Hometown music continues to be celebrated in Salem, where the Dent County Music Hall of Fame has found a new home in one of the town’s favorite restaurants. The portraits of the local musicians making up the collection are now proudly displayed on a wall of Main Street Café. Admission into the hall of fame is also now reopen, welcoming a new generation to be recognized.
“We've had a lot of people happy to see it,” says Michelle Nelson, Main Street Café’s owner. “There's a lot of people that are in the hall of fame who are no longer with us, and their families are very happy to see them back up.”
The Dent County Music Hall of Fame was founded by Freddie Whitaker Jr. and was originally located at the Lucky Me store on Fourth Street. Whitaker himself found success as a musician, playing drums for the Tune Tossers band, whose success stretched all to Nashville. Later, as organizer of the Midnight Madness music festival in Salem, Whitaker announced each new member of the Dent County Music Hall of Fame during the event. Among the members is Nelson’s stepfather, Eugene Southards, who made up the group Ozark Country Band with fellow hall of famer Leland Ellerman.
“Freddie initiated both of them into the hall of fame,” Nelson says. “They each played music in Dent County since they were teenagers.”
When Lucky Me’s time in business ended, Whitaker reached out to Main Street Café to plan for a new home for the hall of fame but then passed away in November 2024 before the move was completed. For a time, the portraits making up hall of fame were left in the care of Whitaker’s mother, Betty Whitaker.
“He did it all up until he was so sick he couldn't do it anymore, and he had more people he intended to put in the hall of fame, but he didn't get to,” Betty Whitaker says. “We wanted to keep it going because it meant so much to Freddie, and it’s kind of like a tribute to him, too. He was never one to step out and brag on himself. I remember he played the drums, and we were playing somewhere, and people started wanting him to play ‘Wipe Out.’ He said, ‘Oh, mama, I don't want to do that.’ I said, ‘Well, you can, why don't you?’ He said, ‘I don't want to show out.’ But, he played ‘Wipe Out’ and after that, he had to play it all the time. We’d go somewhere, and they'd start yelling for it.”
Nelson says she wants to help the hall of fame’s mission to live on and invites more local musicians to be recognized.
“If there's somebody in your family that is from Salem, and they've done great with music, bring me a picture and let’s post them,” Nelson says. “If they’re still with us, we can also have them sign the picture and they can come in and sign the guitar.”
Beyond saving the Dent County Music Hall of Fame itself, Nelson says she hopes keeping it visible will inspire new generations to carry on the musical heritage of Salem and its surrounding area.
“We've got so much talent that comes from Dent County that you absolutely just would not think about,” Nelson says. “So many kids who come from our area and think there's nothing here. Well, we have a lot of good talent that's come from here, and kids need to know just because we're a small town does not mean you can't be talented.”
Betty Whitaker also shares some wisdom her son passed down to the aspiring musicians.
“He had lots of people come in the store” she remembers. “They would come and say, ‘Freddie, how do we get to Nashville?’ He always said, ‘Practice, Practice, Practice.’ That's what he told them every time.”
