The Central Pennsylvania Music Hall of Fame is a multi-room museum of autographed albums, guitars, and so much more. Brandon Valentine, Executive Director and Founder of the Central Pa Music Hall of Fame, opened the museum in 2023.
“You’ll see the plaques on the walls with pictures of the artists, you know, their summaries of their accomplishments, their resumes, if you will, of the members who are currently in the Hall of Fame, of which there are 35 members already in the Hall of Fame from 2019 to current voted in. And then, you know, in the other rooms, there's a lot of autographed guitars…We have guitars from Bret Michaels from Mechanicsburg, as well as Taylor Swift from Wyomissing here.”
There are a few things that go into consideration when an artist is nominated into a class hall of fame. The class is measured by album sales, Grammy nominations, and gold/ platinum records.
“There's a couple of big names from our area, you know, who have already been inducted. Bret Michaels live, your hailstorm breaking, Benjamin and so forth. This year, we're inducting Grammy nominees, August Burns Red from the Lancaster area. So, a lot of those, you know, have accomplished big things in the more recent past, and done large tours. But then you look, and you look at some of the other acts. For example, Pentagon, you know, they did a lot of original. Music at the start of their career, they toured all over. Did a lot of the casino scenes and were kind of a regional band, you know, up and down the East Coast. But they've been around for over 50 years, so a lot of different factors go into play. But ultimately, we're trying to recognize the best of the best from all time in our area. And that's really what it boils down to.”
The Central Pa Music Hall of Fame is located at 1215 W End Ave, Hummelstown Pa, 17036. You can take a FREE self-guided tour from 7am-3pm.