Page 53 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2017

Explore the National Blues Museum and revel in the history of the blues
Photo courtesy National Blues Museum
government, from downtown developers to the local music
community, the National Blues Museum development took
hold and the project began to grow roots.
The building blocks for the National Blues Museum
began with the basics. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
was formed, and the inaugural board of directors
developed. Robert Endicott, a law partner at Bryan Cave,
joined the team as chairman of the board after learning
of this project while playing trumpet at a gig with the
award-winning Voodoo Blues band. The project also
boasted the assistance of international museum designer
Patrick Gallagher, president/founder of Gallagher &
Associates, and Robert Santelli, executive director of
the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles. The museum was
fortunate to bring Dion Brown, former executive director
of the B.B. King Museum, on board in mid-2015 to lead
the organization to its long-awaited and very successful
grand opening.
The National Blues Museum takes its mission statement
seriously, and takes pride in telling the entire story of the
blues from its early beginnings in West Africa all the way
to today’s music scene. In addition to the storyline of the
blues and its rich history, the museum celebrates the blues
of today with its newly launched “Howlin’ Friday” concert
series featuring local, regional and national acts. In April
2017, the museum also added “Soulful Sundays” concerts
to its music line-up.
And speaking of line-ups, the museum has been
fortunate to welcome some VIPs through its doors.
Shemekia Copeland, Big George Brock and Bobby
Rush kicked off the grand opening weekend. Since then,
Bonnie Raitt toured through and saw the photo of herself
and her mentor Sippie Wallace, and she excitedly shared
that moment with the fans at her evening concert! The
original Blues Brother Curtis Salgado also visited, and
after reading every word and playing every interactive

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