Oak Tree Opry and Pioneer Music Museum are 4 miles south of I-80, Exit-70 Call 712-762-4363 for a guided tour!

The Pioneer Music Museum is on the north side of Main Street, and the Oak Tree Opry is just across from it on the south side of the street.

About the same time Bob Everhart was planning his first old-time music festival, back in 1975, he was also becoming a collector of old-time musical instruments. He was President of the Cornhusker Country Music Club in Nebraska at the time, a non-profit organization he devoted tremendous amounts of volunteer time and devotion to. He even wrote up their Articles of Incorporation to obtain their 501(c)3 non-profit status. The famous Ogden Hotel in Council Bluffs, Iowa, was about to be torn down at the same time. They had an auction of various items, dating back to the days when Abraham Lincoln, and General Ulysses S. Grant stayed there. The hotel is long gone, much to the distress of historians in the area, but Everhart came away with several items of historical interest. He got several drapery tie-backs from the room that Abraham Lincoln stayed in, a few other knick knacks, and his most precious purchase, an early Martin guitar, that was to later become the pattern used for the famous Jimmie Rodgers model.
The guitar became the focal point of his collection. It is now one of the first items you see when you enter the Pioneer Music Museum ...AND... America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame. Everhart didn't start with this singular Hall of Fame. He started with the Mid-America Old Time Fiddler's Hall of Fame, which over the years became known as "America's Old Time Fiddler's Hall of Fame," on an even keel with the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Fiddler's Hall of Fame now contains well over 100 old fiddles on display. Both Halls of Fame are housed in the Pioneer Music Museum, a one-of-a-kind museum and historical music survival emporium.
All of the collections you see in the Pioneer Music Museum is a true representation of musical life on the Great Plains and Prairie Lands. As Everhart's collection grew, and other people became interested in what he was doing, more and more interesting old time musical pieces of historical interest came to the musuem.
Everhart set the museum up to display, and demonstrate, how the State of Iowa was affected by the various musical influences it experienced from it's beginnings. Nature's own music was first of course, from dinosaurs to birds. Quickly followed by Native Americans. Though he doesn't have many Native American musical instruments on display (he insists they be voluntarily donated, not purchased), the display he has set up demonstrates how music from fur traders, settlers, homesteaders, pioneers, and others who penetrated the State of Iowa, was manifested. He uses 'Direction' to help exemplify his theory, on how music penetrated the State from the East, the North, the South, and the West.
According to Everhart's logic, the first Anglo-Saxon music came from the East into Iowa. It came in the form of Fur-Trader music, perhaps a fiddle, more often just the human voice. It came from the fiddle of the only black man on the Lewis & Clark Expedition. It came in covered wagons as the pioneers made their way west. It came from every human being that was looking for a better way of life. Of course many of these westbound settlers stayed in Iowa. Everhart's own family were homesteaders and he proudly points to a very old photograph of a pioneer farm family posing in their front yard for the tin-type camera. In the background is a large pen full of healthy cows and pigs. The best of their farm machinery is predominately displayed behind them, along with young farm animals. The father with a big moustache and the mother in a long dress that reached the ground, with an apron on, proudly display their family. Smack dab in the middle of the photo is an old pump organ. They had to drag it out of the house, set it in the yard and gather round it, so that later generations would know one very important feature of this farm family. They had music in their home, and since it's a pump organ in the photo, it was very likely the music they had was Gospel music. And, more importantly, at least for Everhart, these first settlers came from the East, his first direction of display that settled in Iowa.
Among the many artifacts in the museum depicting music coming from the east, is a Hammer Dulcimer (the forerunner of the piano), made from the mop boards of a Pennsylvania farm house, that traveled to Iowa in a covered wagon. An old cigar box fiddle (later converted to what appears to be a mandolin like instrument) is also on display. An old-time Appalachian banjo made entirely of wood, and of course the old pump organ, this one small and portable that could be taken anywhere for Sunday morning church services.
The "East" was the first direction from which the settlers came, and they then went on to settle through-out the Great Plains and prairies. another interesting artifact in Everhart's "East" collection is the remnants of an old fiddle that he purchased at an auction in Missouri Valley, Iowa. On the inside of the fiddle are inscriptions of various repair work done on it. One in particular is of interest..... "This fiddle was repaired after a hole was shot in the side of it in Deadwood, South Dakota, during a Federal Troop action when Al Lackey owned it in 1861." Everhart is quick to point out what a 'story' this fiddle could tell as he takes visitors on a guided tour of the museum, and often asks.... "If they shot a hole in the side of this fiddle, wonder what they did to the fiddler?"
According to Everhart, the second wave of musical invasion into Iowa came from the "North." As the State became more populated, many immigrants from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia and many other northern-clime countries homesteaded and populated the northern part of Iowa. They liked the cooler climate, and the winter time conditions which reminded them of their own homelands. In this museum collection you will find a Czechoslovakian tear-drop style mandolin, a peculiarly shaped Norwegian fiddle, a Romanian Gypsy mandolin, a Polish mandolin, and all kinds of accordions and concertinas. Everhart points out that the polka and schotische music these people loved and played, is still surviving along the northern border of Iowa. "Part of the reason for this exhibit is to remind us that we don't crave to live in the past, we simply want the past to live with us," is a common quote of Everharts. He's convinced that music from the past can be a comfort, it can be entertaining, it can be a real pleasure, no matter what your station in life. "It's so different from the mechanically produced music of today. It's so unpretentious and so very real. Music from those early time periods was created for pleasure and fun. Very rarely was it created to make a profit, and that's what makes it so much more beautiful than music of today. as a matter of fact, the very reason for the existence of the NTCMA is to maintain country music as an iidentifiable American musical art form by staying within established rules of recognizable characteristics of the music, maintaining primiciples and standards, and in our case keeping it acoustic, much like it was back in the days of our settling pioneers."
Everhart is extremely proud of the museum's third music exhibition. It represents music coming from the South. One of the finest artifacts on display is a lap dulcimer dated 1864, which was left behind by an escaping slave in the Hitchcock House, one of the stops on the Underground Railroad. This historic place is only a few miles from the Pioneer Music Museum. The dulcimer was played with a turkey quill, and shape-note symbols are plainly visible on it, as well as the date. "This particular instrument was given to us by Laurier Birginal, a great old-time fiddler, and also a music collector. He was from Canada, and immigrated to the United States to run a butcher shop in Omaha, Nebraska. He became one of the our finest old-time fiddlers, and was the first inductee into "America's Old Time Fiddler's Hall of Fame." He was probably more aware of my direction with what I was collecting than I was. He often told me I would not only be a preservationist of the music I admire, I would also have a museum some day. So it has happened."
The dulcimer, an amazing piece of music history from the south is prominently displayed, along with other interesting momentos from the past, including a battered guitar once played by an old black blues man from Mississippi. Ocrinas, a flute like instrument originally made from clay, was played in groups of 30 or more in the south; small banjos used to play up-tempo music on the levees, Cajun accordions, even harmonicas from the very different kinds of music that came out of Louisiana and the deep south are on display.
Perhaps the one display that Everhart is most proud of, from the South, is a guitar that was made for an opera singer in Italy in the late 1700's. It was a gift from a truck company owner who wished to remain anonymous. The entire body of the guitar is made of bird's eye maple (a rare wood usually reserved for the finest fiddles), with mother of pearl and abalone insets and purfling. The neck head is covered in silver, with tuning pegs made of ivory. It is in very good condition considering its age. The donor asked of Everhart only one thing. If it was to be displayed, the case that accompanied it, was also to be displayed. Everhart was curious why this should be a condition. "The guitar traveled from Italy to a plantation in Alabama, which is where I obtained it. It rested in a home-made case, quite well made by the plantation owners slaves. The case is just as 'historical' as the instrument itself." You can see both the guitar and the case prominently displayed in the "South" section of the museum.
That leaves the "West." Everhart is happy to explain how music came into Iowa from the west, with the cowboys herding cattle to the largest stockyards in the world, which was Omaha, Nebraska, just across the Missouri River from Iowa. Of course their music came with them on horseback too. On display are three examples of the most popular of the 'cowboy' guitars. A Kay, a Stella, and a Harmony. You'll also find a Buck Owens red white and blue guitar, and harmonicas that the cowboys played. There's an old Mexican fiddle, and a very elaborate Mexican 12-string guitar used for playing Mariachi music. Poised on either side of the western display are huge life-size cut-outs of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Everhart is quick to point out, "Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were two very popular cowboy singers. They brought some incredibly beautiful music into our homes, and many of us still listen to it occasionally. You won't be hearing this kind of 'western' music on country radio anymore."
Once through the explanations of how music entered the State of Iowa from the four directions, Everhart likes to show a special display of stringed musical instruments that were invented in the United States, but never became very popular. the "ukelin" for example, was sold door to door in the 20's and 30's by unscrupulous sales people who had learned to play at least one song effectively. They unloaded the instruments on rural folks who thought the songs they played were pretty, but after long trial and tribulation trying to duplicate the 'beauty' of the salesman's demonstrations, and failing miserably, the instrument went promptly to the attic.
Everhart points out other interesting harp like instruments and zithers, one in particular called the "Great North American Magical Music Machine," which was played by sliding a 'picking' board back and forth across the strings. According to Everhart, "the picking board made more noise than the strings did."
One instrument Everhart likes to demonstrate himself is the Tremoloa. "I've only seen one other in a museum, and that was in Roy Acuff's Museum in Nashville. It's extremely difficult to describe, it has one string down the right side of the instrument, plucked with a plectrum which is attached to a folding steel bar apparatus that moves up and down the single string. On the left side of the instrument are various sets of four strings in accompanying chords. It's not so difficult to play actually, and it's quite pretty if it's in good tune and played well."
Everhart also has a huge collection of 78rpm records on display in the musuem. Most of them are what were once termed 'race' music or 'hillbilly' music. Some are even before the time of ASCAP licensing. According to Everhart, "I'd go to auctions and buy huge boxes of 78rpm records. When I got them home and sorted them, I was surprised to see the Bing Crosby and Perry Como records in such good shape, but when I would run across a Roy Acuff or Eddy Arnold record, they were nearly worn out from being played so much." You can still purchase a 78rpm souvenir record at the musuem, but they are mostly Bing Crosby and Perry Como 78s.
Everhart also has a collection of several small rare 78rpm records about the size of a CD today. The machine that played them had a small 'cam' that allowed the machine to maintain its speed through the playing. Busy Bee Records did quite well and then they had a minor radio hit with "Who Threw The Overalls In Mrs. Murphy's Chowder?" When that happened, it was bought out and put out of business by a bigger company.
Everhart hopes to keep collecting items for the musuem, and welcomes musical instrument additions to the overall collection. He makes note of the donor, and ther name is displayed and a proper tax deduction price is agreed upon.
The museum is 'free' to the general public, though a small donation box is available when you depart. The money needed for the continued operation and upkeep of the museum, and Halls of Fame, comes from an annual festival the NTCMA sponsors (the full week before Labor Day every year) in conjunction with the Pioneer Ag Expo, a celebration of America's rural lifestyle. The festival, like the musuem, is concerned with the survival of America's great rural musical heritage. According to Everhart, "Commercial music today has no concern for music from the past. It seems ignorant to me to destroy the past to make money today, but thats what we do."
The museum and it's two Halls of Fame is located in the small rural village of Anita, Iowa (Exit 70 from I-80), and is always open by appointment free of charge. Simply call 712-762-4363 for a guided tour. It is also open free of charge during all performances at the Oak Tree Opry, just across the street from the museum.
The festival that supports the Museum and the two Halls of Fame, is known as the "National Old Time Country & Bluegrass Music Festival & Contest." It has been moved to LeMars, Iowa, now in it's 33rd year, and boasts ten sound stages of old-time acoustic music for seven straight days. It has become an international oasis of music that the participants are happy to proclaim is "acoustic music which is health food for the ears."
All inductions into America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame take place annually during the festival. The inductees must stand before the membership of the NTCMA and accept the members standing ovation of appreciation for their contributions to the music they so love and respect.
The items on display in the Pioneer Music Museum, especially America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame, can sometimes stagger the imagination of true-blue country music lovers. The original Jimmie Rodgers Martin guitar; Johnny Cash's harmonicas; June Carter Cash's autoharp finger picks; Patsy Montana's Fender guitar; one of Bob Will's fiddles; a Bradley Kincaid Hound Dog guitar and songbook; the suit Bill Monroe wore on his last appearance on the Grand Ole Opry; Jimmy Martin's boyhood guitar; Roy Acuff's powder blue performance jacket; Marvin Rainwater's autographed guitar; Billy Byrd's lap steel he played with Ernest Tubb; Tom Swatzell's Dobro; Charlie Louvin's Harmony guitar and performance suit; Albert Brumley's necktie and tie-tack; Spade Cooley's rhythm guitarist's Gretsch guitar; Johnny Western's guitar and suit from "Have Gun Will Travel"; the recording machine Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King wrote the "Tennessee Waltz" on; Claude Gray's Decca guitar; Woody Guthrie's guitar (a special gift from his widow Marjorie Guthrie); Tommy Overstreet's practice guitar; Freddy Hart's gold record of "Easy Lovin"; Terry Smith's boots and original music "Far Side Banks of Jordan"; Don Edward's autographed cowboy guitar; Joe Babcock's Hee Haw shirt; George Hamilton IV autographed guitar; Rhonda Vincent's early autographed mandolin; Margo Smith's performance suit; Jimmy C Newman's little Cajun guitar; Ernie Ashworth's autographed guitar; Jack Greene's autographed guitar; and much much more.
More information on the two Halls of Fame, the Pioneer Music Museum, and the Oak Tree Opry, and the annual fund-raising festival can be obtained by writing P O Box 492, Anita, Iowa, 50020, or by calling 712-762-4363. ...OR by clicking "LeMars Music Festival" on this website.