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Post by the Scribe on Jun 25, 2022 20:20:00 GMT
 WESTERN EDGE: THE ROOTS AND REVERBERATIONS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTRY-ROCK
countrymusichalloffame.org/exhibit/western-edge/
Just Announced: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s major exhibition Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock, presented by City National Bank, traces the close-knit communities of visionary singers, songwriters, and musicians who lived in Los Angeles between the 1960s–1980s and their role in creating and shaping country-rock, the sound that changed American popular music.
Western Edge will examine the close-knit communities of Los Angeles-based singers, songwriters and musicians who, from the 1960s through the 1980s, embraced country music, frequented local nightclubs, and created and shaped the musical fusion known as “country-rock” – ultimately making an indelible and lasting impact on popular music.
The exhibit will survey the rise of the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, Eagles, Emmylou Harris, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt and many others who found commercial success by merging rock & roll rhythms and attitude with country and bluegrass instrumentation and harmonies.
These trailblazers’ musical contributions were expanded upon by the next generation of Los Angeles roots music performers – the Blasters, Rosie Flores, Los Lobos, Lone Justice, Dwight Yoakam and more – who once again looked to traditional American music for inspiration. Blending hard-edged honky-tonk, Mexican folk music, rockabilly and punk rock, these artists – along with their county-rock predecessors – provided inspiration to future generations of country and Americana artists.
The Western Edge exhibit traces the story of young musicians who, in the 1960s, gravitated to Los Angeles as a bastion of youth-driven counterculture and a rising recording center. New arrivals found a rich local music scene anchored by clubs such as the Ash Grove, which featured young bluegrass bands including the Dillards and the Kentucky Colonels alongside earlier generations of American roots music masters.
Also highlighted in the exhibit is the historical significance of the Troubadour in West Hollywood, which served as an important haven for like-minded artists. It provided a space for creators to collaborate with a healthy dose of competition, spurring one another to write better songs, craft tighter harmonies and master their instruments.
“A new hybrid sound grew from humble beginnings in a few small L.A. nightclubs and quickly emerged as one of the most popular musical styles across the world,” said Kyle Young, chief executive officer for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “Inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan and the Beatles, these artists and musicians also found community in their appreciation of traditional country, folk and bluegrass music. They built on this foundation, crafting songs of uncommon lyrical depth and layered musical richness – adding new textures to rock sounds that resulted in a completely original form of American music.”
The Museum’s curatorial and creative teams have conducted more than 40 hours of filmed interviews and collected an array of significant artifacts from central figures in the musical movement for display in Western Edge. The exhibit will feature stage wear, instruments, original song manuscripts and more. Interactive elements will illustrate the connections between artists that made up the musical communities explored in the exhibit, allowing access to audio recordings, performance clips, original interview footage and historic photographs.
The exhibition Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock, presented by City National Bank, opens September 30, 2022, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville. Purchase tickets to see this exhibition and others using the button below.
tickets.countrymusichalloffame.org/guests?_ga=2.6483442.1343156244.1656188149-673986087.1656188149
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Post by the Scribe on Jun 25, 2022 20:23:35 GMT
 COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME® AND MUSEUM ANNOUNCES NEXT MAJOR EXHIBITION WESTERN EDGE: THE ROOTS AND REVERBERATIONS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTRY-ROCK, PRESENTED BY CITY NATIONAL BANK
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum collects, preserves, and interprets country music and its history for the education and entertainment of diverse audiences. In exhibits, publications, and educational programs, the museum explores the cultural importance and enduring beauty of the art form. (PRNewsfoto/Country Music Hall of Fame and )
NEWS PROVIDED BY
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Jun 22, 2022, 22:36 ET
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The exhibit will examine the L.A.-based movement that transformed popular music and inspired future generations of country and Americana artists
NASHVILLE, Tenn., and LOS ANGELES, June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum announced its next major exhibition with two separate events at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and the museum's Ford Theater in Nashville. The exhibit, Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock, presented by City National Bank, will be housed in the museum's newly transformed 5,000-square-foot gallery and open Sept. 30 for a nearly three-year run.
c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3575783-1&h=268233641&u=https%3A%2F%2Fcountrymusichalloffame.org%2Fwesternedge&a=Western+Edge%3A+The+Roots+and+Reverberations+of+Los+Angeles+Country-Rock%2C+presented+by+City+National+Bank
Western Edge will examine the close-knit communities of Los Angeles-based singers, songwriters and musicians who, from the 1960s through the 1980s, embraced country music, frequented local nightclubs, and created and shaped the musical fusion known as "country-rock" – ultimately making an indelible and lasting impact on popular music.
The exhibit will survey the rise of the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, Eagles, Emmylou Harris, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt and many others who found commercial success by merging rock & roll rhythms and attitude with country and bluegrass instrumentation and harmonies.
These trailblazers' musical contributions were expanded upon by the next generation of Los Angeles roots music performers – the Blasters, Rosie Flores, Los Lobos, Lone Justice, Dwight Yoakam and more – who once again looked to traditional American music for inspiration. Blending hard-edged honky-tonk, Mexican folk music, rockabilly and punk rock, these artists – along with their county-rock predecessors – provided inspiration to future generations of country and Americana artists.
Today's announcement featured special performances by several artists central to the exhibit's narrative:
Multiple Grammy Award-winner Dwight Yoakam and country-rock luminary Chris Hillman (the Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Desert Rose Band and more) performed "Sin City" and "Time Between" together at the Troubadour in Los Angeles.
Country Music Hall of Fame member Emmylou Harris sang "The Road," her song in tribute to fellow country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons, at the museum's Ford Theater in Nashville. Harris also joined Jeff Hanna (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) and country singer and songwriter Matraca Berg onstage for a performance of "Mr. Bojangles" in the museum's theater.
The Western Edge exhibit traces the story of young musicians who, in the 1960s, gravitated to Los Angeles as a bastion of youth-driven counterculture and a rising recording center. New arrivals found a rich local music scene anchored by clubs such as the Ash Grove, which featured young bluegrass bands including the Dillards and the Kentucky Colonels alongside earlier generations of American roots music masters.
Also highlighted in the exhibit is the historical significance of the Troubadour in West Hollywood, which served as an important haven for like-minded artists. It provided a space for creators to collaborate with a healthy dose of competition, spurring one another to write better songs, craft tighter harmonies and master their instruments.
"A new hybrid sound grew from humble beginnings in a few small L.A. nightclubs and quickly emerged as one of the most popular musical styles across the world," said Kyle Young, chief executive officer for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. "Inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan and the Beatles, these artists and musicians also found community in their appreciation of traditional country, folk and bluegrass music. They built on this foundation, crafting songs of uncommon lyrical depth and layered musical richness – adding new textures to rock sounds that resulted in a completely original form of American music."
The museum's curatorial and creative teams have conducted more than 40 hours of filmed interviews and collected an array of significant artifacts from central figures in the musical movement for display in Western Edge. The exhibit will feature stage wear, instruments, original song manuscripts and more. Interactive elements will illustrate the connections between artists that made up the musical communities explored in the exhibit, allowing access to audio recordings, performance clips, original interview footage and historic photographs.
Western Edge's opening weekend will include a pair of one-of-a-kind concerts in the museum's CMA Theater, made possible in part by exhibit travel partner American Airlines:
Western Edge: Los Angeles Country-Rock in Concert – Friday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m.
An all-star lineup of musical luminaries associated with country-rock will perform, along with torchbearers who have been influenced by the sounds and artists from the Los Angeles music scene. Performers include Dave Alvin (the Blasters, the Knitters), Alison Brown (in tribute to California bluegrass), Rodney Dillard (the Dillards), Rosie Flores, Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco), Jeff Hanna (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Chris Hillman (the Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Desert Rose Band), Bernie Leadon (Hearts & Flowers, Flying Burrito Brothers, the Eagles), John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Wendy Moten (in tribute to Linda Ronstadt) and Herb Pedersen (Desert Rose Band and instrumentalist for Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons and many more). The house band will be led by Grammy-winning guitar virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist John Jorgenson and includes JayDee Maness (steel guitar), Steve Duncan (drums) and Mark Fain (bass). More performers to be added.
Desert Rose Band – Sunday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m.
For the first time in more than a decade, the Desert Rose Band will reunite for a special concert.
In 1986, former member of the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers Chris Hillman founded the band with Herb Pedersen and John Jorgensen. The original lineup included Bill Bryson (bass guitar), JayDee Maness (pedal steel guitar) and Steve Duncan (drums). Original members of the band will take the stage for the highly anticipated event, with acclaimed Nashville bassist Mark Fain replacing the late Bill Bryson. The Grammy-nominated group has earned hit singles and won multiple awards from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association.
Tickets to the events will go on sale to the public this Friday, June 24, at 10 a.m. here.
The exhibit will also be supported by multiple educational programs, as well as the release of an illustrated and thoroughly researched book with a main essay by longtime Los Angeles music journalist Randy Lewis, among many other contributors.
More details on the exhibit and the accompanying book will be announced prior to the exhibit's opening. Information and updates about the exhibit can be found at www.CountryMusicHallofFame.org.
Photos and video from the Los Angeles and Nashville events
Photos of performances and artifacts featured onstage for download here. (all photos by Brett Carlsen (Nashville) and Kevin Winter (Los Angeles)/Getty Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum).
Video performance clips, remarks and b-roll of artifacts are available here. c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3575783-1&h=1961029339&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dropbox.com%2Fsh%2Frnm6oa2xf51hbjx%2FAAA76-cmE2QDj8-DuFGaWJFMa%3Fdl%3D0&a=here
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum collects, preserves and interprets country music and its history for the education and entertainment of diverse audiences. In exhibitions, publications, digital media and educational programs, the museum explores the cultural importance and enduring beauty of the art form. The museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and is among the most-visited history museums in the U.S. The Country Music Foundation operates Historic RCA Studio B®, Hatch Show Print® poster shop, CMF Records, the Frist Library and Archive and CMF Press. Museum programs are supported in part by Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and Tennessee Arts Commission.
c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3575783-1&h=2145541086&u=https%3A%2F%2Fcountrymusichalloffame.org%2F&a=Country+Music+Hall+of+Fame%C2%AE+and+Museum
More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.org or by calling (615) 416-2001.
About City National
With $90.9 billion in assets, City National Bank provides banking, investment and trust services through 74 branches, including 22 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Miami*. In addition, the company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $80.6 billion in client investment assets. City National is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of the world's leading diversified financial services companies. RBC serves more than 17 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the United States and 27 other countries. For more information about City National, visit the company's website at cnb.com.
*City National Bank does business in Miami and the state of Florida as CN Bank.
SOURCE Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum |
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Post by the Scribe on Jun 25, 2022 20:28:06 GMT
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Post by the Scribe on Jun 25, 2022 20:39:58 GMT
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Post by the Scribe on Jun 25, 2022 20:49:18 GMT
a look at places Linda lived during her time living in LA
Linda Ronstadt: The Secret Los Angeles of Linda Ronstadt
58,890 views May 21, 2022 The secret and not so secret LA that defined Linda Ronstadt. Join us as we go to Topanga, Laurel Canyon, Malibu, The Sound Factory, Stone Poneys and many more.
and a nice companion piece
LINDA RONSTADT L.A.'s Troubadour
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Post by the Scribe on Jun 25, 2022 22:25:24 GMT
From The Byrds To The Eagles Part 5 of 7
Linda at 9:00
rip Chris Darrow
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Post by the Scribe on Aug 28, 2022 14:44:22 GMT
Country Music Hall of Fame Reveals Details of Upcoming ‘Western Edge’ Exhibition
By Source Staff -August 28, 2022
williamsonsource.com/country-music-hall-of-fame-reveals-details-of-upcoming-western-edge-exhibition/
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is set to open its next major exhibition, “Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock”, presented by City National Bank, on Friday, Sept. 30, for a nearly three-year run.
“Western Edge” will trace the Los Angeles-based communities of visionary singers, songwriters and musicians who, between the 1960s and 1980s, frequented local nightclubs, embraced country music, created and shaped the musical fusion “country-rock” and, ultimately, made a lasting impact on popular music.
The exhibit surveys the rise of the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Eagles, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and others who found commercial success with a hybrid of rock sensibilities and country instrumentation and harmonies. These trailblazers’ musical contributions were expanded upon by the next generation of L.A. roots music performers — the Blasters, Los Lobos, Lone Justice, Dwight Yoakam and more — who once again looked to traditional American music for inspiration, blending hard-edged honky-tonk, Mexican folk music, rockabilly and punk rock. These artists — along with their country-rock predecessors — provided inspiration to future generations of country and Americana artists.
“Western Edge examines a time of boundary crossing and great communal creativity,” said Kyle Young, chief executive officer of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “This adventurous synthesis of traditional and contemporary sounds not only fueled creativity for generations of L.A. musicians, but grew into an American phenomenon that still reverberates in music today. Along with the exhibition, we are offering an official playlist, a companion book, special concerts and public programs which will be scheduled throughout the run. Through these multiple avenues we look forward to sharing the rich and multi-layered story of country-rock’s enduring impact.”
The museum’s curatorial and creative teams conducted more than 40 hours of filmed interviews and collected an array of significant artifacts for display in Western Edge, which will be housed in a newly designed 5,000 square foot gallery space.
An introductory film narrated by multiple Grammy Award-winning artist Dwight Yoakam, a key figure in the exhibit’s story, will be presented inside the gallery, along with stage wear, instruments, original song manuscripts and more. Interactive elements will allow visitors to explore the connections between artists who made up these musical communities through audio recordings, performance clips, original interview footage and historical photographs.
A selection of artifacts featured in Western Edge includes:
The Flying Burrito Brothers’ stage costumes —The exhibit will reunite three of the four custom Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors suits featured on the cover of the band’s 1969 debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin, including Sneaky Pete Kleinow’s black velvet suit with embroidered dinosaurs and a pterosaur outlined with rhinestones, Gram Parsons’ suit with chain-stitched marijuana leaves, poppies, pills, pinup girls and a radiant cross, and Chris Hillman’s blue velvet suit — decorated with peacocks, seahorses, the Greek god Poseidon and a shining sun.
Bernie Leadon guitar — From 1972 to 1975, Leadon played an extensively modified 1962 Fender Telecaster with the Eagles onstage and on recordings, including “Take It Easy,” “Peaceful Easy Feeling” and “Tequila Sunrise.”
Dwight Yoakam jacket — This Mex Tex brand jacket, ornamented with fringe, conchos and cowhide yoke overlay, was worn by Yoakam in the 1986 music video for his debut single, “Honky Tonk Man,” which went to #3 on Billboard’s country singles chart.
Emmylou Harris stage costume — Harris wore this Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors cowgirl outfit onstage with Gram Parsons and during her solo career.
Louie Pérez manuscript — Pérez’s handwritten lyrics to the title track of Los Lobos’ 1984 album, How Will the Wolf Survive?, co-written by David Hidalgo.
Michael Nesmith stage costume — Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors designed the elaborately embroidered, rhinestone-accented ensemble for Michael Nesmith of the Monkees, c. 1967. It is ornamented with chain-stitched peacocks, orchids, musical notes and American flag motifs.
Dave Alvin guitar — The battle-scarred 1964 Fender Mustang was Alvin’s primary guitar with the Blasters and the Knitters. The first electric guitar he owned, it still has bits of glass embedded in it from beer bottles thrown at Alvin by rowdy audience members.
Jeff Hanna stage costume — These leather chaps and vest, ornamented with silver conchos, were part of the cowboy outfit worn by Jeff Hanna on the cover of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s album All the Good Times (1971).
Opening weekend concerts and programming
In support of the exhibit’s debut, the museum will host two opening weekend concerts, including the reunion and final performance of the Desert Rose Band, as well as a host of newly added discussions and performances. The concerts and programs are made possible in part by the Academy of Country Music and exhibit travel partner American Airlines. Family programs will also be offered in the Taylor Swift Education Center.
To purchase admission to opening weekend programming, visit the museum’s website here www.countrymusichalloffame.org/calendar/western-edge-exhibit?vgo_ee=rdorKnUIt%2BAsSlsDJ1kf2OCxUcQ%2FDi%2Bg5TUWIolI0nY%3D
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Post by the Scribe on Sept 4, 2022 22:58:08 GMT
TOP STORY
Country Music Hall of Fame to highlight West Coast country-rock with new exhibit
www.mainstreet-nashville.com/music/country-music-hall-of-fame-to-highlight-west-coast-country-rock-with-new-exhibit/article_2bfb747a-f308-11ec-ab3f-03c312d0c6bc.html
Staff Report Jun 24, 2022 Comments
Emmylou Harris performs during the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s announcement of the new “Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock” exhibition. The exhibition will open Sept. 30.
Brett Carlsen / Getty Images
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is shielding its eyes and setting its gaze far beyond the western horizon with its latest endeavor.
A new exhibit, “Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock,” will open Sept. 30 at the museum’s newly transformed 5,000-square-foot gallery, beginning a nearly three-year tenure.
According to a release from the Country Music Hall of Fame, the project will examine the close-knit communities of Los Angeles-based singers, songwriters and musicians who, from the 1960s through the 1980s, embraced country music, frequented local nightclubs, and created and shaped the musical fusion known as “country-rock” and its indelible and lasting impact on popular music.
It traces the story of young musicians who, in the 1960s, gravitated to Los Angeles as a bastion of youth-driven counterculture and a rising recording center. New arrivals found a rich local music scene anchored by clubs such as the Ash Grove, which featured young bluegrass bands including the Dillards and the Kentucky Colonels alongside earlier generations of American roots music masters.
The exhibit will survey the rise of artists like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, the Eagles, Emmylou Harris, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt and others who found commercial success by merging rock ‘n’ roll rhythms and attitude with country and bluegrass instrumentation and harmonies.
“A new hybrid sound grew from humble beginnings in a few small L.A. nightclubs and quickly emerged as one of the most popular musical styles across the world,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “Inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan and the Beatles, these artists and musicians also found community in their appreciation of traditional country, folk and bluegrass music. They built on this foundation, crafting songs of uncommon lyrical depth and layered musical richness — adding new textures to rock sounds that resulted in a completely original form of American music.”
The exhibit will also look at those artists who built on their output, such as the Blasters, Rosie Flores, Los Lobos, Lone Justice and Dwight Yoakam, blending hard-edged honky-tonk, Mexican folk music, rockabilly and punk rock.
In all, the exhibit is informed by more than 40 hours of filmed interviews and an array of artifacts, including stage wear, instruments and original song manuscripts. It will feature numerous interactive visual, audio and video elements.
In a joint announcement about the exhibit Wednesday, Dwight Yoakam and Chris Hillman of the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Desert Rose Band, and others performed “Sin City” and “Time Between” together at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Back east, Emmylou Harris sang “The Road” at the museum’s Ford Theater in Nashville. She was joined onstage by Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and country singer and songwriter Matraca Berg to perform “Mr. Bojangles.”
The Sept. 30 opening weekend will include two CMA Theater concerts, one beginning at 7 p.m. with a lineup that includes Dave Alvin (the Blasters, the Knitters), Alison Brown (in tribute to California Bluegrass), Rodney Dillard (the Dillards), Rosie Flores, Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco), Jeff Hanna (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Chris Hillman (the Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Desert Rose Band), Bernie Leadon (Hearts & Flowers, Flying Burrito Brothers, the Eagles), John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Wendy Moten (in tribute to Linda Ronstadt) and Herb Pedersen (Desert Rose Band and instrumentalist for Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons and many more).
On Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. the Desert Rose Band will reunite for a special concert with original members of the band and Nashville bassist Mark Fain replacing the late Bill Bryson.
Tickets to the events will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Friday, June 24. For more information visit CountryMusicHallofFame.org.
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Post by the Scribe on Jan 20, 2023 2:40:20 GMT
California Earthquake: Country-Rock At The Hall Of Fame
www.wmot.org/roots-radio-news/2023-01-18/california-earthquake-country-rock-at-the-hall-of-fame
WMOT | By Craig Havighurst
Published January 18, 2023 at 10:40 AM CST
Western Edge
Tyler Wyatt For Getty Images
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has devoted its largest rotating exhibit space to three experiences in a row centered on different American places covering roughly the same period - the 1960s and 70s. Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats (2015-2018) looked at Music Row here in the capital of country music. Outlaws And Armadillos (2018-2022) touched on Nashville but was chiefly about the burgeoning scene in Austin, Texas. Now, the Hall’s curators have turned their attention to Los Angeles and the astonishing confluence of talent and cultural upheaval that gave us country-rock. It wasn’t designed as a trilogy, but now it feels like one.
Western Edge, The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock opened on Sept. 29 and is scheduled to run until 2025. On a tour before Christmas, I felt the exhibit filling in gaps in a story I already cared a lot about, illustrating the history with exceptional video interviews, and clarifying the connections in a complex network of renowned artists, songwriters, and side musicians. It was a time and place unlike any other in American music - one that sparked the breakout of Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jackson Browne, The Byrds, Poco, Buffalo Springfield, Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers, Emmylou Harris, and the supergroup that united David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young. It’s mind-boggling to think about it, but these young superstars were all friends and enthusiastic collaborators.
“One of the things we saw is that they all played together,” said Senior Museum Writer and Editor Michael McCall, who co-curated the exhibit. “They were all on each other’s records. They did each other’s songs. They showed up and sang harmonies with each other. At least through the 60s. It was such a community. They just changed partners.”
Western Edge
Jim McCrary/Getty Images
Michael Ochs Archives
The Flying Burrito Brothers in 1968: (L-R) Bassist Chris Ethridge, singer Gram Parsons, guitarist Chris Hillman, pedal steel player "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow, and drummer Michael Clarke. (Photo by Jim McCrary/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
A great example is Chris Hillman, one of the rare native Los Angelinos in this ensemble cast, and one who may have touched more groups and fostered more connections than anybody else. Step up to one of the large touch screen catalogs and you can trace his journey, starting with the folky Scottsville Squirrel Barkers with future Eagle co-founder Bernie Leadon. Then he took his mandolin to the Golden State Boys, a leading string band, when he was still too young to legally play bars. He was drafted into The Byrds, which became the first great country-rock breakout band. Next, it was on to the Flying Burrito Brothers with Gram Parsons, Manassas with Stephen Stills, and the Desert Rose Band. It sounds like he couldn’t keep a job, but in fact Hillman was writing and producing a stunning body of work. Because of his role in the Byrds especially, the exhibit includes a letter from Tom Petty to Hillman crediting him as “the father of country-rock.”
Before arriving at the multimedia deep dives, visitors to Western Edge begin with a small display that acknowledges the story of country music in California thus far, with a dress from 1940s pioneer Rose Maddox and notes about the burgeoning Bakersfield scene with Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Turn the corner though, and you’ll find that the Western Edge story plays out in a more revolutionary context than Buck or Merle would have understood. The exhibit’s introductory plaque says that young transplants from around the US in the 1960s “found connection through a love of the string harmonies, instrumental virtuosity, and the honest storytelling of folk, bluegrass, and country music - despite country music’s association with the conservative politics that the youthful counterculture rejected.”
Two venues - the Ash Grove and the Troubadour - acted as the scene’s focal points. Doug Weston’s Troubadour (which is how its sign on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood reads to this day) opened in 1957 and became the most influential showcase venue for breaking singer-songwriters on the west coast, notably Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John and James Taylor. The Ash Grove was a pure folk music club launched in 1958 and run as a political hot spot by leftist activist Ed Pearl. Here young folkies came to listen to their elders and heroes, such as Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotten, Bill Monroe, Muddy Waters and Doc Watson - along with some select youngsters, notably Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal as the rootsy blues band The Rising Sons.
Bluegrass played an outsized role in the origin story of country-rock. The White family moved from Maine to Los Angeles in the 1950s, where sons Roland, Clarence and Eric Jr. formed the Country Boys and then the Kentucky Colonels, future bluegrass hall of famers. But nobody came away with a better California dreaming story than The Dillards from Salem, MO. The four-piece, including brothers Rodney and Doug, arrived in LA in 1962, poor and unknown. As McCall told the story, they basically set up as buskers in the lobby of the Ash Grove without permission on their first day in town. Pearl was nonplussed, but he found them irresistible and booked them for shows. In about a week, they landed a record deal and they successfully auditioned for the Andy Griffith Show, where they’d wind up reaching a national audience as the old-time band The Darlings. Their influence was large, especially on the young John McEuen, who thought Rodney’s banjo playing and the whole vibe of the band was about the greatest thing he ever saw. He studied Rodney’s licks from the audience and worked them into his banjo playing for the nascent Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Things turn from the acoustic to the electric with a case devoted to The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and Clarence White. As White evolved from the most innovative young bluegrass guitar picker around into a dazzling electric country musician, he was brought into the Byrds as they morphed from a psychedelic rock and roll band to one that integrated country influences. White had special impact on Sweetheart of the Rodeo of 1968, the landmark country-rock album made in both Nashville and LA. White’s Fender Telecaster and leather stage outfit next to JayDee Maness’s pedal steel guitar make for an especially emotional stretch of the exhibit for roots music fans.
Western Edge
David Redfern/Redferns
Linda Ronstadt at the New Victoria Theatre in the early 1970s.
From there, a complex tapestry unfolds, and it helps to realize that only a super genius could memorize who played in what band with whom and when. Buffalo Springfield, over just about two years, gave the world three albums and the indelible anthem of the era “For What It’s Worth” before breaking up. Stephen Stills and Neil Young founded the most successful vocal folk rock quartet of all time with Crosby and Nash. Richie Furay and Jim Messina formed Poco after a fateful studio encounter with steel guitarist and all-around talent Rusty Young. Much of the band that helped Linda Ronstadt rise to stardom formed The Eagles with a clear agenda to fuse the harmonies and spirit of California rock with radio-ready polish and savvy songwriting (you’ll see hand written manuscripts for “New Kid In Town” and “Heartache Tonight” in the exhibit). Gram Parsons forged his historic bond with Emmylou Harris, producing some iconic country duets before his untimely demise. Harris, curiously, became the only star of the Western Edge scene to move to Nashville and have hits in country music.
8.-Dave-Alvin-guitar-scaled.jpg
Bob Delevante
Dave Alvin's Fender Mustang guitar
The story extends into the 1980s as California country-rock gets edgier and more eclectic. Easy to spot in its case at 100 paces is a ruggedly distressed leather jacket and red neck bandanna that could only belong to Dave Alvin. With his brother Phil, the Alvins formed the magnificently loud Blasters, a band that blended punk, rockabilly, folk and blues as effortlessly as anyone ever did. They share a museum case with Los Lobos, which launched playing traditional Mexican music for weddings. Inspired by other folk-rock scenes, they revved up their energy and became possibly the most Americana of all bands, one that’s still going strong 50 years later. From posters and other artifacts, visitors to Western Edge see how those bands shared stages and media attention with X, Lone Justice and the young Lucinda Williams. Dwight Yoakam sought out the LA magic and wound up opening shows for most of them at the beginning of his rise to retro-country fame. And it’s Yoakam who greets visitors in the exhibit’s opening film with a sermon about the allure of California and its remarkable creative output.
The Americana idea is a broad one, but one could argue that most of the format’s core history can be found in the Western Edge story. It’s where traditional roots music met creative, free bohemians who were more inclined to look to the horizon than back over ground already covered. It's a story of deep artistic achievement but also one of massive commercial success. Of all the exhibits at the Country Music Hall of Fame so far, this one seems like the most likely to shake up the attention of visitors who come in fixated chiefly on today’s commercial scene - possibly inspiring a few country-rockers of tomorrow.
Western Edge
Terry Wyatt/Getty Images For Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum
Getty Images North America
Artifacts on display for the opening of Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on September 29, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee.
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