In the 1960s, young musicians from across North America arrived in Los Angeles, drawn by the counterculture movement and the city’s rise as a recording center. Eager to move beyond rock & roll’s teeny-bopper fixation, the musicians turned to bluegrass, country, and folk music; inspired by these forms, they wrote original material, utilizing drums and electric instrumentation. By the 1970s, this hybrid of country, folk, and rock ranked with the most popular sounds in America.
Western Edge will examine the close-knit communities of Los Angeles-based singers, songwriters and musicians who, from the 1960s through the 1980s, embraced country music, frequented local nightclubs, and created and shaped the musical fusion known as “country-rock” – ultimately making an indelible and lasting impact on popular music.
Opening Weekend Events
Western Edge: Los Angeles Country-Rock in Concert
An all-star lineup of luminaries who were a part of the country-rock phenomenon will perform, along with artists influenced by the sound and the scene.
Desert Rose Band
For the first time in more than a decade, the Desert Rose Band will reunite for a special concert.
The exhibit will survey the rise of the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, Eagles, Emmylou Harris, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt and many others who found commercial success by merging rock & roll rhythms and attitude with country and bluegrass instrumentation and harmonies.
These trailblazers’ musical contributions were expanded upon by the next generation of Los Angeles roots music performers – the Blasters, Rosie Flores, Los Lobos, Lone Justice, Dwight Yoakam and more – who once again looked to traditional American music for inspiration. Blending hard-edged honky-tonk, Mexican folk music, rockabilly and punk rock, these artists – along with their county-rock predecessors – provided inspiration to future generations of country and Americana artists.
“A new hybrid sound grew from humble beginnings in a few small L.A. nightclubs and quickly emerged as one of the most popular musical styles across the world.”
The Western Edge exhibit traces the story of young musicians who, in the 1960s, gravitated to Los Angeles as a bastion of youth-driven counterculture and a rising recording center. New arrivals found a rich local music scene anchored by clubs such as the Ash Grove, which featured young bluegrass bands including the Dillards and the Kentucky Colonels alongside earlier generations of American roots music masters.
Also highlighted in the exhibit is the historical significance of the Troubadour in West Hollywood, which served as an important haven for like-minded artists. It provided a space for creators to collaborate with a healthy dose of competition, spurring one another to write better songs, craft tighter harmonies and master their instruments.
“A new hybrid sound grew from humble beginnings in a few small L.A. nightclubs and quickly emerged as one of the most popular musical styles across the world,” said Kyle Young, chief executive officer for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “Inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan and the Beatles, these artists and musicians also found community in their appreciation of traditional country, folk and bluegrass music. They built on this foundation, crafting songs of uncommon lyrical depth and layered musical richness – adding new textures to rock sounds that resulted in a completely original form of American music.”
The Museum’s curatorial and creative teams have conducted more than 40 hours of filmed interviews and collected an array of significant artifacts from central figures in the musical movement for display in Western Edge. The exhibit will feature stage wear, instruments, original song manuscripts and more. Interactive elements will illustrate the connections between artists that made up the musical communities explored in the exhibit, allowing access to audio recordings, performance clips, original interview footage and historic photographs.
Featured Video
Western Edge Exhibit Highlights
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Adorned with embroidery and rhinestones, this customized Stetson hat was part of a spectacularly embroidered stage costume designed by Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors for Michael Nesmith when he was in the Monkees.
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Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors designed this jacket, embellished with rhinestones and embroidered submarines and torpedoes, for Gram Parsons when he was in the International Submarine Band, c. 1967. Parsons later gave it to his friend and former bandmate, drummer Jon Corneal.
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At their shows in the early 1960s, all four members of the Dillards appeared in matching faux-buckskin shirts like this one worn by guitarist Rodney Dillard.
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Eagles lead guitarist Bernie Leadon used this extensively modified 1962 Fender Telecaster onstage and in the studio, including on the group’s recordings of “Take It Easy,” “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” and “Tequila Sunrise.” The instrument features a B-bender mechanism that enables the player to replicate the twang of a pedal steel guitar by bending and raising the pitch of the guitar’s B string.
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Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors designed this western shirt and pants ensemble—embellished with piping, rhinestones, contrasting leather fringe, and embroidered thunderbirds and other motifs inspired by Native American art—for singer, songwriter, and guitarist Richie Furay of Poco, c. 1969.
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This 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom electric guitar with gold-plated hardware was used by Rick Nelson while leading his country-rock group, the Stone Canyon Band. He was pictured holding it on the cover of his 1972 album, Garden Party.
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Embellished with rhinestones, leather fringe, and appliquéd leather horse heads, this sequined vest from Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors has been worn onstage by Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, and Rosie Flores. The vest was designed for actress Gail Davis, star of the popular 1950s TV Western series Annie Oakley, but she never picked it up from Nudie’s North Hollywood shop, where Harris purchased it in the early 1970s. Harris later gave it to Flores.
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This battered 1964 Fender Mustang with Schecter pickups was Dave Alvin’s primary guitar on stage with the Blasters and the Knitters. The first electric guitar owned by Alvin, the Mustang was a gift from blues musician James Harman.
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Dwight Yoakam wore this Mex Tex brand suede jacket, embellished with fringe, cowhide yoke overlay, and conchos, in the 1986 music video for “Honky Tonk Man,” his debut single and breakout hit.
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The primary songwriters of the group Los Lobos, guitarist David Hildalgo and drummer Louie Pérez, used this composition book to write lyrics to “Will the Wolf Survive” (pictured here) and other songs recorded by the band.
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Chris Hillman—a founding member of the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Desert Rose Band, and other groups—wore this custom-designed Manuel bolero jacket embellished with rhinestones and embroidered roses when he led the Desert Rose Band.
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Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band wore this suede vest and these leather chaps on the cover of the group’s 1972 album All the Good Times.
See the Exhibition
The exhibition Western Edge: The Roots and Reverberations of Los Angeles Country-Rock, presented by City National Bank, opens September 30, 2022, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville. Purchase tickets to see this exhibition and others using the button below.
