On August 9th, 2006 Cybergrass wrote about the opening of the New Musicians Hall of Fame. Now, 7 years later, the organization has a new home. The Nashville Municipal Auditorium will be the new home to the museum that was displaced by the Music City Center project. The new name of the Arena will be The Musicians Hall of Fame at Nashville Municipal Auditorium. All those years ago, The Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum would spotlight session musicians and others. The Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum opened in June of 2006 with high expectations. Over the years, it has continued to grow and evolve even higher!
Entrepreneur Joe Chambers, a noted songwriter, producer and owner of Nashville guitar store Chambers Guitars, was the original guiding force behind the new museum. He long believed studio musicians deserve more recognition for their contributions to popular music. Doing research on the concept, Chambers discovered that there were no museums anywhere dedicated to studio musicians. That just fueled his fire to bring the concept into fruition. He also felt that it would solidify Nashville's reputation as a music epicenter for all types of music.
Chambers commented in 2006 saying, "Working in the studio as songwriter and producer, I learned the importance of studio musicians. They are the backbone of the record business. I had spoken to Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy and James Burton about doing a project that would talk about and educate people on musicians. Those conversations ultimately metamorphosed into the museum."
Today, the organization is flourishing with new programs and presentations. In May, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean was on hand to unveil the new street name that is in front of The Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum. It was a perfect Nashville afternoon and local media was on hand to cover the event. Just recently, they announced the opening of an exhibit by Betty Harper -- "50+ Years with Elvis" that will open August 29th.
The grand reopening and the new location are great news for Nashville musicians and helps to highlight the dedication this organization has to the history and legacy of all music.