A Touring Exhibition of the National GUITAR Museum

Explore The Guitar’s Influence on American History, Culture and Politics

The guitar is one of the most enduring icons in American history. And the story of “The Crossroads” is one of America’s most enduring myths. The musician who sells their soul on a lonely country road for fame and wealth is a legend that is uniquely American. Crossroads also define times of immense and wrenching change. The American nation has come upon many of its own crossroads.

A Symbol of The Nation’s Diverse Culture, Ethnography, and Geography

We find ourselves at one right now—after a pandemic, civil unrest, political infighting, global unease, and even anarchy. Guitars are a symbol of the nation’s diverse culture, ethnography, and geography. Its most famous and skilled practitioners have been spread across race, gender, religion, and ethnicity.

For decades, the guitar was the one instrument that many rural people and those freed from slavery could afford to buy—sold for a few dollars in the Sears Catalog. Later, the sound of the guitar defined the first-ever generation of American “teenagers”—a term that came into popular use as the first electric guitars were being manufactured. The guitar was the sound of protest in the 1960s and 1970s, the sound of anger and alienation in the 1980s and 1990s, and the preferred pastime of the Covid pandemic—when more guitars were sold than ever before.

More Than 40 Instruments and Countless Stories

“America At The Crossroads: The GUITAR And A Changing Nation” displays 40 instruments that serve as touchpoints to connect visitors directly with significant moments in America’s evolution—from the earliest Spanish invasion to the nation’s modern status as a global superpower. The artifacts are supplemented with video, photographs, and illustrations that depict important events, artists, and instruments of the last century. It is an exciting and engaging experience that gives visitors the chance to interact with the guitar not only from the perspective of its history, but also through the music it has created and those it has inspired.

Banner photo courtesy of Collins Dillard

In Partnership with Memphis Travel