The Country Music Hall Of Fame

This past Wednesday (January 27) when I went to Nashville to go to open mic night at Zanies. I got into town sooner than I had expected. I actually got there a couple of hours early . I needed something to do until 6:30 when the doors opened at the comedy club.

I decided to do something I've wanted to do for a while; visit the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Located on 5th Avenue just behind the Sommet Center in the heart of downtown Nashville the Country Music Hall of Fame is an impressive building with a unique design. It kind of reminds me of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green.

It was close to closing time at the musuem. It was 4:15 when I bought my ticket; giving me less than an hour to walk through and see the exhibits.

I started on the 3rd floor as recommended by the woman at the ticket counter. There were several kiosks and video screens that showed the roots and history of country music in America. Most of displays were costumes and instruments worn and used by country performers over the years. I saw some stage clothes and guitars of my favorite performers, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Bill Anderson and Loretta Lynn to name a few.

There were some unique items on display as well like one of Elvis Presley's favorite Cadillacs and his gold painted piano. There were some sound boards used in Nashville recording studios to record some of country music's most famous songs.

The second floor was mostly a special exhibit dedicated to the Hank Williams family history. Not being a fan of either Hank Williams Sr. or Jr. I didn't spend much time looking at that exhibit. I did sit in a little theater area and watch a video display of some of TVs most popular shows featuring country music.

That's where I saw the one thing I was most impressed with throughout the entire museum. It was a recreation of the cornfield set from the TV show Hee Haw. Having been in the same studio where Hee Haw had been taped just a couple of weeks ago (see my January 13 post) I really liked seeing the Hee Haw tribute. It even had some of the costumes and clothes worn by some of the show's most popular stars. There was a dress worn by Lulu Roman, bib overalls belonging to Grandpa Jones, and the scarecrow costume worn by David "String bean" Akeman.

The visit to the museum was totally spontaneous so I didn't have my camera with me to take any pictures. I tried to take some with my camera I can't get them to my computer. If I do manage to get them to download I'll post them on Facebook.

After walking through the 3 floors of displays my last stop was in the rotunda that displays plaques of all the people officially inducted into the HOF. I saw a lot of people I knew and listened to while growing up. I also learned about a lot of the songwriters and "behind the scene" people who helped make country music popular throughout its history. The HOF rotunda is a nice place to appreciate all the talented people who have shared their talents, music and lives with us over the years.

Of course the last stop on the museum tour was the gift shop. I didn't really want any type of souvenir but I did find a relatively inexpensive T-shirt that I liked. I'll take a picture of myself when I wear it and post it here.

Now I can say that I've been to the Country Music Hall of Fame. I don't know if I'll ever go back again. I may so I can spend a little more time and look at what I missed. The only people I can think of who might ever want to go with me are my sister-in-law, Theresa, and my brother-in-law Bob. Perhaps in 2011 when the Pennsylvania family come to visit again we can make a day trip to Nashville and visit. That will be fun.

While I was by myself I wasn't alone as I walked through the museum. With every display I saw and every exhibit one thought kept going through my mind. I kept thinking how much much my mom & dad would have loved to have been there. It makes me sad sometimes that I never got the chance to bring them here to Nashville for a visit. They would have been overjoyed to see all the country music places and history. But I'm sure they don't regret it after all they're in heaven. I'll bet there's lots of country music there and, at least, some former country music stars to tell them all about it.