Nashville, Muscle Shoals, Memphis, Mississippi Delta and New Orleans, 10 days
A Southern music road trip with the whole story in one go: country in Nashville, the soul sessions of Muscle Shoals, rock and roll and soul in Memphis, the blues in the Delta, and jazz where it began. Our van takes the back roads, and every night has music.
From $4,890per person in a double room
Ten days down the road from Nashville to New Orleans, with the studios of Muscle Shoals, Sun and Stax, two nights in the Delta and three in the jazz city at the end.
Categories: Soul & Motown, Studio & Backstage, Country & Americana. Destinations: Nashville, Muscle Shoals, Memphis, Mississippi Delta, New Orleans. Getting around: tour van. Tour leader: Wade Pruitt or a colleague from our team.
FAME and 3614 Jackson Highway, with guides who worked the sessions.
A night at each in Nashville.
Rock and roll and soul, a few miles apart in Memphis.
Clarksdale juke joints and Dockery Farms at dawn.
Preservation Hall and Frenchmen Street to finish.
After dark
Every city has a night out planned: the Opry, a Florence bar, Beale Street, a Clarksdale juke joint, Frenchmen Street and Preservation Hall.
Traveling solo
Road trips bring a group together quickly. Single rooms are limited in Clarksdale; book early or ask to share.
Your tour leader
Wade Pruitt, based in Nashville. Played bass in Lower Broadway bands for six years and has led our Nashville and Austin groups since 2018.
5 live shows in the price
Show nights follow the club and theater calendars; your tour leader confirms each evening the day before.
Pickup at Nashville International and a welcome dinner on Broadway, then the first band of ten days at Robert's Western World.
A morning backstage at the Ryman, an afternoon on your own between the Hall of Fame and the Johnny Cash Museum, and an evening at the Grand Ole Opry for the live broadcast.
Two and a half hours south through the Tennessee hills. In the afternoon, FAME Studios on Avalon Avenue, where Aretha Franklin recorded in 1967. Dinner in Florence, by the river.
The morning at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, the block building where the Rolling Stones cut Brown Sugar. After lunch, the W.C. Handy birthplace cabin and museum in Florence, then a free evening at the GunRunner hotel bar.
West on Highway 72 to Tupelo for a look at the two-room house where Elvis was born, then on to Memphis by midafternoon. Evening on Beale Street.
Sun Studio in the morning, the Stax Museum in the afternoon, and dinner at a soul food place in South Memphis. Evening free, or the tour leader goes to a late blues set.
Ninety minutes south on Highway 61 into the Delta. Afternoon at the Delta Blues Museum and the crossroads, and at night a juke joint in Clarksdale with the cover charge paid.
An early start at Dockery Farms, where Charley Patton lived, then the long drive south through Jackson. We reach New Orleans in the late afternoon and walk to Frenchmen Street for the evening.
A morning walk through the French Quarter and Tremé with a local musician, a free afternoon, and in the evening reserved seats at Preservation Hall. The farewell dinner is Creole, with a band.
A last beignet and a transfer to Louis Armstrong International, 25 minutes away.
Hotels within walking distance of the clubs, or a short ride away, or similar of the same class. Breakfast is included every day.
Nashville
4-star2 nights
Florence
4-star2 nights
Memphis
4-star2 nights
Clarksdale
3-star1 night
New Orleans
4-star2 nights
Loading the map
Tour vanAmtrak trainRiverboatShort flight Map tiles: © Esri, HERE, Garmin © OpenStreetMap contributors. Lines join the stops in tour order in simplified form.
9 breakfasts and 5 dinners7 studio and museum entries5 live shows in the price
Pace. Moderate. Two to three hours on foot on city days, standing at some shows, and late nights.
Good to know. Ten days with six hotel changes and one six-hour drive from the Delta to New Orleans. The Clarksdale hotel is simple and single rooms there are few. Working studios close for sessions now and then; we swap the day order when they do.
Weather and changes. Shows and studio visits run in all weather; if a venue cancels, we replace it with one of the same kind and tell you in writing.
Most of our guests fly in on their own, drive, or use miles, and the tour price does not include flights. If you would rather we handle it, we book round-trip economy flights on scheduled airlines into Nashville and home from New Orleans, and the airport pickup on the tour dates is already included.
| Fly from | Airport | Add-on from |
|---|---|---|
| New York | JFK, LaGuardia and Newark | $450 |
| Chicago | O'Hare and Midway | $450 |
| Atlanta | Hartsfield-Jackson | $450 |
| Dallas | DFW and Love Field | $450 |
| Washington DC | Reagan National and Dulles | $490 |
| Boston | Logan | $510 |
| Philadelphia | PHL | $490 |
| Denver | DEN | $510 |
| Los Angeles | LAX | $560 |
| San Francisco | SFO | $560 |
Fares change daily; the add-on is confirmed when you book. Other US airports on request.
7 dates from to . "Guaranteed" means the group has reached its minimum and will run.
| Dates | Status | Tour price | With flights from New York |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deal, save $150 | Few seats left | $4,740 | $5,190 |
| Guaranteed | $4,890 | $5,340 | |
| Available | $5,090 | $5,540 | |
| Sold out | $5,090 | $5,540 | |
| Few seats left | $5,090 | $5,540 | |
| Available | $5,090 | $5,540 | |
| Guaranteed | $5,090 | $5,540 |
Single room supplement $1,190. Deposit $300 per person; the balance is due 60 days before departure. All dates, booking terms.
Most are two to three hours, with stops. The longest is the Delta to New Orleans, about six hours with lunch and two breaks.
One night, with an early start at Dockery the next morning. If you want more Delta, the Blues Trail tour has two.
It is the best overview we have, for anyone happy with a road trip. If you want less driving, Nashville and Memphis is the shorter version.
Yes, that is the plan: into Nashville and home from New Orleans. We book the open-jaw ticket if you add flights.
The Delta and New Orleans are very hot from June to August. The tour runs in spring and autumn and a few winter dates.
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See the tourAsk about a date
Email a travel advisor with the date you like and whether you want flights to Nashville. We answer within one business day with seats and the exact price, and hold your places for 72 hours while you decide.
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