Look for the Old Style sign hanging from a house in an otherwise industrial no-man’s-land, and you’ve found the Hideout, one of the city’s most beloved indie venues since ’96. (In the late 1800s, it was a boarding house for factory workers, then a sneaky Prohibition-era speakeasy.) The back-room stage, with its Midwestern rec-room vibe, has hosted Wilco, Mavis Staples, and Alabama Shakes; nowadays it’s home to indie-rock, bluegrass, and hip-hop acts bubbling up from the underground.

The nonprofit arts space is hidden above an unassuming Logan Square dollar store, and though the second-floor room is starkly minimal, the musical and audio-visual performances are eclectic enough to make up for it. Opened in 1998 by a group of college artists, it’s a place where you might catch a showcase for Afrofuturist classical composers, an improvised jazz-and-dance performance, or musicians bouncing ping-pong balls inside a piano.

One of the city’s best venues for all sorts of Americana—from bluegrass to zydeco—isn’t in the city at all. The laidback Berwyn roadhouse, just west of Chicago proper, was a 1920s hunting lodge, then a mid-century jazz club. More recently, FitzGerald’s’ three stages (a main club, outdoor patio, and the adjacent Sidebar) have hosted intimate shows from Bo Diddley to Drive-By Truckers, plus their annual American Music Festival, which Stevie Ray Vaughan and Mavis Staples have headlined.

Since 1994, the neighborhood club has welcomed touring bands and local up-and-comers in a quintessentially Chicago 19th-century brick building (formerly a butcher shop) in the otherwise quiet Roscoe Village area. Bookings skew mostly towards rock, featuring popular local bar bands like country-punk mainstays The Waco Brothers, Midwest emo favorites like American Football, and buzzy indie acts like Waxahatchee and Girlpool. Bonus: The bar food is decidedly above average.

Opened in 2018 to fill the void of venues in the low-key but hip Avondale neighborhood, the wood-paneled mid-century space opens early for coffee, plus beer and cider from its massive draft line. By night, it’s become a staple for indie rock, R&B, hip-hop, and electronic artists just south of the mainstream, from local indie darlings like Whitney to cult rappers like JPEGMAFIA—plus $1 beer nights and a year-round outdoor patio.

The Six Corners intersection of Wicker Park was once the city’s hottest scene for live music, and this three-story venue is one of that era’s last holdouts. The 130-year-old former brothel and bathhouse, built atop secret Prohibition-era tunnels, is remarkably well-preserved considering how many sweaty, ear-splitting rock and hip-hop shows have graced its downstairs lounge and upstairs stage, from Pussy Riot to Lil Peep—plus the longest-running hip-hop open-mic night in the US.

Founded in 1957 as a space for music lessons, the School launched the careers of folk luminaries like John Prine and The Byrds’ Roger McGuinn. It moved into a former Lincoln Avenue library in the ’90s, with a grand reopening headlined by Joni Mitchell. Today it’s the largest nonprofit community arts school in the US. At night, its acoustically pristine concert hall hosts legacy acts like The Jayhawks, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Jeff Tweedy alongside smaller showcases and open mics.

The elegant Space (Society for the Preservation of Arts and Culture in Evanston) is the premier venue of the North Shore—the ritzy suburbs along the lakefront—hosting intimate folk, jazz, and indie shows alongside big names like Lucinda Williams or Alabama Shakes. Pull up a chair and order a Neapolitan pizza and a cocktail or check out their outdoor Out of Space summer series, where headliners have included Emmylou Harris, Parliament Funkadelic, and Outkast’s Big Boi.

Blocks from the city’s most scenic lakeside lookout point, The Promontory opened in 2014 as a music and arts venue for the often-underserved South Side. The focus at the second-story Hyde Park spot is local—think: Teklife footwork showcases, daytime gospel choirs, and performances from hometown heroes like VIC MENSA or theMIND, plus dance parties with DJs spinning R&B, reggae, and Afro Caribbean jams.

You won’t hear much country in Chicago, but if you do, it’ll probably be at Carol’s, the 50-year-old corner bar that’s keeping honky-tonk alive on the North Side. The lone holdout from the stretch of Clark Street known in the ’70s as Hillbilly Heaven, the 200-capacity dive—lit up with portraits of Dolly and company—hosts local mainstays like The Hoyle Brothers and longtime house band Diamondback (and occasionally Wilco, who played their Cruel Country release shows here).