The National Blues Museum opened in downtown St Louis in 2016, telling the story of the blues from its Mississippi Delta origins through to its influence on rock, jazz, soul, and contemporary music. St Louis was a critical waypoint on the migration of blues musicians north — Chuck Berry grew up in north St Louis, Albert King recorded here, and the city has a continuous tradition of its own.
Exhibits are interactive: visitors can compose their own twelve-bar blues at recording-booth stations, examine guitars used by major players, and watch documentary footage. The museum is the cultural anchor of the ongoing Washington Avenue revival and pairs well with an evening at one of the blues clubs in Soulard.