Nashville is More than Country Music at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum

When many people think Nashville, they automatically think twangy country music blaring from honkey tonks.  Although you can get that, not many people know that Nashville is home to many musicians from all genre’s and styles. Groups like Paramore, Ben Folds, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Usher and even Jimi Hendrix have all lived or currently live in the Nashville area.  Many if not all of these artists songs have been recorded in and around the city as well.  Some even own their own studios like Ben Folds’ in the Historic RCA Studio A or Jack White’s Place on Third Man Records. The Brand New Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Downtown Nashville at the Historic Municipal Auditorium is a great example of this and educates you not only about Nashville’s importance in the music industry but musicians all around the world.

The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum is the only such building in the world dedicated to the artists themselves.  A new building, however, the Hall of Fame Organization has been around for years, recognizes not only the famous names but the ones that were just as important in the production of the Gold and Platinum Records.  These are the unsung and indispensable heroes of the recording industry.  Studio Musicians have been around since the dawn of audio recording.  Studio Musicians are the names in the credits but not on the cover.  Most albums you have ever heard usually feature a studio musician in one form or another.  The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum highlights these unsung heroes, many of which have interesting stories themselves.

The Hall of Fame and Museum are divided into “City” sections where you can learn about each geographic locations importance in the development and evolution of the music industry and the musicians that create the music.  You can virtually travel from Detroit to Los Angeles or from Muscle Shoals to New York City.  You can also get a complete history of music in Nashville as well so there is plenty of material about the Grand Ole Opry, The Ryman and the building that houses the Museum and Hall of Fame itself, the Historic Municipal Auditorium.

The Hall of Fame and Museum also features instruments, gear and other pieces of music history.  Pieces like a Jimi Hendrix Guitar, Ravi Shankar’s Sitar used on The Beatles’ songs  “Within You Without You” and “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” and Owen Bradley’s Board from the Quonset Hut that made “Music Row” what it is today.

For More information on how to visit the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum check out their site here.