Record store owners are as much archivists as they are business owners, so it's fitting that one of Detroit's very own,
Brad Hales of People's Records, is about to open a museum. The Michigan Audio Heritage Society Museum, or MAHS Museum, will debut this weekend. Located in a formerly unused room of the
coffee shop/music venue/art gallery/community space Trinosophes, MAHS occupies its own storefront at 1464 Gratiot Ave.
Hales has been working on collecting material for the museum for the past 11 years. As he accumulated records for his store, Hales began to amass a sizable collection of local music ephemera, like historic posters and promotional materials. With the help of John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's
Knight Arts Challenge and
Eastern Market Corporation, Hales is ready to open his museum.
Hales hopes MAHS will bring some much deserved attention to Michigan's musical legacy. While plenty of well-known music has come out of Michigan, Hales says that there's still so much that we don't even know about as Michiganders. He often finds himself learning about Michigan music from people who aren't even from here -- sometimes people on the other side of the world.
"There's a great deal of stuff that the rest of the world looks to us for that we might not even appreciate or know about ourselves," says Hales.
Hales is also cultivating a Detroit- and Michigan-centric Internet radio program,
available to stream and download. The program will often co-incide with the rotating exhibits at the museum.
The MAHS museum is free and will be accessible during Trinosophes brunch and performances. A grand opening is being celebrated by weekend performances from legendary Detroit jazz group Vibes From The Tribe, tickets for which are available at Trinosophes. The museum itself will be open 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., Friday, September 26, and Saturday, September 27.
Source: Brad Hales, owner of People's Records, Michigan Audio Heritage Society Museum
Writer: MJ Galbraith
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