02 · GALLERY
Five frames.
Walk down a flight of stairs on Bleecker Street between MacDougal and Sullivan and you are in Terra Blues. A 90-cap basement, exposed brick, two-set nights since 1992. The 7pm set is acoustic, the 10pm electric, no opener, the bar is cash-friendly. Michael Powers, Junior Mack, the New York blues canon plays here. The room is small enough that a slide-guitar harmonic carries to the back wall and the harmonica player at the front works the room without a mic when the mood takes him. The cover is modest, the drinks are not, and the playing is the most rigorous live blues in New York City.
Two sets a night, 7pm acoustic and 10pm electric. Both worth it; the late set is looser. Walk in after 9pm and you'll usually find a stool near the bar.
The defining Greenwich Village blues basement, programmed nightly since 1992. The room is the music.
Friday and Saturday nights. Late set (10pm) is looser. Sundays are quieter, often best for hearing the room.
Open nightly. Two sets, 7pm and 10pm. Closes 1am weekdays, 2am weekends.
F train to West 4th Street, walk three blocks south on MacDougal. Bleecker Street between MacDougal and Sullivan, north side, basement entrance below street level.