Grammy Museum Mississippi rises at 'ground zero' in Delta

MEMPHIS — Los Angeles and Cleveland, Miss., historically have had little in common. Located on the Pacific Ocean, with a population of 4 million, Los Angeles is synonymous with the bright lights of Hollywood, as the center of the film and entertainment industry. Nestled in the heart of the Delta, just off U.S. 61, Cleveland is a city of 12,000 residents, its biggest employers Baxter health care and Delta State University.

But in March, the cities developed a link, with the opening of the Grammy Museum Mississippi. It's only the second Grammy museum to be built, and the first other than the one located in downtown Los Angeles’ L.A. Live complex.

Owned and operated by the Cleveland Music Foundation — a non-profit founded in 2011 — the 27,000-square-foot museum is housed on the Delta State campus. Like its sister museum, the Mississippi incarnation is, as its mandate sets, “dedicated to exploring the past, present and future of music, and the cultural context from which it emerges.”

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Admittedly, on the surface Cleveland seems an unlikely location for a Grammy museum. But the list of popular musicians in the 20th century — pioneers, innovators and superstars alike — includes a staggering number of artists who were born, brought up or rooted in Mississippi. From Charlie Patton to Son House, Jimmy Rodgers to Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters to B.B. King, Elvis Presley to Bo Diddley, the Staple Singers to Sam Cooke, Charlie Pride to Bobbie Gentry, arguably no other state can claim as much important native talent.

“Certainly the history of Mississippi is incredibly rich,” said Emily Havens, executive director of the Grammy Mississippi Museum. “We feel like this is the birthplace of so much of America’s music. You can trace almost every bit of it back here.”

To relate that history and to forge a better understanding of it, the Grammy Museum will mix public events, educational programming, traveling exhibits and a permanent Mississippi-centric display that introduces visitors to the impact of the state’s “songwriters, producers and musicians on the traditional and modern music landscape.”

Cleveland is roughly a 100-mile, 90-minute drive south from Memphis. It also provides another selling point for domestic and, especially, international tourists. “The Grammy Museum is something we consider a regional amenity,” said Kevin Kane, president and CEO of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It’s something that we promote, and it’s a part of our music package that we use to lure people here from around the world.”

The seeds for the project were planted a decade ago under the administration of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. At the time the state began sponsoring a series of Grammy Legacy Award events for Mississippians. “I think that really started people realizing and celebrating what Mississippi has given to the world musically,” said Havens. “At that point we thought we could do something really big. We thought about a music hall of fame. ... Then we thought, why don’t we ask for the Grammy museum?”

Given the presence of Delta State University, which is home to the Delta Music Institute — Mississippi’s sole accredited music industry studies program — Cleveland began to make sense as a site. “We felt that education was going to be a big emphasis of the museum, so the connection with Delta State was a natural fit,” said Havens, who was one of the founding board members of the Cleveland Music Foundation.

The idea was pitched to Memphis Grammy chapter head Jon Hornyak, whose chapter covers territory from St. Louis to New Orleans and includes Mississippi. Hornyak agreed that a Delta-based museum was a good idea and moved it up the Grammy chain of command. Hornyak credits Grammy Museum executive director Robert Santelli with the vision to place a museum where the music actually emerged, rather than in another industry center.

“That was his sense from the beginning on this,” says Hornyak. “That putting a Grammy museum at ground zero, the birthplace of the blues, and smack dab in the middle of the Mississippi Delta was the right thing to do.”

With the Cleveland Music Foundation having raised some $19 million, ground was broken in 2013. Construction began in 2014, with the museum finally opening this spring. “The community here came together in an amazing way to make it happen,” said Hornyak. “To me it’s just a spectacular place. The architecture of the building is remarkable, especially in how it pays tribute and references Delta architecture, but in a very modern way. It’s all very well executed. Personally, I think it’s cooler than the one in L.A."

The Grammy Museum opened with the exhibit “Ladies and Gentlemen …The Beatles!” documenting the Fab Four’s arrival in America. The museum now is hosting “Pride & Joy: The Texas Blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan,” a traveling exhibit that offers visitors an in-depth look at the late blues guitarist and runs through February.

The next exhibit, opening in March, will focus on pop superstar Taylor Swift. Those first three exhibits all originated out of the L.A. Museum, but Mississippi will curate its own exhibit starting next fall. (Havens says they expect to rotate as many as three major exhibits a year.)

Educational programming and public workshops, both tied into the exhibits and part of the day-to-day programming, have also been a focus. Among the music figures who have appeared at the museum so far are Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, Mavis Staples of the Staples Singers and guitarist Marc Ford of The Black Crowes.

“We’re working hard to build relationships in the music industry and to have artists come and do educational and public programming here,” said Havens “We’re a little bit harder to get to than L.A., but we’re trying to connect with artists when they’re in this part of the country and this area.”

Although it’s been open for only eight months, the presence of a Grammy museum has added a luster to the entire region’s tourism package. “The international visitor is drawn to this region because of the music, and the musical legacy and history here,” said Kevin Kane. "International visitors typically take in several destinations. They’re usually here for multiple days, sometimes as many as 10 or 11 days, so the more we can offer in the region, the better an experience we can sell.”

The Memphis CVB and the state of Mississippi have managed a successful tourism partnership for the better part of two decades. Mississippi's recent emphasis on its music tourism offerings —  with Blues Trail markers and the development of the B.B King Museum — have only strengthened the combined Memphis/Delta appeal.

“They need us — they need the Memphis gateway and Memphis visitor base —  to make them stronger,” said Kane. “And quite honestly, we need them because their product makes us stronger as well.”

“We want people visiting Memphis to make sure that Cleveland is a part of their day trip,” said Havens. “We’ll continue to leverage our partnership to bring in more visitors, to share visitors with other attractions in the area and eventually share programming and exhibits. I think we all realize how fortunate we are to have this history here. We want to make sure the rest of the world knows and can experience it as well.”

Grammy Museum Mississippi

800 W. Sunflower Road, Cleveland, Miss.

Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday; Noon-5:30 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $6 for youths (6-18).

Follow Bob Mehr on Twitter: @BobMehr