We use effective string theory to study mesons with large spin J in large Nc QCD as rotating open strings. In the first part of this work, we formulate a consistent effective field theory (EFT) for open spinning strings with light quarks. Our EFT provides a consistent treatment of the endpoints' singularities that arise in the massless limit. We obtain results, in a systematic 1/J expansion, for the spectrum of the leading and daughter Regge trajectories. Interestingly, we find that the redshift factor associated with the quarks' acceleration implies that the applicability regime of the EFT is narrower compared to that of static flux tubes. In the second part of this work, we discuss several extensions of phenomenological interests, including mesons with heavy quarks, the quarks' spin and the daughter Regge trajectories associated with the worldsheet axion, a massive string mode identified in lattice simulations of 4d flux tubes. We compare our predictions with 4d QCD spectroscopy data, and suggest potential stringy interpretations of the observed mesons. We finally comment on the relation between the EFT spectrum and the Axionic String Ansatz, a recently proposed characterization of the spectrum of Yang-Mills glueballs.