MUSKOGEE — Like many famous musicians from this state, the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame dreams big.

Two large-scale proposals — one for a massive Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and Museum expansion and the other for a tourism-based "Oklahoma Music Trail" — were announced Thursday by the center's founders in Muskogee.

Also Thursday, one famous Okie dreamer who made it big donated several items to the museum in a show of home-state support.

Checotah native Carrie Underwood donated lyric and music sheets from her hit tune "I Ain't in Checotah Anymore." Included were a framed, autographed picture and a plaque celebrating the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame's "dedication to Oklahoma's historic contributions to music."

Underwood was inducted into the Hall of Fame earlier this year.

"Oklahoma may run out of oil some day, but we'll never run out of music," said Mike Martin, a co-founding board member of the Hall of Fame and Museum and architect for the proposed projects. "Music is our No. 1 export."

The proposed long-term projects would be developed over a half decade as part of a partnership of the Oklahoma departments of Tourism and Transportation, the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and Museum, as well as public and private donors, said Max Boydstun, the Hall of Fame's board chairman.

Organizers said tourism is the third-leading industry in Oklahoma, behind the oil and gas industry and agriculture. It brings in nearly $10 billion in annual revenue, they said.

The Oklahoma Music Trail would have nearly 100 historical markers throughout the state. Each would highlight a state great, from the Flaming Lips to Rascal Flatts, from Hanson to Patti Page, from Vince Gill and Garth Brooks to Reba McIntire and Carrie Underwood.

Markers would include biographies and photos of music greats and would point travelers to other venues, museums and locations.

The project could cost about $2 million, Boydstun said.

Second — and far more ambitious — would be a $15 million expansion of the museum. Organizers want to enlarge the center from its limited 3,000 square feet to 35,000 square feet.

Added to the museum would be exhibits that span the 400-year history of music in the Sooner State, from the Plains Indians to rock act Kings of Leon and every music act and genre along the way, Martin and Boydstun said.

A 1,500-seat theater, outdoor performance areas and ever-evolving, interactive historical displays would be built around the property where the museum now stands, at 401 S. Third St. in Muskogee.

"Muskogee is the mid-way stopping point between Dallas and Branson (Mo.)," said Martin. "We want people to do more while they're here than just eat lunch," he said.