St. Louis gave the blues its most famous title — W.C. Handy’s 1914 ‘St. Louis Blues’ — and in 2016 the city finally gave the blues its museum. The National Blues Museum, on Washington Avenue downtown, traces the music from its Delta roots through the great St. Louis scene that produced legends from Henry Townsend to Albert King, Ike and Tina Turner to Nelly’s hip-hop heirs.
Interactive exhibits let visitors mix a track, write a blues verse and follow the music’s migration up the Mississippi — the same river road the blues itself traveled. The museum’s intimate performance space hosts live blues in the tradition it celebrates, blocks from where the city’s clubs once jumped.
It is America’s native music, honored in one of its hometowns.
The National Blues Museum is at 615 Washington Avenue. Hours at nationalbluesmuseum.org.
