Iowa’s Music-History Mashup
Is it a hootenanny? A jam session or a hoedown? Whatever you call it, Iowa’s musical history is an eclectic mix of sites and sounds.
From Antonin Dvorak’s visit to Spillville in 1893 to Slipknot’s recent concerts in Des Moines, Iowa’s hills have always been alive with the sound of music. Think of Bix Beiderbecke in Davenport, Glenn Miller in Clarinda, Meredith Willson in Mason City and the Everly Brothers in Shenandoah. Think of Andy Williams in Wall Lake and Greg Brown in Fairfield. All in all, it’s quite a playlist.
“It’s a history worth preserving, both the musical stories and the historic properties where that music was created and performed,” said Elizabeth Gales, a Twin Cities historian who will discuss music history during the Preserve Iowa Summit online June 4–6.
Music “is a good way to connect with history,” she said. “The stories of music history can help preservationists and communities make a compelling case to save historic properties.”
During the summit — presented by the city of Dubuque and the State Historic Preservation Office, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs — Gales and architectural historian Stephanie Rouse will talk about they used the Twin Cities’ music history to help make the case for historic preservation.
With support from the National Park Service, the duo documented local musicians, record stores, recording studios and performance venues. They chronicled how the Twin Cities’ music scene evolved 1850s through the early 2000s, from Bob Dylan to the Suicide Commandos to The Replacements and Prince.
“We learned a lot of lessons,” Rouse said, “and everybody had a fun and different story.”
The researchers plotted many of those stories on a massive map of historic hot spots, some that are still standing and others that have been torn down.
Now they’re encouraging others to take on similar projects in their own cities and towns. Here in Iowa, Gales points to the successful preservation of Clear Lake’s Surf Ballroom and the creation of Mason City’s Music Man Square as examples of music history that attract visitors from far and wide. She also praised Walnut, where the National Traditional Country Music Association produces radio and television programs and operates the Walnut Country Opera House.
Gales also cited the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame in Arnolds Park and Stanwood’s former Hi-Way Gardens, which hosted the likes of Guy Lombardo, Lawrence Welk, Jerry Lee Lewis and Conway Twitty. Her own father had musical memories from his early years in Waterloo.
“My dad saw The Beach Boys at the Cattle Congress,” she said, “and there’s Electric Park and the Music Corner, where I bought all my sheet music and took lessons.”
The biggest challenge for music historians, she said, is gathering information and stories about musicians and locations that no longer exist. But there are new ways to collect information online.
“Communities that are interested in doing this kind of research but don’t have that great base of knowledge can do some public outreach,” Gales said. “They’ll probably discover a lot of hidden treasures that people are just waiting to share.”
— Jeff Morgan, Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
