Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame
What is the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame?
With the assistance of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, The Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame (RIMHOF) was created as a non-profit to celebrate, honor, and preserve the legacy of Rhode Island musicians, educators and industry professional who have made significant contributions to the national and Rhode Island music scene. RIMHOF will carry out its mission through the annual election of inductees, creation of a museum of artist- and music-related exhibits honoring inductees and commemorating the state’s musical legacy, and an online music archive of information about, and audio recordings by, those involved in Rhode Island’s past and present music scene. In addition, RIMHOF is committed to continuing that legacy by developing programs and services aimed at promoting and strengthening Rhode Island’s current and future music scene and ensuring that music continues to play an important role in the lives of all Rhode Islanders.
How was RIMHOF Created?
The Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame is the result of a merging of two separate Hall of Fame initiatives. The first involved inclusion of a Hall of Fame with the Rhode Island Popular Music Archive, a project designed to preserve, promote and celebrate Rhode Island’s great musical legacy through the creation of a musical archive to include information, recordings, memorabilia and ephemera from musicians, composers, and producers, in addition to presenting retrospective concerts. Three members were elected to this Hall of Fame since 2010. The second effort, begun in 2011, involved creation of a more traditional Music Hall of Fame that would encompass all RI music and participants in the state’s music industry, and include the building of an actual museum in Pawtucket.
In 2006, Mederick “Rick” Bellaire, Vice Chair of the newly formed Hall, organized the RI Popular Music Archive, with the initial effort culminating in a retrospective concert honoring Ken Lyon held at The Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket in April. A DVD release of the concert footage and a “Best Of” compilation CD gathering together Mr. Lyon’s most important out-of-print recordings were then released. In 2009, the Archive began organizing discographies and songographies of the output of Rhode Island musicians and assigning projects to the Archive volunteers. Importantly, the Archive accepted the donation of the personal archives of Anders & Poncia, two of the most successful musicians in Rhode Island history. This material included demo recordings, hand-written lyrics, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia. At this time, the Rhode Island Popular Music Archive website began posting content on the internet.
In 2010, the Popular Music Archive gained the use of the name “The RI Popular Music Hall Of Fame” by combining their resources with those of earlier efforts spearheaded by Al Gomes and Bob Giusti. The newly merged Hall of Fame and Popular Music Archive held a retrospective concert honoring the achievements of Anders & Poncia, during which Anders and Poncia became the first inductees into the Hall Of Fame in a ceremony conducted by John Cafferty of The Beaver Brown Band.
Mid 2011, The Hall and Archive became aware of a group of individuals, led by Bob Billington of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, Dave Goldstein, Rich Lupo, Josh Cournoyer, Russell Gusetti, Jonathan Flynn and Mike Gadzacko of Hope Artiste Village, to build a RI Music Hall of Fame in Pawtucket and a more traditional music Hall of Fame, encompassing all genres of music and participants in the state’s music industry. Things coalesced quickly and it was agreed to merge all efforts and entities into an incorporated Hall of Fame with a physical museum component and an on-line web based archive.
The three artists incorporated into the original Hall of Fame were inducted into the new Hall as part of the first induction class in 2012.
