NAMM’s Museum of Making Music and The 2022 NAMM Show to Welcome “Les Paul Thru the Lens”

NAMM’s Museum of Making Music and The NAMM Show (June 3-5) are pleased to welcome “Les Paul Thru the Lens,” an exclusive traveling gallery of photos highlighting the life and career of music industry icon, inventor, and musician Les Paul.

Presented by the Les Paul Foundation, whose mission includes honoring and sharing the life, spirit, and legacy of Les Paul, the exhibition features twenty-four black and white photographs chronicling Les’ life, from his early childhood to his later career. It includes rare personal family photos, Les behind the scenes, famous musicians, and photos of the man with a larger-than-life sense of humor and an amazing curiosity for innovation.

“Les was an icon. His inventions paved the way for musicians all over the globe. His curiosity gave us some of the most important inventions in the music industry which are still used today. Since we want to celebrate him all year long, we created the ‘Les Paul Thru the Lens’ gallery exhibit. Guests will have the opportunity to find out more about Les through beautifully displayed photographs depicting important people and moments in his life. We hope you love it as much as we do,” shares Michael Braunstein, Executive Director of the Les Paul Foundation.

From Les’ time inventing in his famous Hollywood garage studio to his popular reality TV show and appearances with Mary Ford, the exhibit provides fans with the opportunity to see Les like never before. An interview with Les from 2001, part of NAMM’s Oral History program, will play in the gallery so that visitors can hear about Les’ life in his own words.

Beginning April 12, NAMM’s Museum of Making Music will host the exhibit. The Museum of Making Music is the only museum of its kind in the world and welcomes visitors from near and far on a journey of musical exploration and discovery as told through instruments, artifacts, and multimedia displays featuring video stories, photographs, performance clips, and interviews from the instrument creators, artists, and industry innovators.

The Museum of Making Music is located at 5790 Armada Drive in Carlsbad, California and open Tuesday-Sunday from 10:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. www.museumofmakingmusic.org

From June 3 - 5, 2022, The NAMM Show, the annual gathering of the music products, pro audio, and entertainment technology industry, will welcome the exhibit to the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The exhibit will be open to all attendees during show hours and will be located inside the Member Center. Registration for The NAMM Show is now open at https://registration.namm.org

Fans will also have the chance to follow along as the exhibit tours the country via the Les Paul Foundation’s social media channels with weekly updates and anecdotes from both locations.

Les Paul Thru the Lens, Touring Gallery– Photo Exhibit at The Museum of Making Music and The NAMM Show

April 12 – June 1, 2022 – NAMM’s Museum of Making Music, Carlsbad, California www.museumofmakingmusic.org

June 3 – 5, 2022 – The NAMM Show, Anaheim, California www.namm.org

About the Museum of Making Music

The Museum of Making Music first opened to the public in March of 2000 to celebrate the centennial of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) as an industry association and to provide an historical context of making music. Since that time, the MoMM has welcomed visitors from near and far and presents an ongoing vibrant and varied schedule of exhibitions, concerts, and educational programs throughout the year. Each year, the MoMM hosted thousands of school-aged children, many from Title I schools, for tours that provided educational enrichment. In 2019, the MoMM established a music program with San Pasqual Academy to provide the school's foster youth with individualized lessons and opportunities to explore the larger world of music-making and careers in the industry. North Coast Strings and New Horizons Band programs, musical ensembles designed to be an entry point for adults, are also hosted and organized by the museum. The MoMM galas have presented notable names, including Graham Nash and Mavis Staples, and its Live@MoMM concert series brings musical masters from around the globe as well as our backyard to perform in an intimate listening environment. www.museumofmakingmusic.org