The votes are in. After a very close battle, The Bluebird Cafe has been named the best independent music venue in Music City by our readers.

The 90-seat intimate venue opened in 1982 as a restaurant, and it soon evolved into a launch pad for Nashville songwriters by 1984. A documentary about the Bluebird premiered at SXSW in 2019, featuring interviews with Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, and others who got their start at the venue’s writers nights.

Congrats, Bluebird. 👏

Bracket introduction

With the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments underway, we’re joining the fun of bracket competitions with a face-off of our own.

We asked you to share your favorite independent music venue in Nashville with us, and now — thanks to you + the help of a random generator — we have the official lineup for our bracket.

Who’s in the running

Going head-to-head in the first round are:

The Listening Room Cafe and The Bluebird Cafe
The Basement East and Mercy Lounge
3rd & Lindsley and Marathon Music Works
The Blue Room and EXIT/IN

How it works

Beginning today, we will host several voting rounds within our newsletters and social channels

to determine Nashville’s best music venue. Who moves on is up to you. Vote for your favorites, and the venue with more votes moves on. Simple as that. We’ll go until we have a champion, which will be announced in our Tues., March 22 newsletter. You will be able to vote once per round.

How to participate

Vote for the concert venue you’d like to see advance to round two using this poll. You can vote for all four spots or as little as one. Once we count all the votes, we’ll share an updated bracket and new poll in an upcoming newsletter.

Want to fill out a bracket to see if you can guess who will win? Download and print the image above to take the competition up a notch. If your bracket is correct, send us a photo for a shoutout + bragging rights.

Ready to cheer your “team” to victory? Vote here.