Why It Matters

We’re going on a road trip; well, virtually at least.

Unless you’re Dave Grohl, you probably don’t have the time or the money to road trip to all of our national music meccas: New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis. There’s Philly soul and the Athens roots of college radio; San Francisco, L.A. and D.C. all were essential to the punk movement. Did I mention the Bowery in NYC? Jacksonville, Florida was critical to Southern rock, as was Macon, Georgia. Detroit! Come on!

On and on — so many important music cities in the U.S., but for Choose and Defend you can only choose one. We’ll make it easy for you and throw in time travel, too: You can travel to any one music mecca during any time. You can be in Memphis for the Million Dollar Quartet, or you can be on L.A.’s Sunset Strip to watch Van Halen at the Whisky. The only catch? You must defend your choice in the comments section below.

Answers must fit on the back of a concert tee, and come on people: Let’s make Laura B. proud.