Narrated by Dwight Yoakam, the exhibit will explore the roots, heyday, and impact of the Bakersfield Sound, the loud, stripped-down and radio-ready music most closely identified with the careers of Country Music Hall of Fame members Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Co-curated by the institution’s Curatorial Director, Mick Buck, Photo Collection Manager Tim Davis, and Museum Editor Michael Gray, the exhibit includes more than 100 artifacts and an overlay of audio-visual presentations.
Grand opening weekend will be highlighted by a panel discussion with Dallas Frazier, Don Maddox, Rose Lee Maphis, Buddy Mize, Jean Shepard, and Red Simpson. The panelists will participate in a concert, headlined by Simpson, backed by guitarist Deke Dickerson and other musicians from Tennessee and California. Other opening-weekend programs include a film screening and an instrument demonstration.
The exhibit will run through the end of 2013, and is accompanied by a companion book, The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and California Country, published by the Museum’s Country Music Foundation Press. Learn more at countrymusichalloffame.org.
