The DU Lounge

Nashville Music

"During the 1950s and 60s, Jefferson Street served as a critical stop on the legendary "Chitlin' Circuit". The segregated yet bustling corridor featured over 30 clubs, restaurants, and listening rooms, hosting monumental talents such as Little Richard, Ray Charles, Etta James, and Jimi Hendrix (who got his professional start playing local bands on the street)"

"While initially proposed in the 1950s, Nashville politicians ultimately approved routing the new Interstate 40 straight through the heart of the Jefferson Street music and commercial district in the late 1960s. The construction physically fractured the community, demolished legendary venues like the New Era Club, and caused a massive decline in Black-owned businesses, effectively silencing the city's golden age of R&B by the 1970s."