Songbirds Grand Opening This Weekend
photo by Credit To Songbirds Facebook Page
Songbirds, the world’s finest and most valuable guitar collection is having their grand opening this weekend in the Chattanooga Choo-Choo complex, right above the Revelry Room.
I had the privilege and honor to get a guided tour through the museum a couple of weeks ago and even for guy like me that doesn’t play guitar, it was mind-blowing how well the facility is designed and presented. The space that contains the museum is warm and welcoming, with beautiful woodwork and large windows. The displays are as spectacular as the guitars contained within them.
Are there guitars there that were owned and played by famous entertainers? Yes. However, the rich history of the collection is much more than that. The rarity and heritage of the guitars in the collection is the real story. I recommend the guided All-Access tour. It gets you in the vault (containing about $70 million in guitars) and an escort will explain the history of many of the collection’s guitars.
Songbirds is open Mon-Wed from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Thursday-Saturday from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., and Sundays from Noon – 6 p.m. This Saturday, Songbirds is hosting a free street fair from noon until 5 p.m. Station Street, which runs between the Terminal Brewhouse and the Choo-Choo complex will be closed and set up for live music.
The lineup includes:
Chattanooga Girls Rock, The Pool, The Drew Sterchi Band, The Communicators and the following guest guitarists: Jordan Hallquist, Jess Goggans, Mark Russell, Alan Shikoh, Nick Lutsko, Mike McDade, Jonathan Wimpee, Jesse James Jungkurth, Drew Sterchi, Rick Rushing, and Ryan Oyer.
Additionally, the Gibson Custom Shop trailer will be out on the street with some amazing custom pieces for you to come see!
For more information on Songbirds, go to https://www.facebook.com/SongbirdsGuitarMuseum or https://songbirdsguitars.com
Bob Payne is the Entertainment Editor for the Chattanoogan.com and talent buyer for Friends of the Festival/Riverbend. You can follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/davrik2000 or email me at davrik@aol.com.