At an opening ceremony Feb.11, the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame welcomed a new exhibit, “Music America,” which features a collection of items from artists who have shaped music history. Located in the Wang Theatre at the Boch Center, the exhibit will call Boston its temporary home as the United States celebrates its 250th birthday.
The opening reception featured four artists, Chuck McDermott, Will Dailey, Mercedes Escobar and Chris Walton, who provided the soundtrack of the night. Each artist was asked to kick off the event by performing a cover of a song they believe captures America’s music history as well as an original work of their own.
Bob Santelli, founding executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music and the curator of “Music America,” explained why including the performances was important for the exhibit.
“This program that you’re gonna see tonight is really essential to this exhibit because it’s just stuff without the music, right?” said Santelli.
Some of the “stuff” that can be found in the collection includes opera and flapper dresses, original records from Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra, Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” dress, one of Kurt Cobain’s stage costumes, Michael Jackson’s jacket, Elvis’ jumpsuit, Prince’s guitar, Lady Gaga’s fur coat and much more.
The Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame could only accommodate half of the exhibit, so Santelli worked to hand-pick which pieces were featured. The entire collection debuted 18 months ago after Santelli pitched the idea to Bruce Springsteen himself.
Santelli first met Springsteen when he was a freshman at Monmouth University in New Jersey. He started as a journalist before working in the music museum world for 35 years. He also spent 18 years working with the Grammys and has met a number of artists along the way.
Some of the items in “Music America” were provided courtesy of Hard Rock and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but most of the pieces are the result of personal calls made to the artists themselves.
“I got on the phone, and I told people what I was doing, and I said I needed an object ‘from you, Bruce,’ or ‘from you, Kenny Chesney,’ or whomever it might be,” said Santelli.
Two of Santelli’s personal favorites from the museum are the hand-written lyrics of “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie and the “Born in the U.S.A.” drumset.
Until now, the exhibit has only been housed in presidential libraries, debuting at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library before moving on to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Museum. When Santelli realized Boston didn’t have a music museum, he knew he had to bring “Music America” to the city. He was especially influenced by America’s upcoming 250th birthday.
“I felt we had an initial responsibility to do something about that if we were the center for American Music,” said Santelli.
Tours of the exhibit will be available to the public through August, so Santelli was glad Boston would house the collection through the Fourth of July. Anyone who attends a show at the Boch Center Wang Theatre will also be able to check out the exhibit for free.
The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music has grown over time, raising money for a new building set to open this summer on the Jersey Shore. Santelli is determined to do this right since Springsteen has trusted him with his legacy in this institution.
Between the time he spent with music museums, working for the Grammys and organizing shows for the Obamas at the White House, Santelli has met plenty of well-known artists. He admitted that sometimes it is disappointing, emphasizing that you should be careful when you meet your heroes. However, he insists Springsteen isn’t like that at all.
“I can truly say that of all the people I met, when it comes to real people, he’s one of them. He’s genuine,” said Santelli.
Santelli hopes “Music America” will attract a variety of visitors of all ages while in Boston, citing it as an educational outlet.
“The goal always is, people come through this exhibit, or any exhibit, that they leave a more sophisticated listener. They better understand the music. They better appreciate the artist’s craft, whatever it may be. But they leave with something, and when they do leave with something, as a curator, you know you’ve done your job,” said Santelli.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source thesuffolkjournal.com ’
