Sonic Landscape

Stand in Kentucky, and you meet America – the confluence of east and west, north and south, Kentucky is a place where people from all backgrounds meet, whether just passing through or to stay and live. The same goes for music. Rooted in faith and home, our musical traditions are as rich and diverse as the people who traverse this bluegrass land. 

In the 20^th century, South Central Kentucky became a hub for performers, venues, and audiences that continues today. Who were they? What influenced and inspired them? And why here – of all places – did music change the world? 

Sonic Landscape tells their story – for the first time.  

About the Exhibit

South Central Kentucky has been a site of musical exchange and collaboration between and across a plurality of genres and styles for decades. Based on years of oral history interviews and documentation by the Kentucky Folklife Program and WKU Folk Studies faculty and students, combined with recent research by WKU History students, Sonic Landscape frames the story in a physical exhibition, opening in 2025. Initial research for the exhibition was highlighted in a website, published by the Kentucky Folklife Program in 2023. 

The physical exhibit will feature highlights from the website as well as artifacts, immersive audiovisual stories and numerous photographs and memorabilia not yet seen – from Bill Monroe and Cousin Emmy to Nappy Roots, Cage the Elephant, Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris, and Sam Bush. Along the way, visitors will become immersed in the intimate experience of becoming a musician: the roots of musical traditions in home and church; the formal and informal spaces of musical education, including the many talents to emerge from WKU; the role of DIY and regional recording studios in recording musicians; the venues, record stores, and radios that promoted talent and the region; and the stories of how South Central Kentucky continues to be “home” for many musicians – no matter how far their musical journeys may take them. Interwoven with the spoken and sung voices of those who lived it, Sonic Landscape provides an intimate journey through our home – and the decades of songs that have transformed American music.

Join the Stage Crew

Sonic Landscape is supported by seed funding from the Bowling Green Convention & Visitors Bureau, which has been matched by additional gifts by over 70 individuals, state and local grants, and local businesses. As a minimum five year exhibition with multifaceted public programming, Sonic Landscape has appeal to nearly 60% of the United States’ population, which are located within a day’s drive of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and are drawn to visit through our partnerships with a variety of regional publications, venues, and tourism agencies. It also instills pride of place among Kentuckians – whose own families, friends, and neighbors are represented within the exhibit – and provides inspiration for the next generation.

Community support is crucial to presenting Sonic Landscape and its related programming, with an opening date of late May 2025. All supporters become members of the Sonic Stage Crew – receiving backstage passes to the making of this exhibition and its programs, including:

• Invitation to the preview party before the exhibit’s public opening.
• Monthly behind-the-scenes updates on design and installation progress.
• Monthly object story, podcast preview, or sneak peak at exhibit or program content.
• Credited name or logo on the exhibit’s website and in-exhibit Thank You wall.
• Credited name or logo on the additional program you have sponsored, if applicable.

Your gifts will ensure we provide these programs throughout South Central Kentucky.

Gifts may be made in installments, spread over 2, 3, 4, or 5 years. All gifts are tax-deductible.

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