Jo Lee Magazine - Luxury Edition 2020

THE PRIVATE MUSEUMS ————————————————————————————
Les Musées Privés | Los Museos PrivaDos | Die Private Museen |
Nashville, Tennessee
By Julie Rekai Rickerd
Toronto – Canada
Past and present merge
seamlessly in the museums of
Nashville, Tennessee. It is
impossible to visit just one
private museum in the city since
that Music City is filled with
them, some in public/private
partnerships, all of them
unique.
“The Gallery of Iconic Guitars”
displays some of the rarest and
most “iconic” guitars and
stringed instruments known,
including Steven Kern Shaw’s
collection of his grandfather
Jerome Kern’s guitars, whose
many popular compositions
include such classics as “Ole
Man River” and “Smoke Gets in
Your Eyes”. These instruments
can be borrowed and played by
scholars and professional
musicians.
Individual museums pay tribute
to the greats of country music:
Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline,
Merle Haggard and George
Jones, who are also honored in
Nashville’s sensational “Country
Music Hall of Fame and
Museum” that features
spectacular gallery displays and
revolving exhibitions of artifacts
that belonged to such Country
artists as Willie Nelson, Waylon
Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.
“The Musicians Hall of Fame
and Museum” is a more
intimate venue to honor
musicians who performed on
some of the greatest country
recordings of all time. It also
houses a tribute to country
music’s cultural history and the
Grammy Awards. An added
pleasure is touring the museum
with an active, contemporary
musician who has one of his
instruments on display.
An amazing experience is
visiting the historic, 63-year-old
RCA Studio B, Nashville’s
oldest recording studio that
recorded major hits like Roy
Orbison’s “Only the Lonely”,
the Everly Brothers’ “Dream”,
Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, and 250
Elvis Presley hits. It is pure
nostalgia to be allowed to sit
and play on Elvis’s original
piano in the museum section of
the still working studio.
Homage must also be paid to
the 128-year-old Ryman
Auditorium, an active museum
referred to as the “Mother
Church of Country Music”, a
national Historic Landmark
famous for its remarkable
acoustics and for being the first
host of the Grand Ole Opry
radio program. The
auditorium’s hallway walls are
covered in original posters that
promote its extraordinary cast of
fearlier performers: Charlie
Chaplin, Pavlova, Mae West,
Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles,
B.B. King, Blake Shelton, and
Bruce Springsteen.
These museums are the keepers
and recorders of Music City’s
history as Nashville continues to
be the world’s epicenter of everevolving,
contemporary country
music.
Further information can be
found at:
www.visitmusiccity.com
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