A Quick Dash to Nash – The View from Lajeune

I had a truly memorable Memorial Day weekend this past May of 2023. The goal was to visit my older sister Cassandra who had moved to Nashville about a year ago. And of course to see her daughter, Mona, her son-in-law, Kevia, and their 6-year-old son, Harlem.

Memorial Day isn’t called “the unofficial start of summer” for nothing. It seems as if everyone and their grandmother (smiles) were driving their weekend cars on the road, flying in the air, or using some public transportation during this long-awaited introduction to summer.

What usually happens when the now-adult Hollis children go to a new place or location to visit family, is that we try to incorporate at least one African American cultural activity into the trip.

In this case it was easy, even too easy: a trip to the National Museum of African American Music, or NMAAM as it is referred to. NMAAM is conveniently located in downtown Nashville so we didn’t have to travel far as my sister Cassandra lives only about 15-20 minutes outside of the city limits.

Parking in the garage was very steep ($45) and you don’t really have a choice if you’re driving as there is very little street parking available downtown.

Ticket prices to the museum (which we ordered online on the NMAAM website the night before) were $24.95 for adults (me) and $18.75 for seniors (Cassandra). For your information, the rest of the ticket prices are as follows: $18.75 for students, teachers with ID, military personnel and seniors; $13.50 for museum guests ages 7-17 free For visitors ages 6 and under.

While you’re there, for just an additional $5.00, you’ll receive an NMAAM wristband that allows you to download multiple types of music (up to 500 songs!) to create your own music playlist as you touch and explore your way throughout the museum. This music link is sent to your email address after a week or so so you can download it to your Apple or Spotify account. Really amazing!

Incidentally, NMAAM also offers visitors an annual membership with plenty of special privileges, education, and programs for groups and special outings.

The NMAAM brochure tells you that it takes 90 minutes to explore the museum (as it has a timed entry) but it took Cassandra and I 3 hours as there is so much to see and do! By the way, there is no extra charge if it takes longer than 90 minutes (smile).

The museum is divided into 6 rooms, each of which features a different type of music and its history.

It is wonderful to discover how intertwined music is with historical events in every era.

Roots Theater Focuses on African American history and its music.

Wade in the water (One of my personal favorites) shows how gospel music and its rich history has influenced religious music. This exhibit features an interactive room that Cassandra and I entered, dressed in the required church choir attire and stood in front of the green screen so we could sing along with the gospel choir. The ending was beautiful as we were magically inducted into the gospel choir (smile). We’ve saved this download to our NMAAM wristband so we can watch it later at home.

Crossroads It recounts the time in the Deep South (and after slavery) when work songs and field songs (i.e., blues) were prevalent.

The highest love Highlights the Jazz Age in African American music and culture.

One Nation Under a Groove It chronicles the time following World War I with the advent of rhythm and blues…

message It clearly tells the story of hip-hop and rap and how it influenced (and continues to influence) pop culture in and around the world… This room features an interactive DJ booth where we were able to choose from 3 different rappers and then rap with them. Not surprisingly, the line to this interactive feature remains long (smile).

Rivers of rhythm It features touch panels (located on large glass tables) throughout the NMAAM stage that allow the user to touch their way to an artist’s songs and biography. We downloaded a lot of music onto our NMAAM wristbands from these touchpads. Incidentally, a concert takes place about every half hour on the interactive walls (that day we were distracted by the sounds of Prince, Tina Turner, and James Brown).

Just before you leave the museum, you will notice an art gallery featuring the work of extremely talented community artists.

There is also a museum shop called Elaborate Which sells beautiful NMAAM memorabilia at reasonable prices.

By the way, Cassandra and I had the pleasure of meeting Left Eye Lopez’s little sister Reigndrop who was at the museum that day making a documentary about her late sister Left Eye Lopez. Here she entertains the lobby crowd in her eclectic way.

Also while in the lobby, we couldn’t help but notice the legendary tribute to Tina Turner – who recently passed away – you can’t show black music without including Miss Tina… may she rest in peace…

Overall, we had the best time Eva I would highly recommend this museum to anyone visiting Nashville (or NASH as it’s called).

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