If you go
› What: Songbirds Guitar Museum grand-opening street party.› When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, March 11 (grand-opening celebration at museum also Friday, March 10, and Sunday, March 12.› Where: 35 Station St. and throughout Chattanooga Choo Choo complex, 1400 Market St.› Admission: Free to street festival; $15.95 to museum.› Phone: 423-531-2473.› Website: http://songbirdsguitars.com.Special programming› Street party: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, March 11.› “Les Paul — From Start to Finish”: 4 p.m. Friday, March 10; 10 a.m., noon, 2 and 4 p.m. Saturday, March 11; noon Sunday, March 12.Regular programming› Museum hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday (museum will be closed today, March 9, for a private event).› All-access museum tours: 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. (plus 5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday).
The musical lineup
› Chattanooga Girls Rock› The Pool› The Drew Sterchi Band› The Communicators and the following guest guitarists:Jordan HallquistJess GoggansMark RussellAlan ShikohNick LutskoMike McDadeJonathan WimpeeJesse James JungkurthDrew SterchiRick RushingRyan Oyer
Songbirds Guitar Museum will officially unveil the world's largest collection of vintage and rare guitars this weekend.
During the grand-opening festivities, visitors will have a chance to tour the museum within the Chattanooga Choo Choo complex, sample food and drink from restaurants and bars in the area, hear live music and register to win a guitar.
Several local bands will perform throughout the day Saturday, March 11, on a stage set up on Station Street, which will be closed to all but pedestrian traffic. The Communicators will serve as the backing band for nearly a dozen local guitar players during the day's final set.
In addition to the hundreds of guitars on display inside the museum, the Gibson Custom Shop trailer will be on hand with a display of custom-made Gibsons.
Visitors can register to win prizes such as museum passes, tickets to upcoming events (three concerts are on the books for April) and a new Fender Stratocaster.
Also, "Les Paul - From Start to Finish" will be presented at various times Friday through Sunday, March 10-12. Jim Wysocki was a friend of the legendary inventor, musician and philanthropist and will lead the presentation.
Fans will be able to touch and play a few of Paul's personal guitars and see some of his earliest inventions. Admission is included in the cost of a museum ticket.
Songbirds has more than 30 Gibson Sunburst Les Paul guitars made between 1958 and 1969. These are considered the "Holy Grail" of electric guitars.
The museum has been open for about four weeks, and operations manager Monica Kinsey says it is nice to finally see the historic pieces in proper display cases.
"It's been about two years in the making, and I've seen them in storage and in their cases, but it feels great to see all of the guitars in all their glory," she says.
"It's also nice to be able to share them with people. They have so much history."
Songbirds has more than 1,700 guitars and other fretted instruments, including one-of-a-kind models and early prototypes. Collectively, they tell the history of music in the rock era. About 500 are on display at one time.
Kinsey says all of the restaurants, including Frothy Monkey, which is set to officially open Monday, March 13, will be participating. Many will have food tents on Station Street.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.