Songbirds Guitar Museum
Songbirds Guitar Museum is a museum which features guitars and it is located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The museum was opened in 2018 as a for profit business: it closed in 2020. The museum reopened as a Nonprofit organization in September 2021 and was rebranded the Songbirds Guitar & Pop Culture Museum.
![](../I/Songbirds_Guitar_Museum.jpg.webp)
History
![](../I/Songbirds_Guitar_Museum_Sunburst_Gibson_Firebird_display.jpg.webp)
2018–2020
The museum opened in 2018 in Terminal Station (Chattanooga, Tennessee) which was originally opened in 1909 and saw the arrival of dozens of trains per day prior to WWII.[1] The curator was guitar collector David Davidson who collected rare guitars.[2] The museum displays vintage and celebrity guitars, and they host live music events.[3] The museum had 1,500 guitars and many were rare and valuable. The museum had two Gibson Explorers worth one million dollars each. They also had 36 1958-1960 Sunburst Les Paul guitars worth $250,000 to $500,000 each.[4]
The for profit museum closed during the summer of 2020.[1] It was called "a victim of the pandemic" and a documentary about the museum's closing.[4] The documentary was created by Dagan Becket and it won an Emmy Award in March 2022.[5]
References
- Havighurst, Craig (7 April 2022). "Songbirds Guitar Museum Flies Again In Chattanooga". WMOT. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- Dickson, Jamie (19 April 2018). "The story behind the ultra-rare vintage guitars of the Songbirds Guitar Museum". Music Radar. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- "Songbirds Guitar & Pop Culture Museum". Tennessee River Valley. Tennessee River Valley. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- "Movie About Closing Of Songbirds Museum Debuts Aug. 9". Chattanoogan. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- Courter, Barry (23 March 2022). "'Songbirds: A Documentary' wins regional Emmy". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- "Wellness Weekender Guide: Chattanooga, Tennessee". Forbes. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022.