As you travel, consider touring some of the museums dedicated to the history and cultural significance of music of all genres.
By Josephine Matyas, F468364
November 2023
Music museums are a little like dandelions. You spot one, then two, and before you know it, they are popping up all around you. We all know the big-time music cities — Memphis, Nashville, and Detroit — boast a museum (or two) dedicated to music. But if you dig just a little deeper during your RV travels, you’ll discover some unexpected gems in small towns just down the road.
Our household is a partnership between a musician and a writer, and we make a living playing, researching, and writing about music destinations. Our many road trips in search of music styles have been full of “dandelion‚ surprises ˛ from an amazing banjo collection in a tiny North Carolina town to the sprawling Georgia home that was an incubator to the unpretentious guitar licks of Southern rock, and just about everything in between. Narrowing down a list of our favorites to share here was, well, a challenge. No doubt, you’ll find many more yourself.
The octobass housed in the Musical Instrument Museum is extremely rare.
Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, is on a mission to tell the story of how music captures the soul of cultures around the globe. Galleries are organized by continent, reflecting more than 200 countries, and by periods of music and genres such as jazz, blues, folk, and rock and roll. The expansive museum contains a dizzying 8,000 instruments that are beaten, plucked, bowed, and blown by people around the world, many accompanied by videos to show how it’s done. Want to see quirky instruments fashioned from discarded items? This is your place. www.mim.org
The National Music Museum houses over 15,000 instruments.
National Music Museum is located in Vermillion, South Dakota. Never in a million years did we expect to find this world-class facility tucked into a corner of South Dakota, where a billboard welcoming us to town proclaimed: “Les Paul, More Stradivarius.‚ Recognized as “A Landmark of American Music‚ by the National Music Council, this depository of fine and historic instruments is located on the campus of the University of South Dakota. It recently underwent a major renovation, and the permanent collection of 15,000-plus instruments features some real keepers. These include a 1668 Jacob Stainer violin in pristine condition (with the sweet sound preferred by Bach), the Martin D35 guitar played by Elvis, Johnny Cash’s Martin D28, and a Hohner blues harmonica blown by Stevie Wonder. Prepare to spend hours in instrument heaven. www.nmmusd.org
GRAMMY Museum Mississippi focuses on the history of the GRAMMY Awards.
GRAMMY Museum Mississippi, located on the campus of Delta State University in Cleveland, celebrates Mississippi as the birthplace of American music, and, as the name suggests, includes a nod to the GRAMMY Awards. Enter, breathe it all in, and then head for the Mississippi Gallery to experience the Mississippi Music Table ˛ a mesmerizing, interactive “rabbit hole‚ that marries 21st-century tech with a deep well of musical history. By tapping selections, visitors can hop around to make the connections and influences between generations of musicians. For example, The Beatles found inspiration in the music of Robert Johnson, Elvis Presley, and Buddy Holly. In addition, there are thousands of artifacts, including Elvis’ white jumpsuit, Pop Staples’ Fender Jazzmaster guitar, and Willie Dixon’s passport. www.grammymuseumms.org
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to preserving and researching country music.
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is in Nashville, Tennessee. Hank Williams put it succinctly when he said, “A song ain’t nothin’ in the world but a story just wrote with music to it.‚ This museum of country music communicates the shared truths and common experiences ˛ love, loss, joys, sorrows ˛ as told through song. Interactive displays take visitors through musical history, from the early outdoor revivals to the Grand Ole Opry; the Nashville sound of Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis; and the Southern rock of groups like the Allman Brothers, Alabama, and Brooks & Dunn. Presley’s 1960 gold Cadillac (with 24-karat gold plate highlights and 40 coats of a translucent mixture of crushed diamonds and fish scales) may steal the show, but there are thousands of items of clothing and instruments on display as well. www.countrymusichalloffame.org
Many string instruments are on display at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum.
If you are interested in how country music came to be and how it spread into the mainstream of America, The Birthplace of Country Music Museum is a must-do stop in Bristol, Virginia. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, this impressive repository tells the story of the legendary 1927 Bristol Sessions, the historic recordings that sparked the “big bang of country music.‚ For 10 days that summer, the Victor Talking Machine Company came to Bristol and created the first recordings of seminal country players, including Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. Interactive displays tell the story and trace the development of the music style. www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org
“We Were Waltzing That Night” by artist Willard Gayheart is featured at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum.
Located in Owensboro, Kentucky, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum boasts over 9,000 square feet of active exhibit space. In the 1940s, Bill Monroe, “the Father of Bluegrass,‚ helped shape a new kind of music with a distinctive high, lonesome sound based on old-time musical traditions, including the Scots-Irish fiddle and the Afro-American banjo. This story is told at the only cultural center dedicated solely to bluegrass music. The carefully curated exhibits include posters, instruments, sheet music, and photographs. Live performances are a big part of telling the story. www.bluegrasshall.org
The “Out of Carolina” exhibit in the Earl Scruggs Center explores Earl’s early years.
The Appalachian foothills were home to Earl Scruggs, the son of a hardscrabble sharecropper, who developed a frenetic style of banjo picking (“10 notes a second‚) and helped define a new music genre. The Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, North Carolina, tells the life story of the legendary banjo master along with the history and culture of his hometown. Scruggs did for the banjo what Jimi Hendrix did for the electric guitar: He showed what was possible. The Center ˛ a stop on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina ˛ is a cutting-edge tribute to the man and his music. Displays include original instruments, video clips, interviews, and interactive exhibits where you learn to play the banjo through a touch-screen or call up photographs of musicians from the times. www.earlscruggscenter.org
Visit Elvis’ humble birthplace in Mississippi.
It’s all about the early years and the foundational music influences on The King at the unpretentious and informative Elvis Presley Birthplace museum in Tupelo, Mississippi, the humble beginnings of the man who changed the course of rock and roll. Set at the actual Presley homesite, the grounds include the two-room, shotgun-style house where Elvis was born during the Great Depression; the family’s Pentecostal church; and a state-of-the-art museum filled with artifacts and audio-visual clips. www.elvispresleybirthplace.com
The Stax Museum is a must-see for soul music lovers.
Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, Tennessee, is the world’s only full-fledged soul music museum. Soul was secular music heavily influenced by blues, gospel, and country to create a groove that “stirs your insides and shakes your outsides.‚ In 1960s racially divided Memphis, Stax was a desegregated enclave where Black and white musicians could work, create, and socialize together. It was a favorite recording spot for soul and R&B giants such as Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett, and Aretha Franklin. www.staxmuseum.com
Tour the inside of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is in Sheffield, Alabama. Set in a former coffin warehouse, Muscle Shoals Sound ˛ nicknamed 3614 Jackson Highway after the Cher album with that title recorded there ˛ was owned by the funky house band members through the late 1960s and the 1970s. The Swampers (as they were known) played thousands of memorable songs by musicians including Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Cat Stevens, and Boz Scaggs. The tour passes walls of framed gold records and awards, as well as the Yamaha baby grand piano used by Paul Simon to record “Kodachrome.‚ You can even sit in the sound booth and imagine you’re adjusting the dials. www.muscleshoalssoundstudio.org
The Motown Museum is a popular Detroit attraction.
The property at Hitsville U.S.A. (the original Motown Records headquarters and music recording studio) is now known as Motown Museum. This Detroit, Michigan, museum is where musical giants like Diana Ross & The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, and Lionel Richie cemented the sound of Motown. The property recently underwent a large and ambitious expansion; the third and final stage added a 40,000-square-foot building, including a theater and exhibit space. www.motownmuseum.org
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is often simply called the “Rock Hall.”
The spacious Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, is dedicated to the history and significance of rock and roll music, the soundscape of our lives that emerged in North America in the 1950s and 1960s. A large collection of iconic rock and roll artifacts, as well as special exhibits, explores the early and modern influencers such as Chuck Berry, James Brown, and Bruce Springsteen; the present day; and the future of the music. www.rockhall.com
Sun Studio in Memphis is the iconic location where Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash recorded many hits.
Sun Studio can be found in Memphis, Tennessee. They say the “X‚ on the studio floor marks the spot where Elvis launched the history of modern music with his song “That’s All Right.‚ Legendary producer Sam Phillips was behind Sun Studio and steered the sounds and careers of such musical giants as Ike Turner, Jerry Lee “The Killer‚ Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl “Blue Suede Shoes‚ Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley. The tour takes visitors past display cases stuffed with original sheet music, recording devices, and records, and then into the historic recording studio, which is still used today. www.sunstudio.com
Items from The Allman Brothers Band are showcased at The Big House Museum.
The Big House Museum is located in Macon, Georgia. Locals joke there must be something in the water ˛ the small Georgia city produced powerhouse musicians including Little Richard, Otis Redding, and the Allman Brothers. The Allman Brothers Band lived and created music in this sprawling Tudor-style home that has been transformed into a shrine for the band. The Big House overflows with memorabilia carefully curated to draw you through various stages of the group’s evolution, including artifacts, photographs, and instruments. www.thebighousemuseum.com
Blues great B.B. King is celebrated in Indianola, Mississippi.
Blues filled the soundtrack for a Mississippi Delta Saturday night in the early 20th century. The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, Mississippi, is a world-class facility built onto an old brick cotton-gin building where young Riley (B.B.’s birth name) sharecropped and drove a tractor before evolving into Blues Boy King and changing blues history. The galleries are filled with items from B.B.’s personal archives, including instruments, personal papers, photos, video clips, and even his 1960s-era tour bus. www.bbkingmuseum.org
Portraits of blues figures hang at Gateway To The Blues Museum.
Take an old wooden railway station (symbolic of the way blues musicians traveled throughout the South); create a comprehensive set of galleries; stuff them full of priceless instruments, photos, and memorabilia, and you’ve got the excellent Gateway To The Blues Museum, tucked into the northwest corner where Mississippi meets Tennessee, in Tunica, Mississippi. The story of the blues is laid out in such detail that you’ll likely come away feeling a whole new understanding and appreciation for the music, culture, and history that defined the South. It’s one of our favorites. www.tunicatravel.com/blues
The New Orleans Jazz Museum is in the heart of the city’s music scene.
There’s no disputing that New Orleans, Louisiana, is the city where jazz was born. So, it’s fitting that a museum dedicated to this priceless American art form is housed in the historic Old U.S. Mint, just a hop from the popular French Quarter. The New Orleans Jazz Museum keeps visitors busy with interactive exhibits and protects 25,000plus artifacts ˛ the largest collection in the world ˛ including Louis Armstrong’s cornet, Fats Domino’s striking white piano, and a selection of photographs that tell the story of jazz. www.nolajazzmuseum.org
This sampling of museums should go a long way toward educating and entertaining the music lover in you. Celebrate blues, jazz, country, rock and roll, bluegrass, and other genres at countless fascinating facilities you may discover during your next RV journey.