A new exhibit at the Tennessee State Museum chronicles the history of music in this very musical state. And it ain't all Waylon and WIllie and the boys. Tennessee Playlist goes all the way back to musical traditions of the Cherokee and Choctaw and all the present with emerging sound of mariachi and Kurdish music here.

Miranda Fraley-Rhodes, PhD. was central to putting together the Tennessee PLaylist exhibit. She the Assistant Chief Curator of the Tennessee State Museum. She was kind enough to give me some time to talk Tennessee music.

The exhibit runs through 2028. But if you can't get to Nashville, there's a wonderful online exhibit called 95 Counties of Sound. Click on a county (your county, for example) and you'll find some Tennessee music history that happened in your own backyard.

Finally, there's a Spotify playlist for the exhibit. You can find that right here.

Special shoutout this week to Cleburn County Towing. If you wonder why, you gotta listen. Thanks, Jeff and all y'all!

Chad Hunt is a master distiller working a family distillery with his mom and dad in Gainesboro, Tennessee. That's on the Upper Cumberland Plateau just north of Cookeville. Their Roaring River Distillery has won a ton of national medals for their old-fashioned moonshine. Chad took second place in 2022 on the Discovery Channel show called Master Distiller.

Music on this week's show is brand new stuff from a Nashville project called Life in Grooveland. The song is called "Be Thou My Vision" and it does that magic thing of sounding fresh and traditional (and uplifting) at the same time. Check out the new record, The Hymnal, on Soundcloud. Thanks to my buddy Justin Amaral for the music and best of luck on the new record!

You can now follow a brand new trail to see the beautiful, starry night skies across Northeast Tennessee. The Tennessee Night Sky Trail gets you to nine places in Kingsport, Bristol, and more where you can unplug, sit a spell and get lost in the wonder of the heavens above.

The area is also gearing up for festival season, Copperhead Road gets a historical marker, Dwight Yoakam comes to town, and new trail takes you along Tennessee's historical moonshine (and moonshine runnin' history). Check out the events calendar for more.

Music this week is from Memphis singer, songwriter, troubadour, and all-around good guy, Jeff Hulett. He has a new album coming in April and a big show at The Green Room at Crosstown Concourse to go with it.

Hot slaw — the civic dish of Cleveland — is having a moment.

It's well on its way to becoming a state food. Thanks to this action in the legislature, word has gotten out about hot slaw. (No, it's not warmed up cole slaw.)

Cleveland will celebrate the dish next month with its annual Hot Slaw and Art Y'all! Festival. Melissa Woody, an organizer of the festival, talks hot slaw, the festival, and more.

Music for this episode is the new single, History, from Natalie Murphy. She's a Middle Tennessee-based singer, songwriter, fiddle player, and all-around good buckaroo. Natalie's music is found anywhere you stream music. Check her out.

State & Beale is ready for spring already!

Memphis Botanic Garden is getting ready to welcome to season with its annual Cherry Blossom Picnic and the gorgeous, pink blossoms for which the event is named. The picnic commences on March 23rd at the Gardens in Memphis.

Put this one on your Tennessee to-do list. More information on it here.

Also, if you have any Tennessee music you could share with the show, I'd sure love it. Send links to music to [email protected]. Thank you!

CORRECTION: Garrett Boys competed in last year's Tennessee Songwriter Week. They appear this year as special guests.

It's Tennessee Songwriters Week across a state that reveres songwriters.

Stephen Garrett and his band, Garrett Boys, have advanced to a final round of the competition. The band is brothers Stephen and Russell Garrett and Stephen's son, Carter.

Stepehen talks about the band, the competition, home, family, and playing the world-famous Bluebird Cafe .