An exhibit that spotlights California legends Buck Owens and Merle Haggard opens today at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.
Called "The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and California Country," the exhibit includes more than 100 artifacts and an overlay of audiovisual material. Museum Director Kyle Young says the West Coast sound invigorated and reinvented country music as the performers knew it.
Bakersfield's dance halls and honky-tonks provided respite for rambunctious workers who wanted to hear dance music.
The exhibit also highlights Bill Woods, "Cousin" Herb Henson, Ferlin Husky, Jelly Sanders, Red Simpson and Lewis Talley.
The 5,000 square-foot exhibit, narrated by Dwight Yoakam, runs through December 31st of 2013.