The highly anticipated museum dedicated to Delta blues master Robert Johnson opened May 5 in Crystal Spring, Mississippi. Johnson’s grandson, Steve Johnson, presided over the opening ceremonies for the Robert Johnson Blues Museum and spoke of the important role the facility will have in honoring the blues, his grandfather’s legacy, and the revitalization of Copiah County, Mississippi. Johnson is currently vice-president and chief operating officer of the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation, which was established by the family and heirs of the blues guitarist, who died in 1938.

Music Rising, a campaign launched to replace the lost or destroyed instruments of the musicians affected by the Gulf Region hurricanes, received the Gold Cause Marketing Halo Award for Best Transactional Campaign at the fourth annual Cause Marketing Forum conference on Tuesday, June 13 in New York.

Over 1,500 runners participated in the 10th annual Gibson/Baldwin Piano 5K Run-Walk, which took place on June 9. This year’s winner was Steven Hill, who accepted the first- place award from Olympic runner Jeff Galloway.

“Being a musician all these years and knowing what a guitar meant to me as a kid, I started asking a lot of my musician friends for their old guitars that were sitting in the corner collecting dust,” says Ray Nelson about his inspiration to start Guitars Not Guns, a youth mentoring program that puts musical instruments into the hands of children in foster care.

Carol Penterman, Executive Director of Nashville Opera, announced that Baldwin Piano has been named the official piano of Nashville Opera.

Campaign to Replace Lost or Destroyed Instruments to Musicians of the Gulf Region Continues to Bring Back the Music and Restore Lives