Bands & Musicians in South Carolina

South Carolina's foundations are Gullah Geechee spirituals and ring shouts from the Sea Islands, plus the Jenkins Orphanage bands of Charleston that fed early jazz; the Charleston dance craze took its name from the city. The coast developed beach music and the shag, now the state dance, along the Grand Strand. Columbia later produced Hootie and the Blowfish out of the University of South Carolina, and Cheraw claims Dizzy Gillespie.

Charleston leads with the Charleston Music Hall and the Music Farm, plus the Spoleto Festival USA each spring. Columbia's circuit runs through the Senate and the New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia, and Greenville's Radio Room books regional acts. Myrtle Beach anchors the shore with the House of Blues at Barefoot Landing and beach-music clubs along the Grand Strand.

Dizzy Gillespie was born in Cheraw, James Brown in Barnwell, and Chubby Checker in Spring Gully, with Eartha Kitt from the town of North. Columbia produced Hootie and the Blowfish and, more recently, the chillwave project Toro y Moi from Chaz Bear.

Charleston has the deepest venue bench and tourist work that keeps cover bands busy, while Columbia's university crowd supports indie and hip-hop bills. Greenville has grown into a third hub with its own rooms. Players starting out can find bandmates across the state on BandMate and test the fit at open mics in any of the three cities.