7Chicago Tribune | Travel | Section 5 | Sunday, April 17, 2016

AnewNational BluesMuseumopened thismonth in St. Louis, tellingthe story of the bluesthrough interactive ex-hibits that emphasize thegenre’s roots andworld-wide influence.

An introductory video atthemuseumhas rockerRobert Plant of LedZeppe-lin explaining how theblues of theMississippiDelta sparked themusic oftheBeatles, Rolling Stones

and other British bands. Aquote in another exhibitfromMuddyWaters says,“The blues had a baby, andthey named it rock androll.”

TheGreatMigration ofAfrican-Americans fromthe rural South to urbancenters in theMidwest andNorth during the first halfof the 20th century alsohelped spread the blues, asthemuseum tells it. St.Louiswas one of the citieswhere someof thosemi-grants settled.

Visitors begin their tour

bywriting their own lyricson a screen and then add-ingmusical riffs on guitar,harmonica andpiano atdifferent stations as they gothrough themuseum.Theunique compositions areemailed to their creators.

In the JugBandRoom, astudio invites visitors toplay rhythm instrumentslike spoons, shakers andwashboard. A computeradds your face to a real jugbandperforming on ascreen.

The $14millionmuse-um’s 23,000 square feet

also includes an art gallery,alongwith a performancestage and full bar in a night-club setting that hosts livemusic.

Themuseum is in arefurbished downtowndepartment store buildingatWashington and Sixthstreets,walking distancefrom theGatewayArch. It’sopenTuesday-Saturday, 10a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday-Mon-day, noon-5 p.m. Admis-sion: adults, $15, seniors,$12, students and children,$10.www.nationalbluesmuseum.org

The $14 million National Blues Museum in St. Louis offersartifacts and interactive exhibits in its 23,000 square feet.

NATIONAL BLUES MUSEUM

New St. Louis museum is all about the bluesBy Beth J. HarpazAssociated Press

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Prices include taxes and feeunless otherwise noted.Deals andwebsites listedhere have been checked foravailability as of press time,but the listings are not en-dorsements.

PhilMarty is a freelancewriter.

A double-decker bus passes a field of daffodils in a park in London, where La Compagnie is offering a spring package with reduced business-class rates.

KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTHAP

Newsto useBy PhilMartyChicago Tribune