[gospel piano music] - Well, hello and welcome to A Conversation with...

I'm Tracy Bethea, and I'm so excited to have this amazing man here to share just some gems about something, a landmark that is truly going to bless the world.

Many of you know that I come from radio.

So to be able to talk about this new museum, I'm totally excited.

Help me welcome the President and CEO of the National Museum of African-American Music, Mr. Henry Hicks.

Welcome, Mr. Hicks.

- Thank you so much for having me.

I'm excited to be with you today.

- Listen, before we get started, tell us a little bit about Mr. Henry Hicks and how did you get connected to such an amazing landmark?

- Well, I grew up in Washington, DC.

I'm the son of a preacher in the DC area.

And my mother was an elementary teacher.

I went to Morehouse College in Atlanta and the University of North Carolina to get my graduate degree.

Most of my career up until now has been spent in banking and finance and corporate America.

And in fact, I invested in a company in Nashville back in 2009 and that's what got me connected to the museum.

And so over the course of a few years time, I got more and more involved in being board chair.

And then I became CEO and I was naive enough to think we could get a museum built quickly but that proved not to be the case.

It's a very difficult thing to do, but also one of the most gratifying chapters in my career.

So here in January of 2021 I was really excited to be able to be a part of cutting the ribbon and getting the museum open.

- Well, you talk about 56,000 square feet of museum.

That's beyond a book.

That's beyond this interview time that we have to share.

Tell us about some of the seed planters and why now to create such a museum.

- Sure, absolutely.

Well, it really is a fascinating story.

A gentleman by the name of Francis Guess and his partner Dr. TB Boyd got together and came up with this idea.

Middle Tennessee is really the only part of the state that did not at that time have any kind of an African-American oriented cultural institution.

And they thought that needed to be fixed.

So they got together with the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors' Corporation and then some community leaders around the city and really worked on a plan to bring this forward really starting in about 2000.

About 2011, we changed the name.

We started looking at the growth that was occurring in the state of Tennessee, and it really seemed that music was becoming much, much more a central part of the culture, particularly as it relates to tourism in the state, that music continued to be the theme.

And so we looked around the country and we noticed that there was no museum in the country that really dealt with the history and the story of the contributions that African-Americans have made to American culture through music.

And so we decided that we would change the name from what was then called the Museum of African-American Music, Art, and Culture to the National Museum of African-American Music.

And so that's how the foundation got laid.

And that's what got us all off to the races.

- Wow.

Let me ask you this, because when you think about music, when you think about the African-American culture, the sound of music from slavery to today, the Jim Crow days it all was trailed, the Civil Rights Movement, there was music to support that.

So let's talk about how deep did you go?

Tell us what's inside of this amazing 56,000 square foot museum.

- Well, we went deep and you really hit on an important part of it was that as we studied the history of what is known as American music, it really is an African and an African-American creation.

And that soundtrack of America   as the state's   tourism slogan goes,   really does go   through Tennessee.

And whether it's the   blues in West Tennessee   or Appalachian hillbilly   music and the Eastern part   of the state, or R&B and   Gospel in the central part   of the state, Tennessee   has been such a big,   big part of driving   American music   that it was only   fitting that a museum   like this be located in   the state of Tennessee.

And we really have   gone from slave songs   to hip-hop from blues   and jazz and R&B,   and soul, funk, techno,   disco, spirituals, and Gospel,   and hip-hop Gospel,   and mixed it all up.

But really the thing   that makes the museum   a little bit different is   that it is a history museum   at least as much as   it is a music museum.

And again, the point   that you hit on is that   it's the history that   really sets the context   and the context of where   and how the music emerged   is what makes us so tied   to the music that   is the soundtrack   of our own individual lives.

And so we really   would like to think   that we've tapped   into that in terms   of the way that we tell   the story in the museum.

So as you go through the   museum, you really start   with religious forms   of music and you go   on to deal with the blues   and the great migration   and you kind of go   back a little bit   and you get into Gospel   music and Thomas Dorsey   as he combined the best   of the blues with the best of the spiritual music, and then you go forward to the Harlem Renaissance and you see the emergence of jazz and then you keep going forward and you deal with the Civil Rights Movement and you see the emergence of soul and eventually R&B.

You deal with race records and the business of American music.

And you see the emergence of black music divisions in music labels, and then you go forward and you start dealing with things like urban renewal and you see that out of that environment, the war on drugs you have the emergence of hip-hop.

And then that brings us up to the current day.

And we even in the museum deal with some of the international influences of this music in Native American communities and in Asia and in Africa.

And so all of that you see in the museum.

- How much research, and you talked about when you first had the idea, take us through that process a little bit of being able to really, where do you go?

How did you reach out?

What were some of the things that you did to bring it all together?

- Sure.

Well, the museum is more than 20 years in the making and we probably spent the first 15 or more years just doing research.

And so we really gathered a battery of PhDs and ethnomusicologists and scholars of various forms and genres and types and styles of music from around the country.

And we had them all contribute essays to what became our storyline.

And then we got together with one of the curators at the Smithsonian and had her, Ms.

Faith Davis Ruffins, combine all of those stories into a single narrative, help identify for us where there were gaps and then our own very accomplished curatorial team worked to build and create or fill in the gaps in that story.

And then we had a story that we could work from that was really pretty comprehensive and more than we could include in the museum.

And so we got together with Gallagher & Associates who are our exhibit designers to determine how we could lay out the space in this 56,000 square feet, what we could get in, how we would be able to split up the story to be able to tell it so that the public could digest it.

And then we went to identifying what were the most important moments in history that needed to be highlighted, and then who are the artists and what were the styles of music that best illustrated those periods in time?

- What were some of the important things that you had right there?

Who were some of those people that you said, this is a must?

- Oh my gosh.

Well, so again, I mentioned Thomas Dorsey and a lot of people, for example don't realize that he was at one time, Thomas Dorsey is known as the father of Gospel music.

Well, they don't realize that he was also in a group with Ma Rainy prior to his Gospel days.

And so they are highlighted   actually in our   Wade in the Water gallery, but   then you also see folks there   like Pastor Shirley   Caesar and Kirk Franklin   and the group   Take Six, then   as we move into   "Wade in the Water,"   you see folks there, B.B.

King and Ironing Board Sam   and then you move on into   our "Love Supreme" gallery.

And we deal some   with Kirk Whalum.

We also deal with   Gary Clark, Jr.   And many, many others   there, Herbie Hancock.

And then we go on to "One   Nation Under a Groove."

And of course there, we got   to deal with George Clinton,   you'll see Bobby   Brown, you'll see TLC   you'll see Rihanna,   Beyonce, Michael Jackson,   Bob Johnson and Cathy Hughes   on the executive side.

And then we move on into   "The Message" gallery   where we start right at the   beginning with DJ Kool Herc,   and then you'll   see Africa Bambada.

But you'll also see Kanye   West, you'll see The Roots,   you'll see Run-DMC   and Queen Latifah.

So all of those   folks you'll see in one way or another in the museum and many, many others.

- So when you talk about 50 genres, all collaborated, you touched a little bit on country.

Let's talk a little bit about that.

- Absolutely.

Well, country music is also an African-American form of music.

And so we touch on that as well, principally in our "Crossroads" gallery and really the early days of country music was Appalachian hillbilly music where Africans really, or African-Americans, early African-Americans who were recently released from slavery had this opportunity to travel up the eastern side of Tennessee into the Appalachian Mountains where they encountered folks that lived indigenously in that part of the country and were able to share forms of music, African-American stylings of music that combined with the hillbilly music and created this new form which became country music.

And so we touch on that a bit.

And so we're really proud to have friends in the country music industry and Darius Rucker and Mickey Guyton and others.

And even sort of a Keb' Mo' who deals with a little bit of a country form of blues and our friends Louis York and the Shindellas who do a bit of a country form of R&B.

And so, we deal with that in the museum, as well.

And what you may not see prominently in the galleries we can deal with and the many technological aspects of the exhibition, as well as in the educational programming that we have both in-person now, as well as virtually.

- So, you mentioned these various galleries as you tour the museum.

I'm sure it's filled with all sorts of music that you can interact in.

Tell us how that guide would be as you would tour the museum.

- Well, so again, it's very chronological.

And so one of the things that we think people are enjoying is that they actually can take a walk back through their own family's life and family's story.

But on the technological side, in each of the galleries you can find some technology that you can use.

One of the things we're most proud of is an interactive exhibit we call "Roots and Streams" and that exhibit is in each of the galleries.

And it allows you to touch on a monitor that's in the in the gallery, identify an artist that you wanna learn a little bit more about.

You can pull up their bio, you can listen to some of their music, but it will also identify for you who are some of their peers, who are some of the people that came before them, and who were some of the people that followed them.

And then you can touch on those artists and it will take you to to them and allow you to explore those artists, as well.

All creating a playlist of these artists that you're exploring as you go through.

And it does not stick with a particular genre.

It may change genres.

It may change race.

It certainly will change a period of time that you're in.

But the point is, as the name of our exhibit implies, it's a river of rhythm.

And so you cannot control where the water goes in the river.

You can't control what it's gonna look like or taste like or certainly where it's gonna go.

And the same is true with our music.

And then once you've had a chance to interact with that "Roots and Stream," you can actually use an RFID bracelet and touch it to the interactive.

And that interactive will email you the playlist that you just created.

And so you have an opportunity to take home with you this playlist that you created that may take you to many, many different places musically, but they're all connected through once again, through that river of rhythm.

In addition to that, you can sing with a Gospel choir.

You can sing with Dr. Bobby Jones.

You can create a hip-hop beat.

You can do a rap battle.

You can do a dance contest.

All of these kinds of things are available through the interactives in the museum.

- Wow.

This is absolutely amazing.

I'm here with Mr. Henry Hicks, the President and CEO of the Museum of African-American Music in Nashville, Tennessee.

Why Nashville?

Was Nashville the first choice to build a museum?

- Well, it was.

It was.

Here in Nashville, we like to say Nashville is Music City.

So we certainly wanted to complete that brand.

We like to say Nashville is where music calls us home.

And so now, through the museum, we say black music has a home right here in this museum, right here in Tennessee, and right here in Nashville.

- So how has it been?

Here we are, COVID-19.

How has that been?

Did it push, I'm sure it pushed behind, lots of things, but how has that been?

Because the museum is actually open now, correct?

- We are open and yes, it was certainly a challenge to keep fundraising in this environment.

It was a challenge to keep construction, not quite on schedule, but from falling even further behind and keep that progress going.

But we were able to get open and cut the ribbon on MLK Day this year.

So we thought that was a very fitting time to open the museum.

And I've been really gratified to see people coming out and and adhering to social distancing guidelines, wearing their mask when they come into the museum, but still coming to explore and having fun with family and friends.

And I'm only, I'm hopeful that as everybody, I hope, goes and gets vaccinated and then we're able to increasingly open up our communities and begin getting back to normal that NMAAM will be a place that people will wanna come and see and visit.

- I have already told my church, we're bringing two buses to come down as soon as we can.

I am so ready because I absolutely love music.

I grew up on music.

Let me ask you this.

What was the grand opening like for you?

You speak with such passion about the museum.

Finally, when it happened and the ribbon was cut what was that day like for you?

- Well, it was emotional.

It was emotional and a little bit surprisingly so, but it was emotional.

It was quite a journey for the team and the staff that really did this project and made sure that it happened and stayed committed through the pandemic.

Quite a journey for our board of directors, who had people who had been serving on the board for more than 20 years, quite a journey for my wife and two kids who relocated from Atlanta to come to Nashville and helped me in leading the effort to get it done.

And so there were sacrifices that they made.

So really reflecting on all of that was quite a moment for me.

But as I mentioned, that was emotional, but the most joyous part was then a few days later, seeing people come in and having a good time.

- And so what is Mr. Hicks' favorite parts of the museum?

Where do you find yourself often wandering?

What you remember, your days coming up when it comes to music?

- Well, really a little bit of all of it and that again is what I hope that all of us will experience when going through the museum is, "Wait a minute.

"This is my story.

This is my story."

All of it, whether it's the spirituals or the jazz that in my case I really loved to listen to, particularly in college and the blues that I've come to appreciate more in later years.

And certainly the funk and the R&B that I've most enjoyed today.

And maybe even some of the hip-hop that I like listening to with my wife and kids, and my wife is more of a hip-hop head than I am.

And so all of that is something that resonates for me.

And at different times I find myself going through the museum and I'll see something a little bit different every time.

So I enjoy stopping and just taking a minute to read that panel or look at that artifact.

And I have the luxury of being in here every day so I can almost do it one at a time.

But my favorite part, as I mentioned, is seeing people come in and even seeing them leave the galleries is what's fun to me because they're not sure what to expect on the way in but on the way out, they're generally pretty happy.

And every now and then, I look around and I catch somebody doing The Wobble in the lobby.

And that's when I know we got it right.

- Why is it important that beyond African-Americans who really need to make sure that they come see this, but all ethnicities, all races, the young people, definitely, the older generation.

Why is it so important that they take this trip to Nashville and visit the Museum of African-American Music?

- I appreciate that question.

This is everybody's music.

This is American music.

African-Americans are centered in this particular story.

It's important that they be centered in the story but this is all of our music.

R&B and hip-hop are the number one genre in America today.

But even before it was the number one genre in the country we all know a little bit about "Great is Thy Faithfulness."

We all have a little bit of that great migration story as a part of our background.

We all can appreciate something about the Harlem Renaissance.

And we certainly all can reflect upon the '60s and the Civil Rights Movement and what that meant to us.

And so the songs that are the soundtrack of those of periods of time is something that we all can share.

And so what I really hope is that families will have a multi-generational experience in the museum.

And what I really hope is that folks who are African Americans will come in and they'll say, "Finally, somebody heard me.

"And finally, our story is being featured prominently."

But I hope that people who aren't African-Americans will come in and say "You know what, "maybe I hadn't quite considered how "significant this African American contribution has been to my own story and to my own family."

And so finally, here's a place where I, too, can join with my brothers and sisters who happen to be African-American and celebrate them and their contribution to our country.

- So, as you're starting, you're opened up now, and I know the times are limited, and we'll talk about that in a little bit, but what about future events outside the museum of 56,000 feet?

Are there any other, I think I saw theater, any other things that visitors would be surprised to know or events that will take place at the museum?

- All the time, every day.

We actually had our first wedding on Saturday evening, I believe it was.

And so, we expect there'll be all kinds of events.

We do have a theater that   seats 200, we've got a couple   of multi-purpose rooms, so   we can host community events.

Folks will rent out our lobby   and our gallery spaces   for private events and corporate events and that sort of thing.

And then in addition to that, as I mentioned, we've got educational programming that we do for young people, as well as for aspiring musicians.

- Let's talk about that.

- Yeah, absolutely.

We think that our primary objective, our first point pillar in our mission is to educate the world about this music.

And so we really have taken pride.

Our most prominent program is one called From Nothing to Something.

And we get together with teaching artists and have been able to go into, pre-COVID, go into the classrooms in the Middle Tennessee area with these teaching artists and introduce them to things like a cigar box guitar or a wash tub bass, or a pair of spoons, and show them that these rudimentary tools, these things that you can find around your house were used by Africans and African-Americans during the period of slavery to innovate and create instruments that are now very similar to the instruments that are played, and that are used in concerts and the songs that they hear on the radio today.

So we want them to understand the connection to their history, to the music that they hear today, and to understand that innovation and creativity is what music is all about.

And so the kids love it.

The teachers love it.

And COVID actually did us a favor during this period of time because we were able to take those programs online and deliver them virtually to schools around the country.

We've partnered with a company called QuaverEd, and we've animated, Mr. Lucius Talley, who is our spoons instructor and one or two others and we've animated them and made them available on the Quaver Music Education platform.

And so people can get that initiative all over the country through Quaver.

And so that's just the youth program.

We do adult program called Sips and Stanzas.

We do something called Fine Tuning for emerging artists.

We do something called Legends and Heroes for high school students, where we'll take an artist into the school, whether it's in-person or virtually, and let the kids present to the artist.

So education's a big part of what we do.

- Wow.

Mr. Henry Hicks, President and CEO of the National Museum of African-American Music.

Listen, tell people how we can find you, where you are located in Nashville, Tennessee.

Give us the museum and your hours of operation.

- Absolutely.

So the National Museum of African-American Music is located at Fifth and Broadway, right in the heart of downtown Nashville, Tennessee.

You can't miss us.

The big digital billboards above our entrances will tell you exactly where we are.

By June, we'll be open seven days a week, at least from 11 to 6.

We're still working on the hours a little bit to make sure we get it right, so that we can be open when people are most interested in attending.

But the best way to find out more and to get the specifics is to go to our website.

The web address is blackmusicmuseum.org.

And you can go there and find out all kinds of things about what we're up to.

- Any last words you'd like to share with our viewers?

- Well, again, I'm very appreciative for having me on the show.

And I really want people to know black music now has a home.

And I really hope that folks from around the state of Tennessee and around the country will come pay us a visit.

Come have some fun with us.

Come learn a little bit.

Bring your family and come experience this new attraction that we have in our country.

I hope to see you and all of the viewers, come see us real soon.

- Well, I'm Tracy Bethea.

This has been absolutely amazing.

It is a must that you get your family together, take that trip to Nashville, Tennessee, and enjoy this national institution.

It is the National Museum of African-American Music, and I'll see you real soon.

[gospel piano music]