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When you stop
and listen, you quickly realize that
music is all around us—at a local
festival, at a dance hall on a Saturday
night, or on your radio or your .mp3
player. Whether you’re hearing
blues, country-western, folk or gospel,
American roots music reveals the American
story—peoples reshaping themselves
in a new and changing world. As Americans
from a variety of heritages shared
cultural influences, musicians found
new ways to play unique sounds learned
from new neighbors on traditional instruments.
The inevitable intermingling of musical
influences created exciting new sounds—new
American music.
The Delta Blues Museum and Clarksdale has been expressly chosen by the
Mississippi Humanities Council to host New Harmonies: Celebrating American
Roots Music as part of the Museum on Main Street project—a national/state/local
partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations.
After successful tours of Columbia, Meridian, New Albany. Vicksburg and
Gulfport, the New Harmonies traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibit
opens Nov. 21 in Clarksdale, at the historic downtown Greyhound Bus Station
at Issaquena Avenue and Third Street, with an opening reception on Nov.
28 at 5 p.m. The exhibit will remain in Clarksdale until Jan. 16 when
it will be returned to Washington, D.C.
Through a selection of photographs, recordings, instruments, lyrics and
artist profiles, New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music will
explore the distinct cultural identities of American roots music forms.
The exhibition will examine the progression of American roots music,
as rich and eclectic as our country itself. Other musical genres profiled
include zydeco, tejano, bluegrass and klezmer.
“We are very pleased to be able to bring New Harmonies to our area,” says
Shelley Ritter, Delta Blues Museum director. “Clarksdale’s music
roots run deep, not only with the blues, but with other forms of roots music
as well. This exhibit allows us the opportunity to explore in depth the many
fascinating aspects of our own region’s musical history and we hope that
it will inspire many to become even more involved in the cultural life of our
community.”
“Allowing all of our state’s residents to have access to the cultural
resources of our nation’s premiere museum is a priority of the Mississippi
Humanities Council,” says Dr. Barbara Carpenter, MHC executive director. “With
this special tour, we are pleased to be working with the Delta Blues Museum and
Clarksdale to help develop local exhibitions and public programs to compliment
the Smithsonian exhibition.” Such free events include roots music lectures
and workshops on country and blues music and performances by area blues and gospel
musicians. (See “Schedule of Events” attached.)
New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music is part of Museum on
Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution
Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across
the nation, and local host institutions. To learn more about New
Harmonies and other Museum on Main Street exhibitions, visit www.museumonmainstreet.org.
Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States
Congress.
SITES connects millions of Americans with their shared cultural heritage
through a wide range of art, science and history exhibitions. State humanities
councils, located in each state and U.S. territory, support community-based
humanities programs that highlight such topics as local history, literature
and cultural traditions. The Delta Blues Museum serves Clarksdale and
Coahoma County by creating a welcoming place where visitors find meaning,
value, and perspective by exploring the history and heritage of the unique
American musical art form of the blues.
To learn more, visit www.sites.si.edu, www.mshumanities.org and www.deltabluesmuseum.org.
Call the Delta Blues Museum at (662) 627-6820 to schedule group tours.
Special thanks to the exhibit and opening reception sponsors: Mississippi
Arts Commission, Mississippi Humanities Council, National Endowment for
the Arts, Federation of State Humanities Councils, Smithsonian Institution,
Clarksdale Garden Club, Fetzer Vineyard & Santa Carolina Winery and
Friends of the Delta Blues Museum.
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