During the Great Depression, the southern California town attracted a mass migration of Dust Bowl refugees, including the families of Owens and Haggard. The exhibit shows how Owens and Haggard gave country music a harder, rockabilly edge in the nightclub culture of Bakersfield and crafted songs that were tailor-made for radio.

The exhibit will also focus on the Bakersfield music businesses that evolved in the 1960s, and the city’s musical architects, including Bill Woods and Capitol Records producer Ken Nelson.

The exhibit will open in March 2012 and run through December 2013.