Clovis Music Festival - Petty Studios & Museum

Norman and Vi Petty Rock & Roll Museum

Opened in September 2008, the Norman and Vi Petty Rock & Roll Museum celebrates the achievements of record producer Norman Petty. The museum features unique items from his life and times. The museum is located at the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce, 105 E. Grand Ave. The museum hours are 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission to the museum is $5 per person. Check back for information about festival hours.

The Norman Petty Studios

Recently dubbed as New Mexico's ‘best kept secret,' the Norman Petty 7th Street studio located at 1313 West 7th is responsible for the "Clovis Sound," made popular by such greats as Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison who recorded at the studio. The original equipment is still in the studio, and a visit will take you back to the grand days of Rock ‘n' Roll.

The Norman Petty Trio consisted of Norman and Vi Petty and a young guitar player named Jack Vaughn. The Trio soon became one of America's top vocal and instrumental groups, and with songs like ‘Mood Indigo,' the trio soared into the pages of music history. Petty's “golden ears” helped dozens of popular country, rock, and pop musicians who recorded at the Norman Petty Studios to become successful. A few of these great artists were Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Roy Orbison, Buddy Knox, Waylon Jennings, Sonny West, Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, Charlie Phillips, Jimmy Bowen, Johnny Duncan, Carolyn Hester, Chita Rivera and many others.

Inside the studio, the large dangling microphones, a vintage control board with big round knobs, the clocks on the walls, the Coke machine, and the furnishings look much as they did in the late 1950s when Buddy Holly recorded his albums. In 2007, the State of New Mexico recognized the studio with a NM Scenic Historic Marker. It is the first completed roadside marker to commemorate the Rock ‘n' Roll culture that followed World War II. Tours are held during the festival, check back for more details.