Nashville's newest museum: The Grammy Gallery
The Grammy Awards have a new permanent home in Nashville.
No, that doesn't mean Music City is hosting the Los Angeles-based awards show again — so far, that's occurred just once, in 1973. But as an organization, the Grammys now have a permanent presence in Nashville.
Tuesday marked the grand opening of The Grammy Museum Gallery at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, located on the first floor of Nashville Municipal Auditorium. It's highly interactive, aimed at drawing young music fans not just into the history of the Grammys, but also every step of the recording process.
"This is now going to be the coolest field trip in town," said Nashville Mayor Megan Barry. "The kids are really going to love all of the amazing interactive activities behind us. They're going to learn how music gets made."
Megan Barry on a mission to bring Grammys to Nashville
Visitors will have the opportunity to try digital drum sets, guitars and other instruments, and many of the stations include interactive content with notable music-makers.
Songwriters Lamont Dozier (of Motown fame) and Nashville's Desmond Child offer up one half of a new song, and visitors will have the opportunity to finish it off. Garth Brooks and his team of session musicians ("The G Men") allowed cameras into the studio for a full day as they re-recorded "Friends in Low Places" for an interactive feature. Brooks was in attendance at the grand opening, though he stayed offstage and applauded other's efforts from the audience.
"Museums today in America are at a crossroads," said Bob Santelli, executive director of the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles. "They are trying to figure out how to make themselves relevant with young people. Their museum is not my museum when I was a kid. ... When you come to the Musicians Hall of Fame and the Grammy Gallery now, it is no longer a static experience. It is an active experience, coupled with the great tradition of museum storytelling."
Grammy Gallery coming to Nashville
Other guests at the ceremony included Peter Frampton and Brenda Lee, music executive Mike Curb and Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy. Portnow had high praise for Nashville as an all-genre Music City, as well as the new gallery.
"Visitors won't just see and hear the music, they'll actually experience it," Portnow said. "Hopefully, they're going to leave here feeling like creators themselves, not just visitors to a museum."
The Grammy Museum Gallery is now open, and is included with admission to the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (401 Gay St.). Tickets are $24 for adults, $14 for ages 11-17 and free for children 10 and under.