The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix is set to host “Celebrate Country,” a two-day event dedicated to country music. The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 10, and Sunday, August 11, at 4725 E. Mayo Blvd.
Event Highlights
Craft: Washboard – Participants can create their own unique washboard and join in the day’s musical performances.
Curator Talk: Country Music – How It Started and How It’s Going – Rich Walter, MIM’s curator for the United States/Canada, will discuss the roots of early country music, the evolution of its distinctive sounds, and the relevant instruments featured in MIM’s galleries.
Performance: Robert Creelman and CrossRoad – Enjoy traditional and original country songs performed by local honky-tonk musicians Robert Creelman and CrossRoad.
Film: DeFord Bailey – A Legend Lost – Watch a short documentary about DeFord Bailey, country music’s first African American star known as the “Harmonica Wizard.” The film is courtesy of Nashville Public Television.
Performance: Pick and Holler – Experience a live bluegrass
performance and learn some square dance moves with the local band Pick and Holler.
Additionally, attendees can explore the museum’s exhibition, “Acoustic America: Iconic Guitars, Mandolins, and Banjos,” before it closes on Sunday, September 15.
The event is supported by the Greater Arizona Country Music Association and the West Valley Country Music Association, with programming support from the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture and the Arizona Commission on the Arts.
