African-American music museum slated for Nashville
A sign marks the future site of the National Museum of African American Music in a historically black neighborhood north of downtown Nashville, Tenn. The museum will explain how African Americans have influenced every genre of American music. (Sept. 10, 2011) Credit: AP
A proposed Nashville museum will aim to expand the idea of what makes the town Music City.
The National Museum of African American Music may sound counterintuitive for this city of country music, a white-dominated genre. But supporters say the city played an important role in fostering African-American music, which, in turn, influenced country.
Nashville is an integral part of that story, says board chairman Henry Hicks -- from the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who toured the world to support their historically black university, to Jimi Hendrix, who lived in Nashville early on, to Ray Charles.
The museum is expected to cost $47.5 million, Hicks said, adding fundraising is making progress. It is expected to open in 2013. For info, see nmaam.com.
