Exhibit Features Rare Artifacts from the Personal Collection
of the Vaughan Family
CLEVELAND, Miss.– On June 30, 2016, GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi will unveil Pride & Joy: The Texas Blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Curated by the GRAMMY Museum® at L.A. LIVE, this one-of-a-kind exhibit will offer visitors an in-depth look at the iconic career of legendary bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan. Jimmie Vaughan, Stevie’s brother, serves as a guest curator of the exhibit.
“I’m excited to honor my brother and his music with the opening of this exhibit at GRAMMY Museum Mississippi,” said Jimmie Vaughan. “I know Stevie’s many fans will enjoy this exhibit, as many of his personal items will be on display. I hope by doing this, it will remind people of the incredible musician he was and all the music and love he gave to the world. I miss him every day.”
On display through October 16, 2016, the exhibit will feature:
- several guitars, including Vaughan’s “Number One” Fender Stratocaster;
- personal photographs;
- original stage outfits, including Vaughan’s famous Indian headdress;
- handwritten lyrics;
- original concert posters/tour ephemera;
- and much more
“As a former music journalist, I had the great pleasure of getting to know Stevie Ray Vaughan over the years,” said Bob Santelli, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Museum, who was largely responsible for bringing this exhibit to life when it debuted in L.A. in June 2014. “Stevie was not only one of the greatest guitar players of our time but, he was also a great man. I couldn’t be more excited to pay tribute to him at GRAMMY Museum Mississippi.”
With his astonishingly accomplished guitar playing, Stevie Ray Vaughan ignited the blues revival of the 1980s. Vaughan drew equally from bluesmen like Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Albert Collins, and rock & roll players like Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, as well as jazz guitarists like Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery, developing a uniquely eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist, regardless of genre. Vaughan bridged the gap between blues and rock like no other artist had since the late 1960s. From 1983 to 1990, Stevie Ray was the leading light in American blues, consistently selling out concerts while his albums regularly went gold. His tragic death in 1990 at age 35 cut short a brilliant career in blues and American rock & roll, just as he was on the brink of superstardom. For more information about Vaughan, see his official website at www.srvofficial.com.
“This exhibit celebrates Stevie Ray Vaughan, his brilliant career and his love for the blues,” said Emily Havens, executive director of the Mississippi Museum. “The birthplace of the blues is the perfect location for this collection, and we are thrilled to bring Stevie Ray Vaughan to the Delta.”
Pride & Joy: The Texas Blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan originally debuted at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles in June 2014, before moving to the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in March 2016.
About GRAMMY Museum Mississippi
Built and operated by the Cleveland Music Foundation—a non-profit organization developed in 2011—the 28,000-square-foot GRAMMY Museum Mississippi is housed near the campus of Delta State University, home of the Delta Music Institute’s Entertainment Industry Studies program, which features the most unique audio recording facilities in the South. Similar to its sister Museum—the GRAMMY Museum at L.A. LIVE—GRAMMY Museum Mississippi is dedicated to exploring the past, present, and future of music, and the cultural context from which it emerges, while casting a focused spotlight on the deep musical roots of Mississippi. The Museum features a dynamic combination of public events, educational programming, engaging multimedia presentations, and interactive permanent and traveling exhibits, including a Mississippi-centric area that introduces visitors to the impact of Mississippi’s songwriters, producers, and musicians on the traditional and modern music landscape. For more information about GRAMMY Museum Mississippi, visit www.grammymuseumms.org. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @GRAMMYMuseumMS on Twitter and Instagram, and like “GRAMMY Museum Mississippi” on Facebook.
