Featured Image: Visit Mississippi
Highway 61 turns 100 in 2026. The winding stretch of asphalt has been whisking travelers across 1,400 miles of American cities and wide open spaces for a full century. Of course, this road has carried American history on its back, and through Mississippi, that history compounds in music.
It crosses Highway 45 at a spot some still call the Crossroads—it’s where Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil in exchange for guitar skills.
That myth matters less than what actually happened along these roads that pass such towns as Clarksdale, Indianola, Tupelo, and Jackson. Towns that produced musicians who shaped blues, gospel, rock ‘n’ roll, and soul, still filled with juke joints, churches, and fields where the greats learned to play.
If you’re eager to sing your way down along a Mississippi music road trip, this one’s for you. Here are the cities, stops, and events not to be missed.
Ground Zero Blues Club | Clarksdale
Ground Zero is co-owned by Morgan Freeman, and it looks like juke joints of yesteryear: complete with mismatched chairs, walls covered in stickers and signatures, and live blues almost every night. There’s an entire episode of the MS on the Map podcast recorded inside Ground Zero with Freeman in 2025, worth checking out on your way there.
Delta Blues Museum | Clarksdale
The Delta Blues Museum sits in an old freight depot and chronicles the lives of Muddy Waters, Son House, and John Lee Hooker through interactive exhibits. It’s perched right along “the crossroads” in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, also known as “the land where the blues began.”
Blue Front Café | Bentonia
Blue Front Café opened in 1948 and champions the hypnotic Bentonia style of blues – it’s a specific sound, slower and a touch more haunting, and rooted in the Mississippi Hill Country rather than the Delta. Blue Front is the oldest juke joint in Mississippi, and it’s still operating in its original location.
Club Ebony | Indianola
Club Ebony was once owned by B.B. King, and it hosted greats like Ray Charles, Count Basie, Ike Turner, and King himself when he came home to Indianola. Today, the club has been beautifully restored and regularly hosts blues shows, dance nights, and community gatherings tied to the B.B. King Museum next door. Throughout its history, it’s been known as one of the Delta’s most significant African American nightclubs.
B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center | Indianola
Speaking of B.B. King and Indianola, there’s an entire B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in the town he was raised and buried. Here, you’ll learn about the Delta’s people, social history, and the cultural impact of the blues on Mississippi and American music as a whole.
Elvis Presley Birthplace & Museum | Tupelo
Elvis was born in a tiny two-room house that his father built in the heart of Tupelo. Today, you can walk through the Elvis Presley Birthplace & Museum, see the church where he first heard (and sang) gospel music, and tour modern museum galleries documenting his life and influence.
LD’s Kitchen | Vicksburg
Located right along “Catfish Row,” LD’s Kitchen is a soul-food institution meets authentic Mississippi Juke Joint. It promises, “good food, good folks, good fun,” and delivers through a menu of fried chicken and catfish, Southern hospitality, and live music.
Mississippi Music Experience (inside the Iron Horse Grill) | Jackson
The Iron Horse Grill is a delicious stop in Jackson, but it also houses a free museum-style exhibit celebrating Mississippi’s musical giants from Faith Hill to Robert Johnson. The dining room is crowned by a big stage regularly welcoming live music acts on Thursday through Saturday nights.
GRAMMY Museum Mississippi | Cleveland
The GRAMMY Museum Mississippi is the only one outside of Los Angeles. It’s a state-of-the-art facility with attractions such as hands-on music-creation labs, award history, costume displays, and rotating exhibits honoring artists from across genres. The space is designed to honor Mississippi’s influence on American music, rightfully so.
Festivals Worth Planning Around
With so much music to see and history to experience across Mississippi, it may help to plan your road trip around one of the state’s top music festivals. Here are annual events to note:
- Juke Joint Festival (Clarksdale) – April
- Bentonia Blues Festival (Bentonia) – June
- Delta Hot Tamale Festival (Greenville) – October (food and blues)
- Double Decker Arts & Music Festival (Oxford) – April
- CelticFest Mississippi (Jackson) – Fall
The Road Trip
Highway 61 and Highway 49 will get you where you need to go, with most of these stops clustered along or just off these roads. Mississippi’s diverse offerings allow travelers to mix music with Southern and soul food, historic stops on the Mississippi Civil Rights Trail, and plenty of those hidden gems that come along with small-town Southern travel.
Here’s a playlist to get you on your way.
| This article is presented in partnership with Visit Mississippi, a Modern South Founding Partner.
Find more Southern travel inspiration here.
