I frequently hear people asking for local music recommendations. Sometimes they’re new to town and need a place to start. Sometimes they’re older locals who are familiar with staples of the scene, but maybe aren’t as connected to younger bands and new arrivals.
The good news is, whoever you are and whatever you’re into, you can probably find something you like here in Chattanooga. Whether it’s hip hop, folk, metal, bluegrass, RnB, or experimental jazz, this city’s got something you can enjoy.
As a door guy for the last 15 years, I’ve seen tons of local bands play. And I’m always so excited to get to tell my friends when I see some great new musicians doing something unique and cool.
So as a fun creative challenge, I started compiling a playlist of every local artist I could find.
To try and keep the playlist at a manageable length, I only included one song per artist. Even with that restriction, it’s still over six hours long and includes 110 different local artists.
So skip around and try a bunch of stuff. Let something surprise you. But if you’d like my personal recommendations, here are some great bands to start with….
Walter Slide makes some good time catchy pop music that’s like ear candy. I find myself regularly replaying their track Lot On Your Mind. The Ego Museum makes similar dreamy pop rock, but with a more melancholy vibe. Catherine Campbell’s songs are similarly evocative, and feature her spellbinding voice.
If you’re into hip hop, check out BBYMutha. She’s put out an incredible body of work, including the sonically adventurous CHERRYTAPE project. YGTUT is another local institution who draws crowds around the country when he tours. Swayyvo is a unique talent who can sing, rap, and play saxophone. His track Outside flips the popular meaning of the phrase “catch me outside” to talk about finding peace in nature, which is something most Chattanoogans can relate to.
If Metal is more your cup of tea, check out Dope Skum. Their song Folk Magic has the craziest riff-to-lyric ratio of any song on the list. Toadsmoke is probably the loudest and most brutally heavy band in town, and Genki Genki Panic is a metal band with a dark sense of humor and tasty surf rock riffs.
If you’re into acoustic music, make sure to check out Randy Steele. He’s a phenomenal singer, songwriter, banjo player and Chattanooga firefighter. The New Quintet recreates a classic Americana sound with guitars, bass, fiddle, and clarinet. Roger Alan Wade is a local legend whose Chicken Song may be my single favorite song on the list.
I also included a handful of artists from Chattanooga’s past. Obviously Bessie Smith is on the list. Her song Kitchen Man is dripping with freaky innuendo. Clyde “the Funky Drummer” Stubblefield has a track about performing music with his first band, the Walking Band of Chattanooga. And I’ve got a song from jazz legend Yusef Lateef, whose catalog is so wide and so sonically diverse that it’s really unfair to try and pick just one track from him.
Despite my best attempt to include all the local musicians I could find, I’m sure there are plenty I missed. So if there’s anyone I need to add, let me know. You can reach me on Instagram @alexthebandsucks. Oh yeah, and I’ll be playing a show with my band this Saturday August 24th at Pax Breu Ruim along with Cody Ray and Christian Newport. Come say hi!