Music of East Tennessee

The Music of East Tennessee has a rich history, and played a major role in the development of modern country and bluegrass music.[1][2][3][4] Bristol, known as "the birthplace of country music",[5][6] (and home of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum),[7][8] and Johnson City, notable for the Johnson City recording sessions, are both towns in the Tri-Cities region of East Tennessee. The music of East Tennessee is defined by country, gospel, and bluegrass artists, and has roots in Appalachian folk music.

History

Pioneers in the Great Smoky Mountains
The Great Smoky Mountains near Gatlinburg, Tennessee
The Peter Brickey House, a pioneer home in Wears Valley, in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee

Pioneer settlers of the Great Smoky Mountains created old-time music ballads, before their relocation, by the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.[9][10] To help celebrate this heritage, Townsend, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and other locations in the Great Smoky Mountains, host annual festivals, some of which feature folk and bluegrass music.[11] The Great Smoky Mountains Association also promotes events with mountain music, and has released several award-winning albums, including: Old-Time Smoky Mountain Music, Old-Time Bluegrass from the Great Smoky Mountains, On Top of Old Smoky, and Big Bend Killing.[12][13] The Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, in Townsend, also helps to preserve this pioneer cultural history. In addition, the Museum of Appalachia, in Norris, hosts occasional folk music performances.

Mountain City Fiddlers Convention
Main article: Mountain City Fiddlers Convention

In May 1925, the now-legendary Fiddlers' Convention was held in Mountain City. Pioneering fiddler G. B. Grayson won first prize for his rendering of the folk song, "Cumberland Gap", besting rivals Ambrose G. "Uncle Am" Stuart, Charlie Bowman, and Fiddlin' John Carson.[14][15][16]

Cumberland Gap

The song was named for Cumberland Gap, a narrow pass through the Cumberland Mountains, which was explored by Daniel Boone in the 1770s, as he blazed the Wilderness Road. In recognition of this heritage, the town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, hosts the monthly "Cumberland Mountain Music Show", with live gospel, bluegrass, and country music.[17]

Laurel Bloomery festival

To commemorate the Mountain City Fiddlers' Convention, the nearby community of Laurel Bloomery hosts the annual Old Time Fiddler's Convention. The event is held every summer, at the town's Old Mill Music Park. Area musicians travel to attend this festival, which features old-time folk and bluegrass music.[18][19]

Bristol sessions
Main article: Bristol sessions

The Bristol recording sessions, held in 1927, have been called by some the "Big Bang" of modern country music.[20] They helped launch the careers of Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, among others. In 1998, the U.S. Congress formally recognized Bristol as the "Birthplace of Country Music",[21] and the Birthplace of Country Music Museum opened in 2014.

Johnson City sessions
Main article: Johnson City sessions

Though less-known than the Bristol sessions, the Johnson City sessions, of 1928 and 1929, also played a significant role in helping to popularize country and bluegrass music. Some recordings from the Johnson City sessions influenced such later musicians as Bob Dylan and Doc Watson.[22][23]

Knoxville sessions

In 1929 and 1930, a series of recording sessions was held in Knoxville. Some historians say that these, also, influenced early country music. The sessions are documented at the East Tennessee Historical Society's East Tennessee History Center, which is also located in Knoxville.[24][25]

The Oak Ridge Boys
Main article: The Oak Ridge Boys

The Oak Ridge Boys, of Oak Ridge, are one the oldest and best-known musical acts from East Tennessee. Since the 1940s, they have sung country and southern gospel music hits.[26]

Dolly Parton and Dollywood
Main article: Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton, from Sevierville, is a country and gospel music legend. Her theme park, Dollywood (located in nearby Pigeon Forge), features live music performances, and is home to the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame. Parton's western-themed Dixie Stampede, a dinner theater restaurant (also in Pigeon Forge), has daily shows as well.

Country Tonite Theater

The Country Tonite Theater, in Pigeon Forge, has operated since 1996. Its award-winning shows have included performers such as Loretta Lynn, Brenda Lee, and The Bellamy Brothers.[27][28]

Songs inspired by East Tennessee
Rocky Top, part of the larger Thunderhead Mountain, near Gatlinburg

Places in East Tennessee have been the inspiration for many songs. Perhaps the most well-known is Rocky Top. Released by the Osbourne Brothers in 1967, it is one of the ten state songs of Tennessee.[29] Though often performed at Tennessee Volunteers football games, it is not the official fight song of the University of Tennessee (Down the Field). In addition, Rocky Top, Tennessee is now a town, northwest of Knoxville, which changed its name from Lake City in 2014.

Ronnie Milsap's 1980 song, Smoky Mountain Rain, is also one of Tennessee's state songs. Dolly Parton's hit, My Tennessee Mountain Home, served as the centerpiece of her 1973 album, My Tennessee Mountain Home. Parton also reminisced on her rural childhood in her 1984 song, Tennessee Homesick Blues.

East Tennessee Blues, written in 1926 by Charlie Bowman, (from Gray), continues to be a popular bluegrass song.

Please Come to Boston, recorded and written in 1974 by Dave Loggins, has been covered by many artists, including David Allan Coe and Joan Baez. The song concludes with the line, "I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee." Loggins, born in Mountain City in 1947, is the second cousin of singer Kenny Loggins.

Chattanooga Choo Choo, originally published in 1941, tells the story of a train trip to Chattanooga. In 1957, the British musician Lonnie Donegan had a No. 1 UK hit with a skiffle version of "Cumberland Gap".[30] In addition, Dixieland Delight, released by Alabama in 1983, was inspired by a highway drive through Rutledge, Tennessee.

Davy Crockett
Main article: Davy Crockett

The Ballad of Davy Crockett helped to popularize the 1955 film Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. First recorded and introduced on the television series Disneyland in 1954, it has been covered by a number of artists, most notably Tennessee Ernie Ford. The song's lyrics say Crockett was "born on a mountaintop in Tennessee", but his actual birthplace was Limestone, Tennessee, the home of Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park.[31] In addition to his renowned frontier exploits and military service, Crockett served East Tennessee as a state legislator and Congressman.

Daniel Boone
Main article: Daniel Boone

The folk hero Daniel Boone, who helped explore East Tennessee, was honored in the soundtrack for the television series Daniel Boone, which ran from 1964 until 1970.[32][33][34] The last of three versions of the theme song was sung by The Imperials, a Grammy-winning Christian music group.[35][36]

Ruby Falls
Main article: Ruby Falls

Ruby Falls, a waterfall inside the Lookout Mountain Caverns, has inspired multiple songs. Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison wrote and recorded the song "See Ruby Falls", on Cash's 1970 album Hello, I'm Johnny Cash. Country artist Ray Stevens also included a song named "Ruby Falls" on his 2011 album, Bozos's Back Again.[37]

Kenny Chesney
Main article: Kenny Chesney

Country superstar Kenny Chesney, (originally from Luttrell), has described scenery from his East Tennessee youth in many of his songs, especially I Go Back. Chesney also includes imagery from the area in songs such as Back Where I Come From, (performed at many of his concerts),[38] and The Boys of Fall,[39] as well as "Touchdown, Tennessee", a limited-edition single, which was released in 1998.[40]

Regional museums and heritage centers

East Tennessee has an impressive number of museums, which comprehensively document the region's contributions to country and bluegrass music:

Music festivals

The music of East Tennessee is celebrated throughout the region at annual festivals.[41][42] The Museum of Appalachia hosts the Tennessee Fall Homecoming each October. The four-day event has featured headliners such as Doc Watson, Ralph Stanley, Mac Wiseman, Janette Carter, and Rhonda Vincent. The Kingsport "Fun Fest" is held each July, and has included Charlie Daniels, as well as The Newsboys, among others.[43][44] Heritage Days, a street festival event, is hosted each October, in Rogersville.[45] The Shady Valley Cranberry Festival, also in October, has live country, bluegrass and gospel entertainment.[46][47][48]

East Tennessee State University bluegrass program

East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, is the only four-year university in the world with a comprehensive bluegrass music program.[49] The program includes faculty members who have worked with major recording artists, such as Kenny Chesney (an ETSU alumnus).[50][51]

Current stars
Rodney Atkins, originally from Cumberland Gap

Artists from East Tennessee, such as Dolly Parton, Kenny Chesney, Rodney Atkins, Lauren Alaina, and Ashley Monroe (originally from Knoxville), continue to help define the country music industry. Greeneville, home to The Band Perry,[52] also features occasional performances by the group.[53]

See also

References
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  2. "Mountain Music Museum/The Pickin' Porch Show in Kingsport, TN - Tennessee Vacation". www.tnvacation.com.
  3. Wohlwend, Chris (October 31, 2014). "Where the Hills and Hollows Are Alive With Music (Published 2014)" – via NYTimes.com.
  4. "East Tennessee: The Cradle of Country Music". Pigeon Forge Entertainment - Country Tonite Pigeon Forge Show. July 25, 2013.
  5. "The Birthplace of Country Music" – via video.nationalgeographic.com.
  6. "Birthplace of Country Music". www.americaslibrary.gov.
  7. "Step Inside Bristol's Newly-Opened Birthplace of Country Music Museum". Billboard.
  8. Cooper, Peter. "Bristol opens Birthplace of Country Music Museum". The Tennessean.
  9. Gatlinburg, Mailing Address: 107 Park Headquarters Road; Us, TN 37738 Phone:436-1200 Contact. "CD of Old-Time Smokies Music Nominated for Grammy - Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
  10. "On Top of Old Smoky: New Old-Time Smoky Mountain Music". Elmore Magazine. September 12, 2016.
  11. "Festivals in the Smoky Mountains". Travel Tips - USA Today.
  14. Mark Freed, "The Johnson County Fiddlers' Convention at Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee." The Old-Time Herald, Vol. 10, no. 10 (c. 2006). Retrieved: 9 June 2009.
  15. Cox, Bob L. (2007). Fiddlin' Charlie Bowman: An East Tennessee Old-time Music Pioneer and his Musical Family. University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-1-57233-566-0.
  16. A Fiddler's Convention in Mountain City Archived 2013-12-13 at the Wayback Machine, Tennessee, from "History of Johnson County 1986" by Thomas W. Gentry, accessed January 9, 2010 on Clarence Ashley website, maintained by Scott Moore.
  20. Stimeling, Travis D. "Recording Reviews: "the Bristol Sessions, 1927-1928: The Big Bang of Country Music"." Journal of the Society for American Music 7.2 (2013): 219-22.
  21. "Birthplace of Country Music", AmericasLibrary.gov, 2011, web: AL.
  22. "Old-Time Music Heritage" Archived 2009-01-31 at the Wayback Machine, Johnson's Depot
  23. Wayne Erbsen, "Walter Davis: Fist and Skull Banjo," Bluegrass Unlimited: March 1981, 22-26
  24. "Museum of East Tennessee History showcases St. James recording sessions of 1929-30". www.knoxnews.com.
  25. Waters, T. Wayne (December 1, 2008). "Knoxville's Americana Revolution: East Tennessee's largest city names its musical soul". Smoky Mountain Living.
  26. Huey, Steve. "Oak Ridge Boys Bio". Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  27. Publisher, Tommy Campbell Editor &. "Country Tonite Theater celebrating 20 years in Pigeon Forge". The Rogersville Review.
  28. "On The Road: Random Adventures: Pigeon Forge's Country Tonite". August 13, 2012.
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  32. "DANIEL BOONE - Lyrics - International Lyrics Playground". www.lyricsplayground.com.
  33. "Daniel Boone Theme Song" – via vimeo.com.
  34. "Video". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
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  36. "Mingo". June 28, 2008. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  37. "Bozo's Back Again" – via open.spotify.com.
  38. "Video". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
  39. "Kenny Chesney's 'Hemingway's Whiskey': Track-By-Track Preview". Billboard.
  40. Hrabkovska, Silvia (June 9, 2015). "50 facts about country singer Kenny Chesney". BOOMSbeat.
  43. Nelms, Holly. "Charlie Daniels Band, the Fray lead Fun Fest lineup". timesnews.net.
  44. "Kingsport's Fun Fest kicks off with an evening parade". July 15, 2016.
  46. "Cranberry Festival - 2016". Blue Ridge Country. April 7, 2016.
  49. "Welcome to the Home of Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music Studies in Higher Education!". Bluegrass Old Time and Country Music.
  51. "Video". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
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