Where To Find Real Music in New Orleans

All music is real, isn’t it?  If you can hear it, it’s music.  Even if it’s only a song you can’t get out of your head, it’s still music.  If you wan to know where to find real music in New Orleans, we have some suggestions.  Our answer may surprise you.

At this point, if we were writing this article for Search Engine Optimization, we would start with a top five list of places to find real New Orleans music.  There are more than five places and it depends on what you mean by real New Orleans music.  If you want to know where to find real  New Orleans music, all you need to do is walk around.


Esplanade Avenue
L’avenue de l’Esplande est une belle esplanade per le flaneur.


There is real New Orleans music in the bars on Bourbon Street.  Why not?  New Orleans has a long history of providing entertainment for visitors to this fair city.  When Storyville closed, Bourbon Street took its place.  Give the people what they want.  You can have a good time on Bourbon Street, especially at the places that sell 3-for-1 beers and the jello shot girls are making their rounds.

There are other venues beyond Bourbon Street.  Street musicians stake out their stages on Royal Street.  Royal Street is a quieter street than Bourbon Street.  Royal Street is famous for its art galleries and antique stores.  If Bourbon Street has a carnival atmosphere, Royal Street has a courtly atmosphere.

What about Frenchmen Street?  It’s all jazz all the time in the Frenchmen Street clubs.  If you want to discover where to find real New Orleans music, all of the guidebooks will tell you to go to Frenchmen Street.  “It’s where the locals go.”  I do know some locals who go to Frenchmen Street.  They work there.

Do I, your humble narrator, have a secret list of places where you can find real New Orleans music?  Yes.  I do.  I will share it with you when you make La Belle Esplanade the headquarters for your New Orleans vacation.

Man-about-New Orleans.
Your humble narrator: Your New Orleans goodwill ambassador.


I’m not being coy or proprietary.  Once we meet you and get to learn what interests you, then we’ll be able to make personalized recommendations to real New Orleans music off the usual tourist radar.  You should do touristy things, but you should also explore and enjoy the rest of the city, the part of New Orleans that makes people settle down and call it home.  We live in a wonderful city.  Here at La Belle Esplanade, there is nothing we love more than sharing our part of New Orleans with people interested in real New Orleans everything.

Greetings from NOLA
Greetings from New Orleans!


Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019:  You have two friends on Esplanade Avenue.  Our small craft hotel only has five suites.  Plan early and make a reservation through our calendar HERE.  We look forward to meeting you.  As one of our guests recently said, “La Belle Esplanade is a small hotel that respects people’s intelligence.”