“Country: Portraits of an American Sound” at the Annenberg Space for Photography

Last weekend, we headed to the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City to check out their spanking new exhibit, “Country: Portraits of an American Sound” and lemme tell ya, it kicked ass. Seriously, even people who don’t like country music will enjoy the very cool array of photographs on display. And if you love old school Grand Ole Opry stars like Ernest Tubb, Loretta Lynn, George Jones and Patsy Cline as much as we do, well, prepare to be dazzled.

Featuring work from a number of photographers covering the country music scene in Nashville and beyond, the show spans the post WWII period straight on through to today. One of Greta’s favorite shots was a very recent portrait of that little firecracker Kasey Musgraves. Musgraves took home the Grammy for Best Country Album earlier this year for her boot-stompingly good major label debut “Same Trailer Different Park.” And of you haven’t heard her music yet, well…you will!

My favorite pic was the insanely cool Tammy Wynette shot featured on the poster below and an action pic of Loretta Lynn jumping for joy after hearing that she’d been asked to join the regular cast at the Opry. Classic! And if you love Johnny Cash like we do, there are some great photos of him through the years as well. Honestly, every photo in the show is amazing and the documentary the Annenberg produced in conjunction with The Country Music Hall of Fame is positively riveting. Seriously good stuff all around.

And those with wee ones will appreciate the show’s super cool hidden item game which encourages kids to find items from a brochure in the photos on display. Greta loved it and actually, it was fun for adults too. In fact, some of the items were so difficult to find that we had to ask for help.

So, if you live in the area (and even if you don’t!) get thee to the Annenberg Space for Photography and check out this little gem of a show for yourself. The cost of admission is free and parking, with museum validation, is only one dollar. So, how can you lose?

I should warn you though, this show will fuel your desire for country jams like never before, we’ve been playing nothing but Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Porter Wagoner all week…it’s been awesome!

Daddy’s new favorite museum

Finally checked out the newish Grammy Museum downtown and lemme tell ya, that place is a SAHD’s best friend. The day we went was a free day — which was even cooler because admission is kinda pricey at $12.99 a head — and we didn’t have much time, but, man, did we have fun.

The exhibits are cool, the layout is totally unique (the three-story museum is small and narrow, but packed with state-of-the-art awesomeness!) but best of all, almost everything in there is totally interactive. We had to literally pry Greta away from the headphones in the Soul section. Seriously, she was rocking out!

And cooler still is the fact that all of the best interactive displays are completely kid-friendly and easy-as-pie to use. And since the place is so small, you can explore the entire third floor and still see your kid while they listen to music at one of the dozens of listening stations. Cool, huh?

Trust me, I’ve been to lots of kid-friendly museums since Greta was born, but, this one beats them all to hell. She could have spent the whole day there. Which means I could spend the whole day there and not have to worry about her getting lost or stolen or something. Hooray!

All I know is that next time we go, I’m going early and bringing my laptop or maybe a book to read or something while the museum babysits my kid. Hmmm…I wonder if they have Wi-Fi?