Exhibit gives history of pop music

By Megan Finnerty
Features Editor

The Electric Bus in Ross Ade Stadium's parking lot is a crash course in popular music.

It's coffee with Kurt Cobain. It’s history class with Queen Latifah.

The bus, which will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Friday, offers students the chance to explore the role of song in society and some of the greatest songwriters of the last century.

The bus is a camp of hi-tech tents, creating a 10,000 square foot roving museum with three main exhibit areas.

The bus is an extension of the Experience Music Project in Seattle, a museum which aims to educate, entertain and enlighten visitors about the role of popular music in their lives, in society and in America's history.

Kenny Deranleau, the bus' tour manager, had been managing rock tours for more than 20 years when he decided to become part of the Experience Music Project's mission.

"People don't see that just because it doesn't end up on WAZY, that doesn't mean they're not a musician," he said. "Song writing is a discovery process and so is this experience. We want people to know that they don't have to be Eddie Van Halen to play a song or to appreciate music."

The bus offers students a self-guided tour, but the music-obsessed staff is always around to explain an exhibit or offer further insight into a display.

Interactive video-displays offer visitors the chance to peruse hundreds of hours of video and audio clips; there's so much information that even the guides haven't seen everything.

Whole libraries of thorough information are at students' fingertips, literally. If while reading Jimi Hendrix's handwritten lyrics to "Waterfalls," the writing becomes too hard to decipher, simply drag a finger down the screen and the words appear neatly typed.

The Origins and Impacts section allows visitors to listen to the evolution of a song through generations of interpretation. Visitors' ears are constantly filled with an array of songs, depending on the artist being featured in the display.

Sarah McLachlan explains what she was thinking when she wrote "Possession," and in another display Grace Slick will get personal about why she can't write love songs.

The Artists and Artifacts section gives visitors a look at instruments, handwritten lyrics and artifacts from heavies such as Bob Dylan, Kurt Cobain and Carole King.

In a glass case, shards of one of Cobain's smashed guitars stands next to a knit cap he wore during shows.

Finally, the Song Lab lets people sing lead on "Crazy on You" by Heart or remix "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics.

"This is cool," said Brad Beach, a junior in the Schools of Engineering who plays guitar. "I grew up with music and I think it is something everyone should have in their life and this helps people with that."

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Features editor:
Megan Finnerty

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