Country Music Hall of Fame New Online Exhibit

Country Music Hall of Fame Rolls Out New Online R&B Exhibit ‘Night Train to Nashville’

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is rolling into 2023 with a brand-new online exhibit, Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues, 1945-1970. The exhibit explores Nashville’s past R&B scene and its role in helping the city become a world-renowned music center.

And here’s even more good news, you don’t need a ticket to ride. The online R&B exhibit can be accessed for free via the Museum’s website. Similarly, the Museum hosted a physical exhibit of the same name from March 2004 to December 2005. The new online exhibit preserves the physical exhibit in an updated online format.

“Night Train to Nashville story provides important context about how R&B played a vital role in Nashville becoming ‘Music City,’” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “Similar to the original exhibit in 2004, the online version offers a multidimensional vantage point from which to consider the era’s race relations and the city’s Black musical culture, and how they affected the making of this incredible music and Nashville’s evolution. As the city developed into a major recording center, it did so against a background of urban change and at a time when racial barriers were tested and sometimes broken on bandstands, inside recording studios and on the airwaves.”

Exhibit Highlights

R&B legends Ray Charles, Arthur Alexander, Ruth Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Etta James, Little Richard, and more are featured in the online exhibit, which includes historic photos, performance videos, audio recordings, and more. In addition, the Museum will host a physical Night Train to Nashville exhibit in January 2024. Of course, that coincides with the 20th anniversary of the original exhibit.

The online exhibit highlights seven themes.

  1. The roots of Nashville R&B
  2. The city’s live music scene
  3. Nashville’s influential R&B radio
  4. R&B on television
  5. The city’s R&B recording industry
  6. R&B’s legacy and lament
  7. R&B songwriters’ and performers’ strong ties to country music

Furthermore, the Museum will host a free conversation and performance with key members of the Nashville R&B music scene in partnership with the National Museum of African American Music. The program will take place on Jan. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the Museum’s Ford Theater. Performers include Levert Allison (of the Fairfield Four), Jimmy Church, Peggy Gaines Walker, Frank Howard, Charles “Wigg” Walker, and more.