CLEVELAND, Mississippi — Allan Hammons has been busy getting ready for Saturday’s opening of the Grammy Museum Mississippi.
The museum, located at 800 West Sunflower Road, is on the campus of Delta State University. It will be open to the public beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday with a ribbon-cutting.
The nearly $20 million project promises to be one of the most advanced museums in the country. It’s a smaller but updated version of its sister museum in California and employs high-definition touchscreens and interactive technology to chronicle American music history.
“It’s a pretty special day,” said Hammons, the president of the advertising firm of Hammons & Associates of Greenwood, who has seen the museum go from rough concept to finished reality. “A lot of people from all over, not just Mississippi, have made it happen.”
Hammons said the museum “is a beautiful addition to our state.”
Hammons also helped establish the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, as well as the Mississippi Blues Trail.
Lucy Janoush, president of the
Cleveland Music Foundation, the parent organization of Grammy Museum Mississippi, will preside over the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Various musicians will perform Saturday as part of “Mississippi Music on the Grounds.” The artists include:
• 11 a.m. — The Southern Comfort Brass Band
• Noon — Eden Brent
• 1 p.m. — Shannon McNally
• 2 p.m. — Vasti Jackson
• 3 p.m. — Kingfish
• 4 p.m. — Charlie Worsham
A concert benefiting the Grammy museum will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bologna Performing Arts Center on the campus of Delta State.
It will feature Mac McAnally with Sonny Landreth and Friends along with special performances by The Williams Brothers and the Muddy Magnolias.
Orchestra seating for the concert is $100 per person, terrace seating is $75, and balcony seating is $50.
Tickets may purchased online at goo.gl/5a3U6t or by calling the Bologna Performing Arts Center Box Office at (662) 846-4626.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
