Columbus: Where Music is Culture
Experience Columbus, Georgia's musical history and thriving local music scene by visiting these sites and live music venues.
Set alongside the Chattahoochee River on Georgia’s western border, Columbus is embracing a renaissance. The thriving downtown (called “Uptown” by locals) is filled with new restaurants, shops, and entertainment destinations, including a growing number of places to enjoy live music. The current music scene builds on the city's long history as a home for talented musicians and performers.
Notable musicians from Columbus
Many talented musicians have called The Fountain City home, including Nashville pioneer Chet Atkins, hip-hop producer Dallas Austin, TLC singer Rozonda Thomas (aka Chilli), and blues artist Robert Cray.
The most iconic of Columbus’ musical exports is Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, known as the "Mother of the Blues." One of the earliest artists performing in the genre, Rainey recorded more than 100 singles throughout her storied career, including "Prove It on Me Blues" and "Don’t Fish in My Sea." She worked with artists like Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and Coleman Hawkins, and became known for her unapologetic lyrics and unconventional vaudeville-influenced performance style.
After her retirement in the early 1930s, she returned to Columbus to live and managed theaters until she died in 1939. Today, you can visit the Ma Rainey House and Blues Museum to learn more about her legendary life and the blues traditions of the area.
Continue to trace the many contributions that African Americans have made to the Columbus region at the Columbus Black History Museum and Archives. The story of Rainey is told alongside that of musical prodigy and pianist Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins. Born into slavery, Blind Tom was the first African American musician to perform at the White House.
Music venues in Columbus, Georgia
The Loft
A contemporary hub for live music and good food, The Loft has been the destination for rock, blues, jazz, funk, and R&B since 1992, and is considered a cornerstone of Columbus's Uptown re-awakening. Don't miss an opportunity to catch local artists and touring musicians in an intimate setting. You can taste the excitement, too. The Loft is open for lunch and dinner and includes an enormous menu of items fit for the small stage to the main stage, plus a full bar that goes late into the night.
Liberty Theatre and Cultural Center
The Liberty Theatre and Cultural Center, opened in 1924, was Columbus’s first African-American theater. Today, its mission is to promote African-American history, heritage, and culture. Greats like Marian Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Rainey and her protégé Bessie Smith, and the big bands of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Fletcher Henderson all performed here.
RiverCenter for the Performing Arts
The centerpiece of Columbus’s entertainment and historic district is RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, which hosts national touring performances and artists like James Taylor and Yo-Yo Ma. RiverCenter's state-of-the-art facilities include the 2,000-seat Bill Heard Theatre, the 430-seat Legacy Hall, and the 180-seat Studio Theatre.
Schwob School of Music
The rapidly growing Columbus State University, whose Schwob School of Music brings in more than 250 concerts annually, is a relentlessly positive cultural influence. See performers like CSU Jazz Ensemble, CSU Percussion Ensemble, CSU Philharmonic Orchestra, CSU Wind Ensemble, University Singers, Chorale, and numerous solo and duo performers and ensembles. Dr. Andrew Zohn, who oversees the guitar program, also organizes the annual Guitar Symposium and Competition.
Springer Opera House
The Springer Opera House is a true treasure. Built in 1871, the theater is both the State Theater of Georgia and a National Historic Landmark, and its stage has been graced by legends like Oscar Wilde, John Phillip Sousa, W.C. Fields, and Rainey. Today, the Springer is one of America’s most vibrant professional theatre companies with a popular Mainstage Series, an innovative second-space series, a Theatre for Young Audience Series featuring some of this region’s most talented student actors, and a national touring program. It is also the home of one of the nation’s finest training schools for young actors, the Springer Theatre Academy.
