This is American Music

Find out more about the history of your favorite style of American music while exploring the country or attend an amazing music festival. Here’s a sampling of what you can find, so put on some traveling music and hit the road!

American Jazz Museum

Kansas City, Mo.

It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing. You’ll be humming that tune at this museum that celebrates the days when swing was definitely the thing. As you enter, glowing neon lights advertising 1940s’ juke joints happily greet you. Artifacts like Louis Armstrong’s trumpet, Ella Fitzgerald’s dress and Charlie Parker’s saxophone are next in line. Kids who’ve never been exposed to this genre can make instruments, while jazzophiles tap their toes listening to selections from the music library. Stay late for a show in a copycat of a 1930s nightclub that’s also part of the museum.

EMP Museum

Seattle, Wash.

Unlike many museums, there’s lots to do here, not just see: you can record a CD, jam with other wannabe rock stars in a soundproof room and take a computer-led guitar lesson at this AAA GEM^® attraction. “IF VI WAS IX,” a 2-story-high sculpture composed of 500+ instruments, plays music that you listen to through earphones; it will blow your mind. Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix devotees will be in seventh heaven as each Seattle-born artist has his own gallery jam-packed with memorabilia. Finally, forget stage fright and indulge your inner rock god as you perform on stage while the audience shouts for more.

Graceland Mansion

Memphis, Tenn.

Memphis has a rich musical history, and Graceland’s homeowner is a big part of it. After all, the mansion is on the bucket list of every Elvis fan, and 50 million Elvis fans can’t be wrong. And if a man’s home is his castle, then the king of rock and roll’s residence should be rockin’. Graceland doesn’t disappoint, although its 1970’s décor doesn’t match today’s concept of bling. Think shag carpets, gaudy jumpsuits, movie costumes and countless gold and platinum records, for starters. The Jungle Room, with its Polynesian carved wood furniture and tropical foliage, shouldn’t be missed.

Motown Historical Museum

Detroit, Mich.

Step inside this shrine to the Motown Sound and the early days of artists like The Supremes and The Jackson Five. Peek into the second-floor flat where founder/mogul Berry Gordy lived, above the first-floor recording studio Hitsville USA, where hits like “Baby Love” and “Dancing in the Street” were recorded in the early 1960s; you’ll see a lot of original recording equipment and instruments like Stevie Wonder’s piano. Ogle tons of memorabilia and elaborate costumes (Michael Jackson’s glove! Sparkly girl-group gowns!) and sing an rendition of “My Girl” with your group in the studio at this AAA GEM attraction.