Cheap Trick Guitarist Rick Nielsen's RICK'S PICKS Exhibition Set for History's AMERICAN PICKERS Today

GrahamSpencer, the creative team for Cheap Trick guitarist/songwriter Rick Nielsen's exhibit, Rick's Picks: A Lifelong Affair With Guitars & Music, announced today that Rick Nielsen and the exhibit will be featured in an upcoming episode of HISTORY's American Pickers, premiering today, March 11, 2013.

The critically-acclaimed hit television series follows Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz as they scour the country for hidden gems in basements, garages and barns, meeting quirky characters and sharing their amazing stories with upwards of 5 million viewers each week. There is no story more amazing than Rockford-native's, Rick Nielsen, a true collector of the very first order.

Jay Graham of the Rick's Picks exhibit and Creative Director of GrahamSpencer explained, "Frank Fritz, like a lot of people who love great music, is a big fan of Cheap Trick. Naturally, when he heard about Rick's Picks, he wanted to experience it. It didn't take him long to convince picking partner Mike Wolfe that a little side trip to Burpee Museum and Rick's Picks would be worth their while. Of course, you'll have to watch the episode to see what happened."

"What happened was pretty special," said Mike Wolfe. "We're birds of a feather, Frank and Rick and me. Collecting, picking brothers in arms. We were all three bitten by the same crazy bug early on in life and it's amazing how quickly it brought us together when we went to Rick's exhibit in Rockford. That's when the picks really started flying."

"Seeing Rick's exhibit was truly mind-boggling," said Frank Fritz. "For me, as a nearly lifelong Cheap Trick fan, I was in heaven. And, then, to dig even deeper with Rick himself - well, we can't wait for the nation to see what we picked out of Rick's storage lockers. Mike and I drove away from Rockford very, very happy."

"Those guys are great," said Rick. "Frank and Mike can rummage through my collection any day."

The episode airs tonight, March 11 on HISTORY. Visit www.history.com/shows/american-pickers for local listings.

Rick's Picks will be through April 10th, 2013 at The Burpee Museum of Natural History, 737 North Main Street Rockford, IL 61103. Find more information on www.facebook.com/RicksPicksLive or follow emerging news at twitter.com/RicksPicksLive. Visit the Rick's Picks website: www.rickspickslive.com or to purchase tickets, visit www.burpee.org.