the bar for the night’s offerings: expect to find a range of Belgian, German, British, and American brews, with the odd brand from elsewhere in Europe or North America. And keep an eye out for the traditional hand-pulled ales.

Photo by chairman moneko

Cooter Brown’s

509 S. Carrollton Avenue

Waaay Uptown, at the end of the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, Cooter Brown’s Tavern has been a beer-drinker’s landmark since 1977.

The list here is truly mind-boggling, clocking in at more than 400 bottles, with everyone from Bulgaria to Honduras represented.

Cooter’s is a little rougher around the edges than the uber-hip d.b.a. or the not-so-working-class Bulldog — it was recently voted the best spot in New Orleans (besides the Superdome) to watch a Saints game, and it packs in students and boisterous locals alike for major sporting events. There’s an oyster bar, and local fare like po-boys and boiled crayfish on the menu.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Are you a beer lover? Check out Matador’s list of the 20 Best Beer Towns in America, or read the First-Timer’s Guide to Oktoberfest.

Photo by crashmattb

Let’s be clear: This is not a guerrilla guide to Nashville’s secret underground indie-rock haunts or its little-known hipster underbelly.

No. This is a guide to the Nashville you’ve always known existed, but probably never thought was worth visiting. It’s a Nashville full of corny cowboy merchandise, country music at full blast, and middle-aged RVers from Indiana. It’s also a helluva good time.

The Pitch

Once upon a time, country music was officially known as “hillbilly music” on the Billboard charts – and the reputation has stuck. Making an occasional exception for suitably counter-cultural types like the Dixie Chicks, hipster music critics won’t touch the stuff – and in the same way, too-cool travel types don’t often make the trek to country’s mecca, Nashville, aka Music City, USA.

But country has a rich heritage and a vital modern scene. It’s also quite possibly the greatest drinking music of all time. Frankly, Hank Williams Jr. is to beer-guzzling what Bob Marley is to ganja-smoking.

So come on down, hit Nashville’s finest honky-tonks, and throw back a Bud or three. Soon enough, you too might have some new friends in low places.

Where To Go

“They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway,” the old song goes. “They say there’s always magic in the air.”

Sure, the song’s about a musician trying to make it big in New York City, but it might just as well be about Nashville. Broadway forms the heart of the downtown scene. Live music spills out of several blocks worth of bars; the party gets going early and doesn’t stop till “early” comes around again.

Most places have no cover; the bands play for tips only, and no one pressures you to keep buying drinks non-stop – though if you’d like to, no one will stop you, either!

Be sure to hit Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, a historic dive that can claim legends like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Patsy Cline as past customers. Live bands play upstairs and down, from the early afternoon to the wee hours. The place draws a mixture of country music pilgrims, curious tourists, and die-hard locals, and can morph from a quiet sit-down scene to a foot-stomping dance floor almost without warning. It’s at 5th and Broadway.

Next on the strip is Robert’s Western World, a more laid-back place with an older crowd and talented cover bands playing traditional country: think more Hank Williams Sr. and less Lynyrd Skynyrd. It’s between 4th and 5th on Broadway.

Take a left on 2nd to hit the Wildhorse Saloon – one of the few places to charge cover. It’s got more of a nightclub vibe, with a young crowd, new country on the stereo system, and free line-dancing lessons on the floor.

Across the street from the Wildhorse, the Buck Wild Saloon is a karaoke joint, and a great place to end your night. Had enough liquid courage that you want to take your own shot at “Folsom Prison Blues”? This is the spot to do it. Be forewarned, though: On most nights there’s enough undiscovered talent rocking the mic in this place to fill an American Idol episode.

These are just a few of Broadway’s party possibilities – take a wander and see which honky-tonk is the happeningest on the night you’re in town!

Photo by mlsj_photos

Practicalities

Most of the live music venues serve food, too. There’s a Pita Pit on 2nd for a quick bite to go, and a BB King’s across the street for the chain-restaurant take on classic Southern dishes. Big River, at 1st and Broadway, is another decent dining option with great local microbrew.

As you might expect, downtown Nashville’s hotels are pricey, the usual bland big-name chains. They’re well-located if you can split with friends, though. The city’s official tourism site has info on special offers, and a booking system.

There are also a couple of hostels around the fringes of downtown – Music City Hostel is within striking distance of the Broadway bar strip.

You can take your pick of the cheap motels on any of the highways coming into town, but you’ll need a DD or a couple of steep cab rides. Demonbreun, one street over parallel to Broadway, has plenty of parking lots between 12th and 8th – you can pay around $10 and leave your car overnight, only a few blocks from the main strip. Another option is to check out Couchsurfing for well-located locals.

For the truly bad-ass budget party hound, Nashville’s Greyhound station is in the heart of the city, at Demonbreun and 8th. So if you’re really worried about blowing too much cash on cabs and hotels, you can roll into town in the early afternoon, party through the night, and stagger back to the bus station with the sunrise.

Feature photo by marfis75. Photo above by paalb

Here’s a bit of trivia to impress your friends with: Did you know that Canada’s low-profile capital city hosts one of the largest music festivals in North America?

I bet you didn’t, and your friends don’t either.

Hey, you know what will make that little gem even more impressive? Dropping the factoid, and then adding: “And I’ve been there.”

What It’s All About

Ottawa’s annual blues festival (officially known as the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest) takes place for ten days in early July – this year’s runs from July 3 to July 13 – and brings in some huge acts.

In spite of the name, the festival doesn’t limit itself to blues; in fact, its official mission is to “support and sustain the growth of emerging and diverse musical genres” including world music, jazz, funk, soul, folk, and fusions of all of the above.

Photo by bagels

In the past few years, Bluesfest has seen the likes of George Thorogood, Lauryn Hill, The Neville Brothers, Etta James, ZZ Top, Johnny Lang, and Kanye West hit the stage.

Last year alone, I rocked out with Van Morrison, The White Stripes, Bob Dylan, Manu Chao and George Clinton’s P-Funk All-Stars, all in a matter of days.

While Bluesfest always draws big names from around the world, a huge part of their mission is about encouraging homegrown talent; several of the festival’s seven stages are devoted almost exclusively to Canadian up-and-comers.

It’s also a popular draw for those Canadian acts that have already made it big: Feist, Metric, Stars and Broken Social Scene have all been known to show up, and Canadian rock icons The Tragically Hip are regular performers.

All that, and it’s green, too! Last year Bluesfest introduced large-scale supervised bicycle parking, compostable corn-based beer cups, and bio-diesel generators to power the festival.

The whole show takes place at historic Lebreton Flats, beautifully located along the Ottawa River with great access to public transit, riverside bike paths, and walking distance to downtown.

Convinced yet?

Photo by tcp909

This Year’s All-Star Lineup

The range of acts at Bluesfest this year is as eclectic as ever.

On the hip hop side of things, Fergie, Sean Paul and Wyclef Jean are representing for the big-name, Top 40 scene, and Jully Black reminds everyone that Toronto’s got beats, too.

Boz Scaggs, Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ put the blues back in Bluesfest, while Canned Heat is still going strong thirty-nine years after their appearance at the original Woodstock.

Feist, The Tragically Hip, Metric, Stars, Weakerthans, Hayden and Wintersleep are some of the bigger-name Canadians performing this year. Up-and-coming indie rockers Tokyo Police Club are a local hipster favorite.

Brian Wilson, Don McLean, James Taylor, and Lucinda Williams together represent a pretty influential (and diverse) spread in the great American singer-songwriter tradition, while Widespread Panic have been described as the inheritors of the Grateful Dead’s “road-warrior mantle.”

Photo by jsome1

Did I mention Akon? Joan Armatrading? Steely Dan? Primus? The Black Crowes?

How about Balkan Beat Box, featured recently in this Matador article? Ottawa-based and New Orleans-inspired Mumbo Jumbo Voodoo Combo? Or Southern gospel legends The Blind Boys of Alabama? Perhaps you might remember The Wailers – better known as “Bob Marley and…”?

And that’s just a sample – the best thing about Bluesfest is having the chance to see old-timers you’ve always dreamed of catching live, and then wandering over to a smaller stage and discovering a new local gem.

This festival crosses boundaries of age, genre, language, culture, and nationality. It’s a music festival first and foremost, unfettered by distinctions between rock and country, blues and soul, indie and sell-out.

See the full schedule at the Bluesfest website – you can search by day, by stage, or by performer.

Tickets and Other Practicalities

Oh yeah – and did I mention that you can see all ten days of music for just $200?

Photo by bagels

The full-festival pass is a mind-blowingly good deal. The 4-day ($120) and 3-day ($95) passes for the two weekends of the festival are also extremely good value, while the one-day passes are a little steeper, ranging from $32-$40. Keep in mind that the festival starts rocking in the early afternoon and between all the various stages it never pauses for breath, so even a one-day pass is buying you up to 12 hours of live music.

The Bluesfest site has all the info on buying tickets in advance.

Detailed information on the capital’s greenest eats, accommodation, and activities can be found in The Traveler’s Notebook Green Guide to Ottawa. For more on the music that’s Made in Canada, see my blog, Music For A Canadian Road Trip. And for the inside scoop on O-Town’s culinary claim to fame, the mighty shawarma, check out Shawarma Love in Ottawa.

Community Connection

Bluesfest starts early this year, on Thursday, July 3. If you have the time, hit town a couple days early for Canada Day, on July 1. It’s the one day a year when Ottawa really lets its hair down, with a red-and-white-painted downtown street party 30,000-strong.

Flag-capes, drinking before noon, and strategically-placed maple leaves are de rigueur. Book your accommodation early, find a Couchsurfing host, or just suck it up and party all night long.

Finally, if you’re organizing a roadtrip there and looking for riders, post a notice on our forum and / or blog about it at Matador.