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Nashville · Venue

Bluebird Cafe

A 90-seat Nashville listening room centered on songwriters and the stories behind their songs.

Upcoming shows
80
Address
4104 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, TN 37215
Phone
(615) 383-1461
Next show
Sun, 15 Nov 2026
Official siteDirections
Bluebird Cafe in Nashville

About Bluebird Cafe

Bluebird Cafe is Nashville’s 90-seat listening room, set inside a Green Hills strip mall and built for the song itself. Its signature presentation places three or four writers in the room’s center, trading originals and the stories behind them while listeners sit close around the performance. That arrangement, called In The Round, gives a show the feel of a shared writers’ session: lyrics, voices, guitars, and the people who made the songs.

A restaurant becomes a writers’ room

In June 1982, former waitress Amy Kurland opened Bluebird as a gourmet restaurant and 90-seat performance space in a Green Hills shopping center. A small stage and bookings after dinner brought live music into its daily rhythm. In July 1984, the cafe began a weekly Sunday Writers’ Night, with eight to ten audition-selected writers and Don Schlitz as the first special guest. The following year brought the first In The Round: Thom Schuyler, Fred Knobloch, Don Schlitz, and Paul Overstreet sat together in the center and took turns with songs. That format remains Bluebird’s defining setup. On January 1, 2008, Kurland transferred ownership to the Nashville Songwriters Association International, an arrangement Bluebird describes as donation-like and designed to carry its songwriter mission forward. Kris Kristofferson had performed there in November 2007 to announce the pending handover.

The listening-room equation

Programming remains focused on original songwriting. Monday Open Mic welcomes developing writers; Sunday Writers’ Night uses an audition process; Tuesday through Saturday commonly brings In The Round bills, while later slots lean toward hit songwriters. Solo “An Evening” shows feature local and national acts with sizable followings. Expect country-rooted singer-songwriter material alongside folk, alternative, indie, rock, R&B, and pop. The room’s central performance layout keeps attention fixed on the writers, and its Shhh policy asks the audience to preserve a quiet space for songs and stories.

Sources

  1. About — The Bluebird Cafe
  2. History — The Bluebird Cafe
  3. Historic Music Industry Resources, Nashville, Davidson County — National Park Service
  4. The Bluebird Cafe — Nashville Songwriters Association International

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