(PR) The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's major new exhibition, Family Tradition: The Hank Williams Legacy, Presented by SunTrust, which opens on Friday, March 28, 2008, for a near two-year run, will explore the connections between country music's most iconic figure and his creative heirs - both biological and musical - and examine the ways in which American music continues to be measured by the standards Hank Williams set.Presented with the full cooperation and assistance of the Williams family, the exhibition will use artifacts, instruments, song manuscripts, costumes, photographs, computer interactives, moving images and more to explore the connections between Hank Williams and his progeny, and his enduring impact on popular music. Additional support is being provided by the Museum's official Family Tradition media partners: Great American Country Television Network, Cumulus Broadcasting and The Tennessean.
"In past years, the Museum has examined the life and music of Hank Williams through a major biographical exhibit and a two-CD collection of his demo recordings," said Museum Director Kyle Young. "As his heirs speak frankly
about their ancestor's legacy and his impact on their lives, the Family Tradition story will take our visitors on a voyage to the spiritual and emotional core of the Williams family.
"This exhibition would not be possible without the blessing and participation of the family," he said. "They have opened their hearts to us and shared their stories and their journeys. They have also opened their homes and personal archives and shared a wealth of precious artifacts, many of which will be exhibited for the first time in Family Tradition."
Among the items never or rarely seen by the public until now are Williams family scrapbooks and correspondence; and awards, instruments and costumes belonging to Hank Williams and Hank Williams Jr., including some of the latter's first toddler-size stage costumes designed by Nudie the Rodeo Tailor.
