Museum gets the blues
A display of both a cornet and a trumpet side by side for viewing, discussion and education.
Kristin Emery/For the Observer-Reporter
Exhibits at The National Blues Museum in St. Louis show the history and origin of blues music.
Ask anyone where the birthplace of the blues is, and they’ll likely say the Mississippi Delta.
With roots in centuries-old African-American culture, the blues are full of feelings – sorrow, pain and even joy, as blues performers expressed their troubles and also rose above them.
The Mississippi River served as a pipeline for some of the world’s greatest blues artists to travel north to Memphis, Tenn., and then on to St. Louis, Mo.
Having grown up in St. Louis and spent Sundays singing in the choir at the church where his dad was a minister, Jeffery Hardin knows all about the blues. Now, Hardin is executive director of the National Blues Museum, which opened its doors in downtown St. Louis on April 2, 2016.
“It’s been in planning for many years,” said Hardin. “Our board is immersed in the blues and are blues lovers, and it’s engraved in St. Louis. They thought this would be a tremendous opportunity for St. Louis and here we are.”
The museum sits in a 23,000-square-foot space that used to be a downtown department store. Now, it houses tributes to blues greats like Muddy Waters, W.C. Handy, Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Blues’ influence on rock-n-roll is notable and the museum pays homage to that with displays on how the blues shaped the music of rockers from Chuck Berry to the Rolling Stones.
“It’s just a true story of the American culture,” said Hardin. “Blues has crossed so many genres, it has a presence in rock and coming through the spirituals and gospel and country. When you think about it, I don’t know of a genre that blues has not influenced.”
The National Blues Museum has been voted a top travel destination by the New York Times, Smithsonian.com and CNN, and sits in the center of downtown St. Louis within walking distance of the Gateway Arch. Though Memphis has the Blues Hall of Fame and Beale Street, St. Louis’ connection to the blues is intertwined.
Kristin Emery/For the Observer-Reporter
Kristin Emery/For the Observer-Reporter
Musical instruments and outfits worn by blues greats are on display at the museum.
“St Louis just has a rich history with it,” explained Hardin. “You have a lot of the Delta artists moving in this direction, and being the ‘Gateway to the West,’ it seemed the perfect setting for the National Blues Museum. We branched out with this relationship we have with Memphis and the Chicago connection. It’s just kind of central.”
Hardin has a passion for live music, singing gospel in the church choir and later discovering jazz, R&B and blues. He’s now considered to be one of St. Louis’s premier male vocalists. It’s natural that his face lights up when asked about live blues music being an integral part of the museum.
“We have some of the most phenomenal artists who have performed around the nation,” he said with a grin. “To host that in this room and to see it light up and to have a Thursday night jam, seeing the next generation of blues artists … to see all of that immersed in the blues is just phenomenal in itself.”
Having a theater and performance space for live concerts and events was a must. The Lumiere Place Legends Room at the National Blues Museum hosts weekly concerts, jam sessions and national acts with seating for 136 patrons.
When asked about curating a museum dedicated to the blues, Hardin talked about the importance of having a dedicated space for traveling exhibits and said he’s working with the Scott Joplin House in St. Louis on creating an exhibit about the connection between ragtime and blues. Of course, the music is key, and interactive exhibits in the museum allows guests to listen to the blues and well as make their own music.
“I was walking through this museum the other day and it dawned on me that I started out listening to an 8-track tape, and that my daughter has no clue what that is,” Hardin laughs. “So just the artifacts and the exhibits that we have speak to every era of blues influence and the different genres of music that remain strong to this day.”
While Hardin initially expected local residents to be the most regular visitors, he was surprised to find the opposite is true. He said the museum hosts tourists from around the world and he has met visitors from Europe, Peru and Venezuela.
“That is the epitome of the influence of the blues,” he said. “People are able to come in and fellowship with us with what blues is designed to do. Music is a healer and this kind of what we enjoy with the relationship of the music and the people that are coming in from out the state and even those who are in our city and rediscovering what blues has done in our society and what it continues to do today.”
The National Blues Museum is located at 615 Washington Ave., St. Louis. It’s open seven days a week, but closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Admission is $15 for adults with discounts for seniors, students, children and military members. Find out more at www.nationalbluesmuseum.org.
Kristin Emery/For the Observer-Reporter
Kristin Emery/For the Observer-Reporter
Blues influenced rock ‘n’ roll greats such as Chuck Berry.