FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- 2/2/09
Morgan Arts Council • Berkeley Springs, WV
Press contact: Mary Hott - 304-258-2300
mary@macicehouse.org
 
WV MUSIC HALL OF FAME EXHIBIT OPENS IN BERKELEY SPRINGS
 
BERKELEY SPRINGS, WV ---- An exhibit featuring more than 100 items 
from actual recordings and their covers to an Edison Cylinder and 
Senator Robert Byrd's prized fiddle, opens at the Morgan County 
Public Library on Saturday, February 14 with a family-friendly 
celebration at 2pm. All the artifacts are connected to West Virginia 
artists or music about the state and are part of the WV Music Hall of 
Fame. The show remains on display through March 15. "There are 
musicians and music experts on-hand to talk about the exhibit," says 
Larry Springer, Library Director. "Audio displays in the exhibit let 
people hear the music."
 
The exhibit is introduced on Friday evening at 7:30pm with a free 
music jam at the Ice House hosted by Michael Lipton of Mountain Stage, 
driving force behind the WV Music Hall of Fame. "We invite people to 
bring their instruments to play in the jam," says Mary Hott, Executive 
Director of the Morgan Arts Council (MAC.) "Rock, blues and old time 
acoustic sets are planned."
 
More than 20 individuals have been inducted in the Hall of Fame since 
it started in 2007. Representing a century of Mountain State music, 
inductees include classical composer George Crumb, Appalachian singer 
Hazel Dickens, Grand Old Opry regular Little Jimmy Dickens, and 
Johnnie Johnson, Chuck Berry's piano man. Johnson was inducted into 
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Berry's famous song, Johnny B. Goode, 
was written as a tribute to Johnson. Berkeley Springs newspaper 
editor, John Douglas, is one of the judges for the Hall of Fame.
 
"The Art of West Virginia" exhibit was developed with financial 
assistance from the WV Humanities Foundation. The WV Music Hall of 
Fame exhibit and jam session are part of Back To Our Roots, a yearlong 
celebration produced by the Morgan Arts Council and Morgan County 
Public Library with support from many funders, sponsors and the 
"Morgan Messenger." For a complete calendar of events through June, 
check online at www.macicehouse.org or call 304-258-2300.