On the Hall of Fame Choosing Muscle Shoals for the Next Major Exhibit

Random Notes 13 Comments


The Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville has announced the theme for their next major exhibit. About every couple of years, the Hall of Fame features a big exhibit that delves into some era or influence in country in a very detailed way, giving these major exhibits extended display space, along with holding interviews, performances, and symposiums around the major exhibit with dedicated programming.

The current major exhibit is called “Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock.” The next major exhibit will be called “Muscle Shoals: Low Rhythm Rising.” According to the Hall of Fame, the exhibit,

“…explores how an Alabama community developed a distinctive sound, became a global recording epicenter in the 1960s and 1970s, and continues to inspire music today. The exhibit tells the story of Black and white musicians who found a way to work together at a time when segregation prevailed. Producer Rick Hall and his FAME Recording Studio and the session aces at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio built a home-made approach to cutting music that mattered. As a result, hitmakers from R&B, rock, pop, and country music flocked to this quiet backwater to record, and a new rhythm arose.”

Most certainly the Muscle Shoals influence is major in American music, even if it was relatively minor in country. It wasn’t non-existent though. That sweaty, soulful rhythm most certain can be heard in country music from the ’70s era into the music of today. A lot of the session players and some of the performers who started in the Muscle Shoals scene became integral parts of the country sound for decades.

But even as the Hall of Fame’s description lists off, country was probably the fourth most important genre influenced or affected by what transpired in Muscle Shoals. So why is this the thing the Country Music Hall of Fame has chosen to train their attention on starting on November 14th, all the way to March 31st, 2027, especially after their last major exhibit also focused on an outside influence on country?

This is no offense to the folks who put together what I’m sure will be an excellent presentation, or the Muscle Shoals influence itself that deserves to be celebrated. But why is it the Country Music Hall of Fame that is doing so, and with a major exhibit of this caliber? Wouldn’t this be more appropriate for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? And do we really expect the majority country music fans to get super excited about this particular subject matter?

The other big question is, why now? At this very moment in country music, what everyone’s talking about is the influence of ’90s neotraditional country on modern music. There would have been no better time to do a major exhibit on the Class of ’89 (Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt, Clint Black), or the ’90s decade in general. Bluegrass is super hot right now and on the rise with Billy Strings and others. This would have been an excellent time to explore this fundamental influence to country.

The Grand Ole Opry is cerebrating it’s 100th Anniversary this year, and the Bristol Sessions will do so in 2027. Country Music’s 100th birthday is pretty much happening as we speak, and over the life if this new major exhibit. Either or both of these subjects seem like they would be more timely and relevant than a Muscle Shoals display.

To highlight the Muscle Shoals sound with the Hall of Fame’s next major exhibit seems like something dreamed up in a board room by folks that lack a finger on the pulse of what’s actually happening out there in country music, and is succumbing to institutional signaling. Similar to the way they still leave their Hall of Fame induction ceremony closed off to the public and even much of the press, this feels like an institution that has become institutionalized, elite-centric, and increasingly is failing to represent its own constituency.

Similar to country radio and major labels, it’s almost like the Hall of Fame thinks country music isn’t cool enough to exist on its own. It needs to branch out and diversify to lure in new fans. But do we really expect folks to flock to this exhibit? Of course, the point of it is to educate and preserve the important Muscle Shoals legacy. But couldn’t the Country Music Hall of Fame have done so in a more measured capacity as opposed to dedicating a whole wing of the museum to it for the next 18 months?

The Country Music Hall of Fame needs to focus on things that have to do with country music. Is the Muscle Shoals influence there? Absolutely … but significantly less than it is for R&B, rock, and pop. This decision feels like it was made by people that have incredible resumes on paper, and absolutely no radar for what actual country fans want, need, or deserve.

Let other institutions celebrate Muscle Shoals. Is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame going to do a country music exhibit? The Country Music Hall of Fame should celebrate country, and country first. Because if it doesn’t, nobody else will.

All that said, this will probably be a great exhibit, and country fans should approach it with an open mind, and hopefully learn something about an important influence in American music that affected so much of the music we love, including country.

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