ABSTRACT
Where music and musicians have travelled, tourists often travel too, visiting the various traces left behind. This chapter visits theoretical debates on popular music tourism and heritage through two differing case studies. First, the chapter traces the fabrication of popular music heritage in Winslow, Arizona. Briefly mentioned in the lyrics of the Eagles’ song ‘Take it easy’ (1972), Winslow annually attracts over 100 000 people who visit a statue, mural and festival at the ‘Standin’ on a Corner Park’, even though the Eagles never went there. Second, the chapter considers official, authorised and tangible heritage as tourist attractions by spotlighting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Now an anchor in the cultural and economic regeneration of the city, the chapter identifies popular music heritage discourses that both celebrate and mask the story of Cleveland’s claim to serve as the site of the Rock Hall. In both cases, music tourism can help conceptualise music heritage, and, vice versa, music heritage allows purchase on debates about music tourism.
