The Station Inn

The Station Inn is a squat, single-story cinderblock building with a peeling white exterior, tucked beneath the shadows of soaring glass high-rises. Since nineteen seventy-four, it has functioned as a raw, no-frills sanctuary for bluegrass music. When the city’s surrounding industrial district began its transformation into a polished corporate hub, the inn kept its sticky floors and cramped wooden benches. Bill Monroe played here, and the house band often features musicians who have toured the world’s biggest stages for decades.