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Music of Tennessee

The story of Tennessee's contribution to American music is essentially the story of three cities: Nashville, Memphis, and Bristol. While Nashville is most famous for its status as the long-time capital of country music, Bristol is recognized as the "Birthplace of Country Music". Memphis musicians have had an enormous influence on blues, early rock and roll, R&B, and soul music, as well as an increasing presence in rap.[1]

Bristol: "Birthplace of Country Music"[edit]

See also: Bristol sessions and Appalachian music


Bristol is best known for being the site of the first commercial recordings of country music, showcasing Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, and later a favorite venue of mountain musician Uncle Charlie Osborne. Bristol is also the birthplace of Tennessee Ernie Ford.


In 1927, Ralph Peer of Victor Records began recording local musicians in Bristol to capture the local sound of traditional 'folk' music of the region. One of these local sounds was created by the Carter Family. The Carter Family got their start on July 31, 1927, when A.P. Carter and his family journeyed from Maces Spring, Virginia, to Bristol, Tennessee, to audition for record producer Ralph Peer who was seeking new talent for the relatively embryonic recording industry. They received $50 for each song they recorded.


The U.S. Congress recognized Bristol as the "Birthplace of Country Music" in 1998 for its contributions to early country music recordings and ongoing influence.

Murfreesboro[edit]

Murfreesboro hosts several music-oriented events annually, such as the Main Street Jazzfest presented by MTSU's School of Music and the Main Street Association each May. For over 30 years, Uncle Dave Macon Days has celebrated the musical tradition of Uncle Dave Macon.[9] This annual July event includes national competitions for old-time music and dancing.[9]


Because of Middle Tennessee State University's large recording industry program, the city has fostered a number of bands and songwriters, including: A Plea for Purging, Self, Fluid Ounces, The Katies, The Features, Count Bass D, The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Destroy Destroy Destroy, De Novo Dahl, The Protomen, and Those Darlins.[9]


Artist Wayne White, from Chattanooga, received a BFA from MTSU in 1979.


Spongebath Records was a key force in the Murfreesboro indie music scene in the late 1990s.[10]

Blues[edit]

Memphis blues[edit]

Memphis' most significant musical claims to fame are as "Home of the Blues" and "Birthplace of Rock and Roll". The African-American composer, W.C. Handy, is said to have written the first commercially successful blues song, "St. Louis Blues", in a bar on Beale Street in 1912.[11] Handy resided in Memphis from 1909 through 1917.[11] He also wrote "The Memphis Blues". Memphis blues is a regional style created by area musicians such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis, Memphis Minnie, and Memphis Jug Band[12] in the 1910s-1930s, with stylistic origins in Country blues and Delta blues.[13]


Memphis was a center of blues music for much of the 20th century. Pianist and singer Booker T. Laury was born in Memphis in 1914 and Blues Hall of Famers Johnny Shines and Memphis Slim were born there in 1915. During the 1940s and 1950s, Memphis was the home of B. B. King, Bobby Bland, Rosco Gordon, Junior Parker, Johnny Ace, Willie Nix, and Joe Hill LouisDuke Records was started in Memphis in 1952. Also in 1952, Sam Phillips started Sun Records, an early rock and roll and electric blues label. Among the artists who made some of their recordings on Sun were Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis,[11] Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, Carl Perkins, and Charlie Rich.[7]

Jazz[edit]

Memphis-born jazz artists include clarinetist Buster Bailey, singers Alberta Hunter, Eden Atwood, Dee Dee Bridgewater, violinist Erskine Tate, bassists Moses Allen, Jamil Nasser, trumpeters Booker Little, Louis Smith, Johnny Dunn, Marvin Stamm, pianists Lil Hardin Armstrong, Harold Mabern, Phineas Newborn, Jr., Rozelle Claxton, Jimmy Jones, James Williams, alto saxophonists Frank Strozier, Sonny Criss, saxophonists George Coleman, Hank Crawford, Charles Lloyd, Ben Branch, Ben Smith, Garnett Brown, Frank Lowe, Kirk Whalum, drummers Jimmy Crawford and Tony Reedus, and guitarist Abu Talib. In addition, legendary band leader Jimmy Lunceford is closely associated with Memphis due to the influential jazz orchestra he formed in the late 1920s in that city.[4]


Legendary blues singer Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, and busked its streets with her brother as a young girl. Double bassist Jimmy Blanton, member of Duke Ellington's band, pianist Lovie Austin, trumpeter and singer Valaida Snow, multi-instrumentalist and composer Yusef Lateef, and saxophonist Bennie Wallace were also born in Chattanooga. The city is immortalized in the 1941 big band swing song "Chattanooga Choo Choo".


Trumpeter Doc Cheatham was born in Nashville. Singer Joyce Cobb was born in Oklahoma, but raised in Nashville. Bandleader and vocalist Anna Mae Winburn was born in Port Royal. Pianist Phineas Newborn, Jr. and his brother guitarist Calvin Newborn were from Whiteville. Saxophonist Sam Taylor was born in Lexington. Alto saxophonist Charles Williams was born in Halls. Trombonist Dicky Wells was born in Centerville. Trombonist Jimmy Cleveland was born in Wartrace. Pianist Johnny Maddox was born in Gallatin. Vocalist King Pleasure was born in Oakdale.[11]


Current large jazz orchestras from Tennessee that have notable recordings are the Jazz Orchestra of the Delta (Memphis), the Memphis Jazz Orchestra, the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, the Duffy Jackson Big Band (Nashville), Tyler Mire Big Band (Nashville), and the Music City Big Band (Nashville).[4]

Hip-hop[edit]

See also: Southern hip hop § Tennessee, and Memphis rap


Despite not always being on the forefront of the national Hip-Hop scene, the hip-hop scene in Tennessee has been very active across the state but most prominently in the Memphis area. Some notable acts include Academy Award-winning rap group Three 6 Mafia (with Juicy J) was formed in Memphis. They had a #3 album on the Billboard 200 with Most Known Unknown in 2005. Other notable Memphis rappers include Project Pat, Gangsta Pat, Gangsta Boo, Playa Fly, Moneybagg Yo, Blocboy JB, Young Dolph, Blac Youngsta Al Kapone, the duo Eightball & MJG, and Yo Gotti. Mr. Mack is based out of Knoxville. Isaiah Rashad is from Chattanooga. Young Buck, JellyRoll, Starlito, Tha City Paper, Negro Justice, and All Star Cashville Prince are from Nashville. Young Buck started the label Ca$hville Records. Christian hip hop group GRITS are also from Nashville.[16]

Southern rock[edit]

Both Duane Allman and Gregg Allman,[17][18] founders of the Allman Brothers Band, were born in Nashville in 1946 and 1947, respectively.


The Charlie Daniels Band is closely associated with Tennessee's contributions to the southern rock genre, and with the Volunteer Jam, an annual rock festival first held in Nashville in 1974.


Other notable musicians include Knoxville's Jerry Riggs, Nashville's Barefoot Jerry, and the Nashville band Area Code 615. Kings of Leon were formed in Tennessee in 1999. Their early music was closely associated with this genre. The Kings had a #1 hit on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 with "Use Somebody". This song was also #1 on the Alternative chart and Adult Top 40 Chart in 2009. Kings of Leon had a #1 Billboard 200 album with Walls in 2016.


The Dirty Guv'nahs is an American Southern rock band from Knoxville, Tennessee. Known for enthusiastic live shows, the band was continually named the Best Band in Knoxville by readers of the alternative newspaper, Metro Pulse.

Punk rock and hardcore[edit]

Punk rock has had active scenes in Tennessee, such as the scenes in Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis's River City Hardcore scene in the 1980s and 1990s. A few hardcore punk bands gained a following, including His Hero Is Gone (Memphis), Nashville's Love Is Red, From Ashes Rise, and Committee for Public Safety, and Knoxville's Johnny Five, The Malignmen, The Splinters and STD.


Knoxville's punk scene began in the late 1970s with Terry Hill's Balboa, and took off in the early 1980s with bands such as the Five Twins, The Real Hostages, Candy Creme and the Wet Dream, and the hardcore bands Koro and UXB. During that era the scene was based in a series of short-lived nightclubs such as The Place, Hobos, Uncle Sam's, and Bundulees. Later in the 1980s several Knoxville bands such as the Judybats and Smokin' Dave and the Premo Dopes emerged to wider acclaim not limited to the local Knoxville scene. The scene again reached a peak during the mid-1990s, at that time tied closely to The Mercury Theatre, a popular all-ages venue where many Knoxville bands, such as Superdrag, got their start. After the close of the Mercury, another venue, The Neptune, opened for a short time under the same management. In 2004, Paramore originated out of Franklin.


The early 1970s power pop band Big Star, cited as a primary influence by many grunge and alternative rock groups since, was from Memphis. Memphis-based Goner Records, founded in 1993, has released artists including Oblivions, Reigning Sound, and Jay Reatard.

Heavy metal[edit]

Heavy metal music groups from Tennessee include A Different Breed of Killer, Brodequin, Place of Skulls, Straight Line Stitch, and Whitechapel from Knoxville; Clockhammer, Intruder, and Today Is the Day from Nashville; Hosoi Bros, Nights Like These, and Tora Tora from Memphis; Tragedy in Progress from Chattanooga; and Destroy Destroy Destroy from Murfreesboro.

Gospel and Christian music[edit]

Tennessee's location in the Bible Belt has led to an active southern Gospel music scene with such groups as The LeFevres, as well as being the origin of some notable Christian rock bands such as Memphis's DeGarmo and Key. The country group the Oak Ridge Boys started in 1945 as the Oak Ridge Quartet, a Southern Gospel group based in Knoxville who performed for workers at the nearby Oak Ridge facilities during World War II.[16]


An African American a cappella ensemble, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, consisting of students at Fisk University in Nashville have been performing since 1871. The Fairfield Four started in Nashville and have existed since 1921.[3]


Nashboro Records was a gospel record label active in Nashville in the 1950s-60s. Christian rock band Skillet, from Memphis, had a #2 album on the Billboard 200 with Awake in 2009. Nashville Christian hard rock band Red had a #2 album on the Billboard 200 in 2011.

Bryan Symphony Orchestra, [20]

Cookeville, Tennessee

Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra

Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Jackson, Tennessee

Johnson City Symphony Orchestra, Johnson City, Tennessee

Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

Memphis Symphony Orchestra

IRIS Orchestra

Nashville Symphony Orchestra

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra

Symphony of the Mountains, Kingsport, Tennessee

Tennessee cities are home to several symphony orchestras:[19]


Each summer, the University of the South campus in Sewanee hosts the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, including classes for some 200 advanced music students and a series of concerts by well-known guest artists. While classical music predominates, bluegrass and other musical styles also are featured.


Cellist Joan Jeanrenaud from Memphis played with the Kronos Quartet from 1978 to 1999 and has since pursued a solo career.

(lasts for 4 days) in Manchester, Tennessee each June since 2002. Nashville's Kings of Leon played there in 2010

Bonnaroo Music Festival

in Knoxville, Tennessee

Big Ears Festival

in Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis in May

in Nashville, Tennessee[21]

CMA Music Festival

in Nashville

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

in Nashville

Grand Ole Opry

in Nashville, honors contributors to Nashville's musical heritage

Music City Walk of Fame

on Beale Street

Memphis Rock N' Soul Museum

Memphis Music Hall of Fame

in Memphis

Blues Hall of Fame

Highlander Folk School

List of songs about Nashville, Tennessee

Music of East Tennessee