First National Blues Museum Set To Open In St. Louis

Many a blues legend were bred from or have paid homage to St. Louis, Missouri. Chuck Berry hailed from St. Louis while others, such as W.C. Handy, wrote about the city. So it only makes sense that the first National Blues Museum will be built there.

Depending on the final design, the national museum dedicated to the genre will be opened in St. Louis next year. Museum chairman Rob Endicott told Reuters.

The museum is a part of the city of St. Louis' riverfront revitalization focused on drawing traffic to the Downtown area. Included in the $500 million "Gateway Arch park rehabilitation" is the construction of retail and residential space, a hotel, movie theater, restaurants, and the museum.

Though the genre has a long, storied history Endicott said the space will be tech-heavy, focusing on an interactive experience with artifact and memorabilia-driven exhibits. Site renderings on the museum's website shows a "Blues Lab" where visitors can record and jam with what looks like holograms of their favorite musicians.

The main page of the site states, "The Blues is not a melody. It's not a chord. Or a beat. Or a rhythm. Or a tone. The Blues is a state of mind. It's the human condition. The Blues is a way of life. And should be preserved as such."

Now, in honor of legends from across the nation, here's a slideshow of some of our favorite blues musicians to grace this country:

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Comments

[mjeffn]

04:53 PM on 02/18/2012

What?! No Blues Brothers!!! :P

[TheHeartland]

07:03 AM on 02/17/2012

Fads come and go. Blues is always there when you need it.

[Richard J Davis]

09:25 PM on 02/16/2012

what designates this a national museum over, say, The Blues & Legends Hall of Fame Museum in Memphis or the Beale Street Blues Museum (which i might be able to understand as local)? I currently reside in St Louis adn will be proud to have a museum like this in our city, with its rich heritage in blues music. i just am confused as to the designation "national museum".

[baileywick]

08:05 PM on 02/16/2012

W.C.Handy was NOT the father of the blues.
He heard it played by a raggedly dressed black man sitting on the ground at the train station in Tutweiler, Miss.
The guitar player, using a knife as a slide, was probably Henry Sloan.
Give credit where credit is due.
Handy was the first one to write a music chart with flatted 7th notes and flatted 3rds.

[Conservative Mark]

06:26 PM on 02/16/2012

I don't think you can attribute the blues to any one city or area. But as a St. Louisan I am glad that they going to build the museum here. Also glad they are going to finally connect downtown to the Arch grounds (Currently Interstate 70 separates the two).

[IndyGuy]

03:10 PM on 02/16/2012

What the heck, no Mr. John Lee Hooker?! You cads!

It's about time a museum was created for this valuable genre of music--long overdue! In my opinion the Blues have never been given it's proper respect, seeing how a lot of 50-60's rock musicians have it as their inspiration. This is a good start.

[Mr Muckle]

05:42 PM on 02/16/2012

Lightnin' Hopkins as well!

[ZetaReticuli]

02:04 PM on 02/16/2012

The ebullient rhetoric of the site states that the "blues is the human condition." No, it's not "the;" It's "a," one among many human conditions. This overstatement should be brought down to a reasonable level.

[MiddleAmericaMS]

01:45 PM on 02/16/2012

Take that Memphis & New Orleans! It was Missouri all along & we just didn't know it until they built a museum.

Just like we didn't know Cleveland Ohio was the birthplace of rock & roll until their city outbid Memphis for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

[beckpod1]

01:22 PM on 02/16/2012

No Willie Dixon?..............really?
I've met both Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon......Willie was like a father to us younger musicians....

[dbrmn1]

12:59 PM on 02/16/2012

Chuck Berry man!

[stephen3990]

12:57 PM on 02/16/2012

So are we forgetting about Robert Johnson? King of the Delta Blues? C'mon!

[dbrmn1]

01:01 PM on 02/16/2012

Yeah Robert Johnson...sited by EVERYBODY as an inspiration.

[cowanln]

12:55 PM on 02/16/2012

Gotta have Charlie Patton, Elmore James and Son House.

[dbrmn1]

01:02 PM on 02/16/2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jN5vqEyV7g

[SFnomad]

12:52 PM on 02/16/2012

What about Stevie Ray Vaughan?

[DeTex]

06:38 PM on 02/19/2012

SRV made millions of people love the blues, even when they didn't know it was the blues they were listening to.

[blisster]

12:45 PM on 02/16/2012

An old National, a shot and a beer...and away we go.

[shabadoo]

12:36 PM on 02/16/2012

STL has a great blues scene, come to town and you will see it can hold up against Chitown and Memphrika. KC has nothing to do with it, it was a Jazz town, fifty years ago. STL is also in the heart of Blues country, half way from the delta/Memphis' delta blues scene and Chicago. Plus Memphis has tons of music museums. I might add that Chuck Berry, while a beloved native son of the city still playing local clubs about one a month, is not a blues musician, more of a rock and roller.

[mjeffn]

04:51 PM on 02/18/2012

Chuck Berry is all in the blues. Just about everything he does is 12 bar with flatted 7th and 5ths.