The display includes several items from Swift’s career representing her origins in country music
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has updated the display in its Taylor Swift Education Center with several new artifacts from Swift’s early career. Items on display include key musical instruments used by Swift that illustrate her origins in country music, as well as educate audiences on the musical traditions of the genre. Beginning today (Fri, Apr 19th), these objects will be on view for museum visitors through spring 2025 and are accessible with general museum admission.
Swift got her professional music start in country music, writing songs and recording in Nashville as a teenager. She released her first album, titled Taylor Swift, in 2006 when she was 16. On her first four albums (released between 2006 and 2012), Swift’s sound often included traditional country music instruments, such as acoustic guitars, banjos, dobros, fiddles, and mandolins – sometimes playing acoustic guitar or banjo herself on the tracks. More recently, her Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour became the highest-earning concert tour ever in 2023, and she has released The Tortured Poets Department double album today.
Swift’s instruments on display correlate with items and themes found in Thomas Hart Benton’s iconic painting The Sources of Country Music located in the museum’s Hall of Fame Rotunda, depicting the musical and cultural roots of country music. Commissioned in 1973 by the museum, the six-foot by ten-foot mural is a synthesis of the artist, country music subject matter and the museum’s educational mission.
Artifacts now on display include The custom-built Taylor PSGA Koa guitar with Swift’s name inlaid in mother-of-pearl on the fingerboard she played during her acoustic set on The Red Tour (2013–2014); The Deering Boston B6 six-string acoustic-electric banjo Swift played when she performed her song “Mean” at the Grammy Awards in 2012. The song won Grammys for Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song. She drew “13” on the banjo head and inscribed it with handwritten lyrics to “Mean” along with drawings of clouds and stars; The BCBG Max Azria silk handkerchief dress, accented with sequins, and BCBGirls metallic bronze-colored boots with decorative stitching Swift wore in 2006 at both the ACM Awards and when she performed at the CMA Music Festival; and a special artwork commemorating the 2023 U.S. leg of Swift’s 2023 “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” incorporating friendship bracelets that Swift received from fans.
An interactive display inviting visitors to create different pitches with a dulcimer will also be available.
The Taylor Swift Education Center is located within the museum’s galleries. The two-story, 7,500-square-foot center opened in 2013 and was made possible through a generous donation from Swift to the museum’s capital campaign, which doubled the size of the nonprofit cultural organization. The education center includes classrooms, youth art installations, interactive galleries and learning labs with resources to facilitate distance learning and songwriting programs. In 2023, more than 236,000 people were served through 1,275 virtual and educational programs offered by the museum — many of the onsite programs originated in the Taylor Swift Education Center.
In support of the opening, the museum will invite museum visitors to create their very own friendship bracelet or key chain from 11 am until noon and 1-3 pm in the Taylor Swift Education Center today.
Tennessee children ages 18 and under from Cheatham, Davidson, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, and Wilson counties receive free museum admission as part of Community Counts: Museum Admission Program for Locals. Up to two accompanying adults receive 25% off admission. Proof of residency is required.
