Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
Songbirds opens Fender guitar exhibit
In addition to hosting three shows this weekend
If you can’t leave on a spring break trip to the beach, Songbirds Guitar Museum will bring a little of the surf sound to you.
“Surfin’: Riding The Wave Of Fender Sparkle Guitars” will open Saturday, March 31, at Songbirds, 35 Station St. The surf guitar exhibit will showcase sparkle guitars made by the Fender Co. from 1959 through 1969. The exhibit will display about 40 surf-era Fender guitars, of which approximately 30 will feature sparkle finishes.
“Surfer music was a California- based sound of instrumental music blending heavy- driving drum beats with rock ‘n’ roll and even a little jazz flavor,” says Dave Davidson, chief operating officer and curator of Songbirds.
“Many surf pioneers like Dick Dale, The Ventures and The Challengers helped mold t his sound. Surf music helped dominate radio airwaves until the Beatles and the rest of the British invasion changed the course of American musical history forever.”
Davidson says sparkle finishes were painted outside of the original Fender plant at area auto body shops in and around Fullerton and Santa Anna, Calif.
“The reason the guitars were painted outside the Fender plant was because the metallic, flaked paint was too heavy to be shot from the Fender paint guns used for everyday f inishes,” Davidson explains.
Other Fender guitars included in the exhibit will be models such as the Jaguar and Jazzmaster, which provided a certain sound that helped shape the surf music generation, he adds.
Five tours of the new exhibit will be offered Saturday: 11 a.m., noon, 1, 2 and 3 p.m. These all-access tours will include the Songbirds Guitar Museum Green Room and Vault as well as the Fender exhibit.
A special ticket for the exhibit is offered opening day only. It is $38.95 plus $ 6.83 fee and tax. After March 31, regular All-Access Tour tickets will be available for this exhibit.
In addition to the Fender exhibit opening, three musical acts are booked in Songbirds this weekend.
Town Mountain, 9 p.m. Friday, March 30, $10 in advance, $12 day of show.
Town Mountain released its fifth studio album, “Southern Crescent,” in April 2016. Since then, the band made its debut on the Grand Ole Opry and t he Ryman Auditorium stages in 2016 bringing its sound to new audiences. Town Mountain returned to the Grand Ole Opry in July 2017. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart while staying for 10 weeks on the Americana Music Association radio chart’s Top 40.
“Southern Crescent” was recorded in an oldschool way: live, with minimal fixes and overdubs, all the musicians in the same room and no noise- reducing baffling between t hem. Town Mountain’s live shows are said to be equally as raw and exhilarating.
Paul Childers Honors Eric Clapton, 9 p.m. Saturday, March 31, $20.
After honoring Chuck Berry and B.B. King with guitar shows at Songbirds, Paul Childers returns to play the music of Eric Clapton.
Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience, 9 p.m. Saturday, March 31, $15.
Who’s Bad is the longest- running Michael Jackson tribute band. The band’s live performances are an unrivaled celebration of the King of Pop’s music.
For more information about the new exhibit or shows: 423-531-2473.