Entry No. 31 — the Memphis file — filed under: roadhouse
Hernando's Hide-A-Way
Hernando's sits at the end of a residential dead-end road in Whitehaven, holds about 200 people, and carries a genuine claim to Elvis, Johnny Cash and Charlie Rich having worked the room. It went dark for years and is now demonstrably back: 564 past concerts logged and sixteen more already on the books running into 2027. The programming is a real roadhouse mix — ticketed touring acts at $10 to $40 depending on the name, with JD Simo, Joshua Ray Walker and Willis Alan Ramsey among the fall bills — sitting alongside two standing weekly nights that cost nothing. Wednesday is an open jam, Sunday is Chicken Sh*t Bingo with Hillbilly Mojo, both no cover. Doors are usually 6 p.m. for an 8 p.m. show, which leaves a long, comfortable stretch of nothing much happening at the bar.
→ Three more underground music & performance in Memphis — never the same twice
The story
The historical marker outside — sponsored by the Lansky Family and the Shelby County Historical Commission — puts it plainly: Hernando's Hide-A-Way featured rockabilly music for over 50 years and closed in 2006. It sat outside the city limits when it opened, which accounts for most of its reputation; the marker's own word for the place is "rowdy." Elvis Presley played here in 1953. Johnny Burnette sang about "The Hide-A-Way" in the 1956 hit "Rock Billy Boogie," and the entirely unrelated song "Hernando's Hideaway" in the 1957 film The Pajama Game did the rest of the name's publicity work for free.
Joe Arnold & The Memphis Four and Billy Adams & The Nuggets held the house-band slots through the 1960s and '70s, with Charlie Rich and Duck Dunn among the drop-ins. Arsonists burned an expansion in 1982. Once it was restored, Jerry Lee Lewis turned up so often he called the club his office. Then it went dark for more than a decade, until 2018, when musician Dale Watson and his wife Celine Lee reopened it and brought the Ameripolitan Awards to Memphis. Watson had bought Austin's Little Longhorn Saloon in 2013 — home of Chicken $#!+ Bingo — and the bird made the trip east with him.
So the calendar now reads like two venues sharing an address. Sunday is Chicken Sh*t Bingo with Hillbilly Mojo Memphis and Wednesday is an open jam, both free. Everything else is ticketed at roughly $10 to $40, doors at 6 and show at 8, and the booking flatly refuses to pick a lane: blues, country, metal, funk, a Tom Petty tribute on Halloween. Songkick counts 564 past concerts here and sixteen more already on the books into 2027, all in a room that holds 200. The site's own summary of the arrangement is "Come for the Music, Stay for the History and BBQ."
What it's like
Old Hernando Road is a residential dead end about fifteen minutes south of downtown, and the venue is at the far end of it with its own lot, so this is a drive-or-rideshare proposition. Doors open at 6 for an 8 p.m. show, which buys you two unhurried hours at the bar before anything happens — the reason to come early rather than a flaw in the scheduling. At 200 capacity there is no bad sightline and no reason to crowd the stage. Check the calendar first: the room is not open nightly and runs show by show. On Sundays a chicken decides who wins and nobody pretends otherwise; put money on a square, then leave the bird alone and let it work.
The move: Take the Sunday: show up for Chicken Sh*t Bingo with Hillbilly Mojo, pay nothing to get in, put money on a square and watch a chicken decide your evening while a band plays. If you'd rather hear something serious, buy $20–$25 tickets to whichever touring act is on that weekend, get there at 6 when doors open, and take a table near the front — 200 capacity means there is no bad seat.
📍 Before you go Wednesday open jam and Sunday Chicken Sh*t Bingo are both no cover; everything else is ticketed, roughly $10–$40, usually 6 p.m. doors and 8 p.m. show. Check the site's calendar before driving out — the venue is not open nightly and the schedule is show-by-show. It is on a dead-end residential street in Whitehaven, about fifteen minutes south of downtown; drive or rideshare, and parking is on-site. Phone (901) 509-2352; booking at [email protected].
- 📍 Memphis
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 3210 Old Hernando Rd, Memphis, TN 38116
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Marlowe's Ribs & Restaurant — Two miles north on Elvis Presley Blvd in the same 38116 — eat ribs there during the 4-to-8 p.m. pink-limo window, then be at Hernando's in time for doors.
- Coletta's Italian Restaurant — Barbecue pizza and unchallenged Elvis lore on South Parkway, a straight shot back toward town and an early enough dinner to still make an 8 p.m. downbeat.
- Wild Bill's — The contrast leg: a North Memphis juke joint whose night is only getting started around 11, right as Hernando's is winding its show down.
More weird in Memphis
Good to know
Where is it, and how do I get there?
3210 Old Hernando Rd, at the end of a dead-end residential street about fifteen minutes south of downtown Memphis. There is on-site parking and no useful transit, so drive or take a rideshare. Phone (901) 509-2352.
What does it cost to get in?
The Wednesday open jam and Sunday Chicken Sh*t Bingo with Hillbilly Mojo Memphis are both no cover. Everything else is ticketed roughly $10 to $40 depending on the act — Alvin Youngblood Hart's Muscle Theory at $10–$15, JD Simo at $20–$25, Willis Alan Ramsey at $35–$40 on the fall 2026 calendar.
Is it open every night?
No. It runs show by show, not on fixed nightly hours, so check the calendar on the venue site before driving out. Ticketed shows are almost always doors at 6 p.m. and music at 8.
How much of the Elvis history is real?
The historical marker on site, sponsored by the Lansky Family and the Shelby County Historical Commission, states that Elvis Presley played here in 1953 and names Charlie Rich and Duck Dunn among later performers. Jerry Lee Lewis became a fixture after the 1982 arson fire was repaired.
What exactly is Chicken Sh*t Bingo?
A tradition Dale Watson brought from the Little Longhorn Saloon in Austin, which he bought in 2013: bettors take numbered squares, a chicken is released over the board, and wherever it relieves itself is the winner. At Hernando's it runs Sunday nights with Hillbilly Mojo Memphis, no cover.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · songkick.com
last checked: 2026-08-26