Many Europeans likely know more about Mississippi’s rich musical history than some of the state’s own residents.

They flock to the state’s many museums and Blues Trail sites in Indianola, Hazlehurst, Clarksdale and other towns and back-road intersections across the state. They likely know that Mississippi is not only the birthplace of the blues, but also rock ‘n’ roll and country.  Most Mississippi’s don’t.

But Brookhaven’s Shaw Furlow is on a mission to change that. Furlow took over as executive director of the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame in July. He replaced Jim Brewer of Hazlehurst, who coined the phrase “Mississippi: Birthplace of America’s Music” that shows up on license plates and welcome signs.

The Hall of Fame has a two-fold purpose: to showcase successful Mississippi musicians and to encourage public interest in — and education about — the state’s music heritage.

“We’re the first to record the blues artists. The blues started at Dockery Farms in Mississippi,” Furlow said at a meeting of the Brookhaven Servitium Club recently. “On Friday nights, they got together … they would go build a shack and that’s how juke joints got started. They were the first blues artists ever recorded.”

Those early blues musicians were recorded by Alan Lomax with the Library of Congress.

The music spread along the railroad between Mississippi and Illinois, ending up in Chicago. In the bigger crowds of Chicago’s bars, musicians needed to electrify their guitars to be heard over the noise, and the blues as we recognize it was born.

Country music was birthed by Jimmie Rogers of Meridian. His original Martin guitar is kept in a museum in Meridian dedicated to Rogers.

While Elvis Presley, a Mississippian, is typically associated with the genesis of rock ‘n’ roll, another Mississippian recorded the first rock ‘n’ roll song. Clarksdale native Ike Turner recorded “Rocket 88” in 1951.

“Tennessee will tell you that they lead the nation in recording, and they might, but the people they were recording were all from Mississippi,” Furlow said. “That’s the story I’m trying to get out and tell people today.”

His work at the Hall of Fame gives him the opportunity to do just that. The organization has three museums — one of those is in Hazlehurst.

“It is based basically on Robert and Tommy Johnson,” he said about the Hazlehurst museum.  Robert Johnson is known as the king of the Delta Blues, and according to legend sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the ability to play guitar. It turns out, he practiced the guitar while sitting on tombstones late at night. But Johnson embraced the legend and helped further it.

It’s one of the many stories that Furlow tells when he speaks to groups about the state’s musical heritage. For more stories or information about the Hall of Fame, visit www.msmusic.org.