Tennessee Music Pathways

"Whiskey is a combination of fire, water, wood, time - and feelings." In this sixth and final episode, step off the Music Pathway and onto the Whiskey Trail! Spanning 600 miles across the state of Tennessee, the Whiskey Trail takes visitors through dozens of craft distilleries where no sip is like the last. Along the way, distillers share the inspiring - and often grisly - stories behind whiskey production in Tennessee, illustrate the process of creating a unique flavor, and of course, offer some delicious pours. Join host Aaron Millar as he samples a recipe as old as the Revolutionary War; visits a haunted prison that distills one-of-a-kind moonshine; meets a mad scientist blending chemistry and artistry in the glass; and learns the untold tale of the legendary whiskey maker that the world never got to meet. Whether or not you're already a whiskey drinker, this episode will have you ready to pour a glass!   ABOUT THE SERIES Produced in a documentary style, the Tennessee Music Pathways series takes listeners on a more than 1,000-mile road trip, from Bristol and the birth of country music to Memphis and the start of rock n' roll. Along the way, listeners will hear bluegrass played fast as lightning and traditional Appalachian music performed live in the Great Smoky Mountains. Follow along as host Aaron Millar shops in Elvis' favorite clothing store, bangs drums in the studio that made Uptown Funk, learns to play the spoons and drinks whiskey in a distillery housed in a more than 100-year-old former prison.   WANT MORE TENNESSEE WHISKEY (AND MUSIC)? The Tennessee Whiskey Trail knits together 25 distilleries across the state, offering visitors an immersive experience rich with history, culture, and taste. Learn more and plan your visit at TNWhiskeyTrail.com. The Tennessee Music Pathways is a guide that connects visitors to the rich musical heritage of our state. Visitors can curate their own path based on interests using an interactive guide at TNmusicpathways.com. Follow the conversation on social using or searching hashtag #tnmusicpathways. TNvacation.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Thank you to our guests: Heath Clark, Company Distilling companydistilling.com Alex Castle, Old Dominick Distilling olddominick.com Bill Lee, Gate 11 Distillery gate11distillery.com Stanton Webster, PostModern Spirits postmodernspirits.com Nick Bianchi, Lost State Distilling loststatedistilling.com Canaan Brock, Brushy Mountain Distillery brushymtndistillery.com Fawn Weaver, Uncle Nearest Distillery unclenearest.com/distillery Visit Memphis memphistravel.com Visit Chattanooga visitchattanooga.com Visit Knoxville visitknoxville.com Discover Bristol discoverbristol.org This series was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.a

"It was here, on the banks of the Mississippi River, where music changed the world." In Memphis, music has always been more than a melody and lyrics - it's a movement. This is a city that launched some of the world's most beloved musicians, from Otis Redding to Isaac Hayes, Carla Thomas, Elvis Presley, and more. And in the midst of segregation and racial tension, the music of Memphis became a powerful tool for bringing people together - and creating the sound of a civil rights movement that would move the world. Join host Aaron Millar and step into some of the world's most famous recording booths all around the city. It's in these rooms where the greats of soul and rock n' roll have shed blood, sweat and tears for decades. You'll hear how Elvis Presley was discovered completely by accident at Sun Studios; learn about Otis Redding and the joyous growth of soul at the Stax Museum; and go behind the scenes of pop music with Bruno Mars at Royal Studios.   ABOUT THE SERIES Produced in a documentary style, the Tennessee Music Pathways series takes listeners on a more than 1,000-mile road trip, from Bristol and the birth of country music to Memphis and the start of rock n' roll. Along the way, listeners will hear bluegrass played fast as lightning and traditional Appalachian music performed live in the Great Smoky Mountains. Follow along as host Aaron Millar shops in Elvis' favorite clothing store, bangs drums in the studio that made Uptown Funk, learns to play the spoons and drinks whiskey in a distillery housed in a more than 100-year-old former prison.   WANT MORE TENNESSEE MUSIC? Tennessee Music Pathways is a guide that connects visitors to the rich musical heritage of our state. Visitors can curate their own path based on interests using an interactive guide at TNmusicpathways.com. Follow the conversation on social using or searching hashtag #tnmusicpathways. TNvacation.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Thank you to our guests and musicians: Hal Lansky, Lansky Brothers Clothing lanskybros.com Crockett Hall, Sun Studio sunstudio.com Jeff Kollath, Stax Museum of American Soul Music staxmuseum.com Boo Mitchell, Royal Studios boomitchellmemphis.com and royalstudios.com Dr. Noelle Trent, National Civil Rights Museum civilrightsmuseum.org Visit Memphis memphistravel.com This series was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry.

Produced in a documentary style, the Tennessee Music Pathways series takes listeners on a more than 1,000-mile road trip, from Bristol and the birth of country music to Memphis and the start of rock n' roll. Along the way, listeners will hear bluegrass played fast as lightning and traditional Appalachian music performed live in the Great Smoky Mountains. Follow along as Millar shops in Elvis' favorite clothing store, bangs drums in the studio that made Uptown Funk, learns to play the spoons and drinks whiskey in a distillery housed in a more than 100-year-old former prison. Join us on an audio adventure across seven genres of music home to Tennessee.  “This is the story of America, from its roots in traditional fiddle music brought over by immigrants to the New World and enslaved individuals stolen in Africa, to the spark of rock n' roll and soul that started here, united a nation, and spread across the world, Tennessee is the soundtrack to the evolution of America itself.” Aaron Millar, presenter of the Tennessee Music Pathways podcast Listen to historical recordings of the artists and songs we mention in this episode on our specially curated Spotify playlist: Tennessee Music Pathways  From the largest cities to the smallest communities, the Tennessee Music Pathways is a guide that connects visitors to the rich musical heritage of our state. Visitors can curate their own path based on interests using an interactive guide at www.TNmusicpathways.com. Follow the conversation on social using or searching hashtag #tnmusicpathways. TNvacation.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube This series was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

Produced in a documentary style, the Tennessee Music Pathways series takes listeners on a more than 1,000-mile road trip, from Bristol and the birth of country music to Memphis and the start of rock n' roll. Along the way, listeners will hear bluegrass played fast as lightning and traditional Appalachian music performed live in the Great Smoky Mountains. Follow along as Millar shops in Elvis' favorite clothing store, bangs drums in the studio that made Uptown Funk, learns to play the spoons and drinks whiskey in a distillery housed in a more than 100-year-old former prison. Join us on an audio adventure across seven genres of music home to Tennessee.  “This is the story of America, from its roots in traditional fiddle music brought over by immigrants to the New World and enslaved individuals stolen in Africa, to the spark of rock n' roll and soul that started here, united a nation, and spread across the world, Tennessee is the soundtrack to the evolution of America itself.” Aaron Millar, presenter of the Tennessee Music Pathways podcast Listen to historical recordings of the artists and songs we mention in this episode on our specially curated Spotify playlist: Tennessee Music Pathways  From the largest cities to the smallest communities, the Tennessee Music Pathways is a guide that connects visitors to the rich musical heritage of our state. Visitors can curate their own path based on interests using an interactive guide at www.TNmusicpathways.com. Follow the conversation on social using or searching hashtag #tnmusicpathways. TNvacation.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube This series was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

Follow award-winning travel writer Aaron Millar on a road trip across the Tennessee Music Pathways from the small rural town of Granville, to listen to bluegrass played in a more than 100-year-old country store, to Knoxville, one of birthplaces of the genre and home to some of the hottest players today. Along the way, we'll discover the history of bluegrass from the legendary Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs who defined the genre, to the young players who are picking up the mantle today.   Bluegrass is a music borne from feel and raw emotion. It speaks to the heart, not the head. It's about community, coming together, having fun. It will lift you up and sweep you along like the fast-flowing waters of the Tennessee River. It is foot stomping, hand clapping, blazingly fast songs hotter than a match.  But, most of all it is music that must be heard live. For that is where bluegrass truly lives and its stages are here, waiting in Tennessee.  Produced in a documentary style, the Tennessee Music Pathways series takes listeners on a more than 1,000-mile road trip, from Bristol and the birth of country music to Memphis and the start of rock n' roll. Along the way, listeners will hear bluegrass played fast as lightning and traditional Appalachian music performed live in the Great Smoky Mountains. Follow along as Millar shops in Elvis' favorite clothing store, bangs drums in the studio that made Uptown Funk, learns to play the spoons and drinks whiskey in a distillery housed in a more than 100-year-old former prison. Join us on an audio adventure across seven genres of music home to Tennessee.  “This is the story of America, from its roots in traditional fiddle music brought over by immigrants to the New World and enslaved individuals stolen in Africa, to the spark of rock n' roll and soul that started here, united a nation, and spread across the world, Tennessee is the soundtrack to the evolution of America itself.” Aaron Millar, presenter of the Tennessee Music Pathways podcast Thank you to our guests and musicians: Evie Andrus https://evieandrusmusic.com Alex Leach https://www.thealexleachband.com Fast Track Band https://fasttrackband.com Jimmy Bilbry, Sutton Ole Time Music Hour https://www.granvilletn.com Wayne Bledsoe https://www.realknoxvillemusic.com Michael McCall, https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org Visit Knoxville https://www.visitknoxville.com Listen to historical recordings of the artists and songs we mention in this episode on our specially curated Spotify playlist: Tennessee Music Pathways  From the largest cities to the smallest communities, the Tennessee Music Pathways is a guide that connects visitors to the rich musical heritage of our state. Visitors can curate their own path based on interests using an interactive guide at www.TNmusicpathways.com. Follow the conversation on social using or searching hashtag #tnmusicpathways. TNvacation.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube This series was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

Follow award-winning travel writer Aaron Millar on a road trip across East Tennessee's Music Pathways, from the Great Smoky Mountains to Bristol and the birth of country music. Along the way, we will hear traditional Appalachian Music as it would have been performed more than a century ago; find out about the Bristol Sessions, a seminal recording that happened here in 1929 and went on to change the world. We'll get a tour of Dolly Parton's hometown with one of her childhood friends and see the theme park which holds her name. Opening and closing the show is acclaimed songwriter Ed Snodderly with a live performance you won't forget. Harlan Howard famously said: “Country music is three chords and the truth.” We're looking for that truth, where it comes from, why it connects with us and where it's headed today.  Produced in a documentary style, the Tennessee Music Pathways series takes listeners on a more than 1,000-mile road trip, from Bristol and the birth of country music to Memphis and the start of rock n' roll. Along the way, listeners will hear bluegrass played fast as lightning and traditional Appalachian music performed live in the Great Smoky Mountains. Follow along as Millar shops in Elvis' favorite clothing store, bangs drums in the studio that made Uptown Funk, learns to play the spoons and drinks whiskey in a distillery housed in a more than 100-year-old former prison. Join us on an audio adventure across seven genres of music home to Tennessee. “This is the story of America, from its roots in traditional fiddle music brought over by immigrants to the New World and enslaved individuals stolen in Africa, to the spark of rock n' roll and soul that started here, united a nation, and spread across the world, Tennessee is the soundtrack to the evolution of America itself.” Aaron Millar, presenter of the Tennessee Music Pathways podcast Thank you to our guests and musicians: Ed Snodderly www.edsnodderlymusic.com  Amber Rose www.dollywood.com/ Boogertown Gap www.boogertowngap.com Ruth Miller www.visitsevierville.com Rene Rogers www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org/ Explore Bristol www.explorebristol.com Listen to historical recordings of the artists and songs we mention in this episode on our specially curated Spotify playlist: Tennessee Music Pathways  From the largest cities to the smallest communities, the Tennessee Music Pathways is a guide that connects visitors to the rich musical heritage of our state. Visitors can curate their own path based on interests using an interactive guide at www.TNmusicpathways.com. Follow the conversation on social using or searching hashtag #tnmusicpathways. TNvacation.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube This series was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

The Tennessee Music Pathways podcast takes listeners on a more than 1,000-mile journey, from Bristol and the birth of country music to Memphis and the start of rock n' roll. Produced in an immersive documentary style, listeners will hear bluegrass played fast as lightning, country music sung from the heart and traditional Appalachian music performed live in the Great Smoky Mountains. We'll shop in Elvis' favorite clothing store, bang drums in the studio that made Uptown Funk, drink whiskey in a distillery housed in a more than 100-year-old former prison and so much more. Join us as we discover the Soundtrack of America, Made in Tennessee.

Today we have a live session from Chattanooga blues musician Rick Rushing. We were lucky to catch Rick in an incredibly special and intimate setting at The Moxy, Chattanooga, just Rick, our presenter, producer, and his guitar. Rick's songs and the spirit in which he plays are incredible, but just as special was the conversation we had in between. The Blues is the bedrock of all music, even country, and when you hear Rick talk about his passion for this seminal American art form you're going to understand why. “The Blues is where everything comes from. It is raw and revives the soul, true emotion, and musical creativity.” Rick Rushing, Singer/Guitarist Rick Rushing and The Blues Strangers You've been listening to blues master Rick Rushing, one of Chattanooga's best musicians. His band is called Rick Rushing & The Blues Strangers and you can hear them live in Chattanooga and across the state. www.rrandbluesstrangers.wordpress.com  Twitter @IIIRushing  Instagram @RickRockiii  Facebook Rick Rushing & the Blues Strangers From the largest cities to the smallest communities, the Tennessee Music Pathways is a guide that connects visitors to the rich musical heritage of our state. Visitors can curate their own path based on interests using an interactive guide at www.TNmusicpathways.com. Follow the conversation on social using or searching hashtag #tnmusicpathways. TNvacation.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube This series was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

Today we have a live session from Boogertown Gap, an old-time mountain music duo that plays and preserves traditional Appalachian string music just as it would have been heard more than a century ago.  Husband and wife team Keith Watson and Ruth Barber invited us to their cottage in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. We sat outside in their yard, a bubbling stream rushing past and birdsong in the air. It was the perfect setting to hear traditional Appalachian music. So, close your eyes, sit back, and let Boogertown Gap transport you to mountain cabins, barn dances and old porches of 19th century Tennessee, where this music once filled the air and would go on to inspire the country music we know and love today.  “It connects into our DNA. It's the music of our ancestors, it's the music of their ancestors. and it's just so soulful” Keith Watson, Boogertown Gap Find out more www.boogertowngap.com Facebook Boogertown Gap YouTube Boogertown Gap From the largest cities to the smallest communities, the Tennessee Music Pathways is a guide that connects visitors to the rich musical heritage of our state. Visitors can curate their own path based on interests using an interactive guide at www.TNmusicpathways.com. Follow the conversation on social using or searching hashtag #tnmusicpathways. TNvacation.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeThis series was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com

Ed Snodderly is a songwriter with a strong Appalachian sense of place. His songs ring in the old, the odd and in a non-sentimental way Ed calls it American Southern, “'cause that sounds really cool.” The charts call it Country/Americana.  An upbringing in the mountains of East Tennessee lends to the ideas of his twists and turns with his lyrics. The songs are familiar but cross-pollinated with mountains and radio stations. You could say some of his songs are a giving back to the culture, and in the same breath recognize a creative way that they bring the modern into view. Ed was awarded in 2020 for a lifetime achievement award presented to him from SERFA (Southern Region of Folk Alliance) for his contributions to southern folk music.  The third verse in his song, “The Diamond Stream”, which he performs here, is permanently displayed on the Wall of Honor at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.   It reads…… “So, take down your box and bow  And play the strings  Whisper up your own travelin' tune Listen to the sound that the water makes  In the Diamond Stream The Diamond Stream”. Find out more: www.edsnodderlymusic.com  Ed is co-founder of The Down Home, a world-renowned music venue located in Johnson City, Tennessee. www.downhome.com From the largest cities to the smallest communities, the Tennessee Music Pathways is a guide that connects visitors to the rich musical heritage of our state. Visitors can curate their own path based on interests using an interactive guide at www.TNmusicpathways.com. Follow the conversation on social using or searching hashtag #tnmusicpathways. TNvacation.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube This series was produced by Armchair Productions, the audio experts for the travel industry www.armchair-productions.com