Roy Acuff was born September 15, 1903, in Maynardville, Tennessee, where he performed folk ballads and fiddle tunes learned from neighbors and kin, hymns shared by itinerant singing-school instructors, and songs he heard on recordings by early country artists. When his family moved to Fountain City, he worked as a railroad “call boy” and also spent some time playing semi-professional baseball. Experiencing sunstroke in 1929, Acuff recuperated by playing the fiddle. After touring with a medicine show, he began performing around Knoxville in a band he called the Crazy Tennesseans, playing square dances and radio broadcasts on WROL and WNOX. In 1936, Acuff and his band made 20 recordings in Chicago for the American Record Corporation. By 1938, Acuff was a major country star. He relocated to Nashville to appear regularly on the Grand Ole Opry. His theme song was “Wabash Cannon Ball,” a song he may have listened to on a record made in 1929 by Hugh Ballard Cross in Knoxville. In addition to performing live and to being a star on radio and in movies, Acuff sold many records released on the Columbia label, and published songbooks under his own music publishing company, Acuff-Rose Publications.

In 1948, he unsuccessfully sought the governorship in Tennessee, running on the Republican ticket. His old-time country sound may have fallen out of favor, but Acuff continued to record for such labels as Capitol, Decca, MGM, and Hickory. He appeared on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s 1972 album Will the Circle Be Unbroken, which led to a career revival, prompting several hits and TV appearances. Long a stalwart of the Nashville music scene, he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1962 as its first living member. Acuff never forgot his start in Knoxville. He died November 23, 1992.

Artist Reels:

The Amazing Rhythm Aces made music often characterized as country rock, but in fact the band was more eclectic, incorporating elements of country and rock, but also folk, gospel, blues, R&B, Latino, and reggae. The band was formed from the core of Fatback, a late-1960s Knoxville-based rock band featuring vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Russell Smith, bassist Jeff "Stick" Davis, drummer Butch McDade, and lead guitarists Mike Brooks and Dan Kennedy. Fatback broke up when the latter two left Knoxville in the early 1970s.  Smith, Davis, and McDade formed a new band in Memphis with East Tennessean Barry “Byrd” Burton, an engineer working at Sam Phillips’ recording studio. Davis and McDade, having toured with Memphis-native musician Jesse Winchester as “the Rhythm Aces,” repurposed that name for the new band.

Distinguished by Smith’s sophisticated songwriting and distinctive vocals, the Amazing Rhythm Aces in 1975 released Stacked Deck, a debut album that yielded pop and country hit “Third Rate Romance” and country hit “Amazing Grace (Used To Be Her Favorite Song).” The band recorded a string of critically praised albums through 1981, albeit with steadily diminishing sales. The band took a hiatus in the 1980s, with Smith becoming a sought-after songwriter in Nashville. The band’s other members joined various country bands. The Amazing Rhythm Aces reformed in 1994 and continued to perform into the new century.

Artist Reels:

Howard Armstrong, born March 4, 1909, grew up in a musical family in La Follette, Tennessee. His parents and eight siblings lived in Furnace Hill, a Black community adjacent to the blast furnace where Armstrong’s father, Tom, worked. In LaFollette, developing a passion for string band music, Howard Armstrong started on mandolin, but took up the fiddle after meeting Roland Martin, a blind musician from Knoxville who played music for local coal miners. Howard eventually mastered the fiddle, and also became proficient on several other stringed instruments. Four of the Armstrong brothers ultimately formed a string band, featuring Howard on fiddle, L.C. (Lee Crockett) on guitar, Roland on bass, and F.L. on the ukulele. Together they played at various local events, including picnics, fish fries, proms, church socials, and political rallies. Hired to perform on WROL, they were called “The Wandering Troubadours.”

When performing for white people, they either covered pop songs of the day or played square-dance tunes. Howard and Roland Armstrong (1914—1980) were joined by multi-instrumentalist Carl Martin (1906—1979). Originally from Big Stone Gap, Virginia, Carl was a younger half-brother of Roland Martin. The Martin family moved to Knoxville about 1918. Carl picked up guitar quickly and joined Roland Martin in a stringband. Carl Martin naturally became acquainted with Howard Armstrong—around the time of their recording, they both lived in Knoxville on Yeager Street. Forming a trio–Howard on fiddle, Roland Armstrong on guitar, and Carl on bass–the three musicians played on the streets around Knoxville, and sometimes on Vine Street, which inspired the title of one of their tunes, “Vine Street Rag.”

In April 1930, the trio caught the attention of the Brunswick/Vocalion A&R team (then in Knoxville to make records), and two numbers—"Knox County Stomp” and “Vine Street Rag”—were recorded and released on two 78 RPM discs. One was issued as a “race” record credited to the Tennessee Chocolate Drops.  The other was issued in Vocalion’s old-time series under the name the Tennessee Trio. It was one of the earliest recordings by Black artists to be released as country releases. Howard Armstrong and Carl Martin relocated to Chicago and teamed up with mandolinist Ted Bogan to form a new trio. After the US entered World War II, the three musicians went their separate ways, and Armstrong spent a quarter-century working for the Chrysler assembly line in Detroit. Martin, Bogan, and Armstrong reunited in the 1970s and recorded albums.

Armstrong and Bogan appeared at the World’s Fair in Knoxville in 1982. Two documentary films, Louie Bluie (1985) and Sweet Old Song (2002), were made about Armstrong, and the musician released a solo album in 1995. He died July 30, 2003. As a tribute to the musician, Armstrong’s native Campbell County hosts the annual Louie Bluie Music and Arts Festival.

Artist Reels:

Chester “Chet” Atkins (born June 20, 1924) grew up in a musical family in Luttrell, Tennessee. Suffering asthma in 1936, he moved to Georgia and remained there through high school. Hearing a performance by Merle Travis on the radio, Atkins was inspired by Travis’s thumb-and-finger picking style to develop his own thumb-and-two-finger variation. Atkins relocated to Knoxville to appear on WNOX radio alongside singer Bill Carlisle and comic Archie Campbell. Soon a popular guitarist on Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round, Atkins developed a reputation for performing an eclectic repertoire. During this period, he heard a record by guitarist Django Reinhart and fell under his spell. Atkins left Knoxville in 1945 to perform on various radio stations across the South and Midwest, including NBC’s The Prince Albert Show in Nashville. Atkins’ craftsmanship struck some radio officials as not being sufficiently country, but that same skillset proved to be an asset when Atkins was hired in 1947 by RCA Victor as a session musician and arranger for country recordings. Atkins returned to WNOX in 1948, working as lead guitarist with Homer & Jethro and the Carter Sisters. He performed on KWTO in Springfield, Missouri with the latter group, before joining the Grand Ole Opry in 1950.

Atkins was an in-demand session musician in Nashville, and he made many solo recordings. By 1955, he was overseeing RCA’s studios, and soon became a vice president for that company. Atkins’ production style, which melded traditional and modern pop approaches, ensured that RCA Victor’s country releases could compete for attention amidst the rock ‘n’ roll craze. He remained in the forefront of country music during the 1960s, overseeing classic hits on RCA for many artists (including Black country singer Charley Pride) while recording many of his own singles and albums (including collaborations with Les Paul and Doc Watson). Atkins left RCA in 1983 and signed with Columbia. On eleven occasions the Country Music Association presented its Instrumentalist of the Year award to Atkins, and in 1993, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He died June 30, 2001.

Artist Reels:

Rodney Atkins was born March 28, 1969, in Knoxville. Growing up with multiple adoptive parents, Atkins moved frequently in his youth, eventually settling in Claiborne County, Tennessee. During high school, Atkins played guitar at events and festivals. He attended Walters State Community College and then Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee, where he began writing songs. Atkins moved to Nashville in the mid-1990s to pursue a recording career, and in 1996 was signed by Curb Records. His first Billboard country chart single occurred in 1997, but Atkins’ first album, Honesty, debuted in 2003. Two of his singles, “If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)” and “Watching You,” topped the country music charts and were ranked as the top country songs of 2006 and 2007. Atkins has received six nominations from the Academy of Country Music and two from the Country Music Association, winning Top New Male Vocalist from the former in 2006.

Artist Reels:

Country and pop singer/songwriter Kelsea Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) was raised in Knoxville, where she sang in church and school choirs. Writing her first song at 12 for her mother, Ballerini moved to Nashville three years later. While living in Knoxville she attended Central High School, but she completed high school in Franklin near Nashville. She attended Lipscomb University for two years before pursuing a musical career. Sshe signed a contract with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing two albums which accounted for seven charted songs on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. She placed five singles on the top of the latter, starting with her debut single “Love Me Like You Mean It.”

Artist Reels:

Lowell Blanchard (1910–1968) was an American radio presenter and performer from Palmer, Illinois. While at the University of Illinois, he gained early radio experience before working in Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan. He was the announcer at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair before moving to Knoxville to host WNOX’s Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round, launching the careers of country legends like Roy Acuff and Chet Atkins. He also hosted the Musical Clock Show. In 1950, he recorded "Jesus Hits Like an Atom Bomb." A city councilman, he was honored posthumously with a tribute show featuring top country stars. He was inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame in 1977.

Artist Reels:

Kristian Bush (b. 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer, best known as part of Sugarland and the folk-rock duo Billy Pilgrim. Born in Knoxville and raised in Sevier County, he was classically trained in violin and later focused on guitar. He attended Emory University, earning a Creative Writing degree. In 2003, he co-founded Sugarland, which gained fame with Twice the Speed of Life. The duo released three best-selling albums and was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2012.

Artist Reels:

Carl Butler (1927–1992) and Pearl Butler (1927–1988) were a country music duo. Carl, a Knoxville native, began performing as a child and served in WWII. He later met and married Nashville native Pearl. They joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1962, scoring a #1 hit with "Don't Let Me Cross Over." Carl wrote classics like "If Teardrops Were Pennies" and supported Dolly Parton early in her career. They continued performing into the 1970s.

Artist Reels:

Archie Campbell (1924–1987), from Bulls Gap, was a radio and TV personality. After WWII, he returned to Knoxville’s WNOX, later launching Country Playhouse on WROL-TV. Moving to Nashville, he joined the Grand Ole Opry and recorded for RCA Victor. Best known as a comedian, he was a head writer and cast member on Hee Haw. Bulls Gap honors him with an annual festival and a highway named after him.

Artist Reels:

Guy Carawan (1927–2015) was a folk musician and musicologist, best known for popularizing "We Shall Overcome" in the civil rights movement. He worked at the Highlander Center in Tennessee, where he and his wife, Candie Carawan, performed and recorded together.

Artist Reels:

Bill Carlisle (1908–2003) and Cliff Carlisle (1903–1983) were influential country musicians. Performing on WLAP and later WNOX, they recorded hits like "Rainbow at Midnight" and "Rattlesnake Daddy." Bill later formed The Carlisles, appearing on the Grand Ole Opry.

Artist Reels:

Martha Carson (1921–2004), born Irene Amburgey, was a gospel-country singer who gained fame in the 1950s. After performing with her sisters, she recorded "Satisfied," influencing Elvis Presley and others. She toured with major country stars and later recorded for RCA Victor.

Artist Reels:

Kenny Chesney (b. 1968) is a country superstar from Luttrell, Tennessee. After graduating from East Tennessee State University, he moved to Nashville and built a successful career, releasing 20+ albums and 40+ Top 10 singles.

Photo credit: LawrenceFung, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Artist Reels:

Hugh Cross (1904–1968) was a country singer discovered in 1927. He recorded early versions of "The Wabash Cannonball" and "No More the Moon Shines on Lorena."

Artist Reels:

Don (1937–2021) and Phil Everly (1939–2014) started their career in Knoxville before moving to Nashville. They blended rock & roll with country harmonies, launching a string of hits in the late 1950s, including Songs Our Daddy Taught Us (1958).

Photo: Warner Bros. Records, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Artist Reels:

Flatt and Scruggs helped popularize bluegrass music. Led by guitarist/vocalist Lester Flatt (born June 19, 1914, in Duncan’s Chapel, Tennessee) and banjoist Earl Scruggs (born January 6, 1924, in Cleveland County, North Carolina), they began with Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys in 1946. In 1948, they formed their own group, the Foggy Mountain Boys, and based themselves in Knoxville, performing on local radio and TV while gaining national fame.

In Knoxville, they recorded their first songs at WROL’s studio, releasing them on Mercury Records. Later, they moved to Nashville, performing on WSM radio, sponsored by Martha White Flour. Though dedicated to bluegrass, they found mainstream success with “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” the theme for *The Beverly Hillbillies*, and their 1949 recording of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” featured in *Bonnie and Clyde* (1967). Popular at festivals and college campuses in the 1960s, they split in 1969 due to creative differences. Flatt passed away on May 11, 1979, and Scruggs on March 28, 2012.

Photo credit: See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Artist Reels:

Born April 3, 1928, in Shelby, North Carolina, Don Gibson began his career with the Sons of the Soil on WOHS. He recorded for Columbia in 1952 but found greater success as a songwriter, penning “Sweet Dreams” at WNOX. In 1957, while living in Knoxville, he wrote “Oh Lonesome Me” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” leading to a successful RCA career and the emergence of the “Nashville Sound.” He later moved to Nashville, recording for Hickory Records. Between 1949 and 1985, he recorded 513 songs. Gibson died November 17, 2003.

Artist Reels:

Born January 7, 1930, in Maryville, Jack Greene was a teenage DJ at WGAP and a regular on WNOX’s Tennessee Barn Dance. He moved to Atlanta in the early 1950s, forming The Peach Tree Boys. In 1959, he settled in Nashville, later joining Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours. His 1966 hit “There Goes My Everything” won multiple CMA awards, and he joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1967. Greene had five #1 country hits. He died March 14, 2013.

Artist Reels:

Guitarist Henry “Homer” Haynes (b. July 27, 1920, Knoxville) and mandolinist Kenneth “Jethro” Burns (b. March 10, 1920, Conasauga) met in 1932 and formed the String Dusters, blending country, hoedowns, and pop.

Artist Reels:

Born December 26, 1911, in Sevier County, Bashful Brother Oswald popularized the resonator guitar and Dobro in country and bluegrass music.

Photo courtesy of Rounder Records.

Artist Reels:

Born March 31, 1962, in Knoxville, Phil Leadbetter, a Gibbs High graduate, became a leading resonator guitar player, with a career spanning three decades.

Photo courtesy of World Music Central.

Artist Reels:

Lester McFarland (b. February 2, 1902) and Robert A. Gardner (b. December 16, 1897) were a prolific recording duo of the 1920s.

Artist Reels:

Born September 10, 1902, in Chattanooga, Leola Manning moved to Knoxville in 1910 and worked at Mountain View School.

Artist Reels:

Born November 30, 1915, in Knoxville, blues musician Walter “Brownie” McGhee learned guitar from his father. Overcoming polio, he later teamed with harmonica player Sonny Terry for a decades-long career. They performed on Broadway and recorded extensively. McGhee also acted in films and TV before passing on February 16, 1996.

Photo credit: Tom Pich, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Artist Reels:

Bassist and composer Edgar Meyer (b. November 24, 1960) grew up in Oak Ridge, studying under his father. A master across multiple genres, he collaborated with artists like Yo-Yo Ma and Béla Fleck. His compositions blend classical and bluegrass elements. Meyer teaches at Vanderbilt and the Curtis Institute.

Photo credit: Jordan Klein, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Artist Reels:

Born September 10, 1986, in Knoxville, Ashley Monroe is a singer-songwriter known for solo work and as part of Pistol Annies. She has written songs for other artists and is a sought-after harmony singer.

Photo courtesy of Opry.com.

Artist Reels:

Born October 11, 1925, in Birmingham, Alabama, Jimmy Murphy was a country and rockabilly singer-songwriter. After performing on WBRC in the 1940s, he moved to Knoxville in 1949, where Archie Campbell introduced him to Chet Atkins, leading to an RCA Victor deal. Though his records weren’t hits, “Electricity” became a classic. He later recorded for Columbia and small labels before releasing a 1978 album. Murphy died June 1, 1981.

Photo courtesy of Discogs.com.

Artist Reels:

Blind singer-songwriter Charlie Oaks, originally from Richmond, Kentucky, performed in Knoxville’s Market Square into the 1930s. Selling broadsides of his songs, he is considered by some historians as country music’s first professional musician. His best-known song, “The New Market Wreck,” recounts a 1904 train disaster.

Photo courtesy of Discogs.com.

Artist Reels:

Born in Eastern Kentucky, Bobby (1931–2023) and Sonny Osborne (1937–2021) grew up in Dayton, Ohio. Bobby played with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers before forming a duo with Sonny, a banjo prodigy. By 1964, they joined the Grand Ole Opry and signed with Decca. Their 1968 hit “Rocky Top” became a Tennessee state song in 1982.

Photo courtesy of Opry.com.

Artist Reels:

Born January 19, 1946, in Sevier County, Dolly Parton started performing in Knoxville, later moving to Nashville in 1964. After writing songs for others, she gained fame on The Porter Wagoner Show in 1967. Her solo career took off in the 1970s, leading to pop hits, movies, and Dollywood. A music, business, and philanthropic icon, she remains tied to East Tennessee.

Artist Reels:

Cousins Red Rector (1929–1990) and Fred Smith (1924–2006) performed bluegrass in Knoxville, appearing on WNOX and WROL. Rector played mandolin with Flatt & Scruggs, while Smith was a singer and comedian. They recorded an album in 1969 and were part of Carl Story’s band and the Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour.

Born May 18, 1902, in Jefferson County, George Reneau was Knoxville’s first recorded musician. Blind from birth, he traveled to New York in 1924 to record for Vocalion, often performing with Gene Austin. After a brief recording career, he played on Knoxville’s Market Square. Reneau died June 5, 1938.

Artist Reels:

From Roane County, the Ramblers recorded 12 sides for Columbia in 1928–1929. The band included fiddler James McCarroll, guitarist Luke Brandon, banjoist Howard Wyatt, and mandolinist John Kelley, later joined by guitarist "Curly" Fox. They gained local fame, sold over 200,000 records, and remained active long after their recording years.

Artist Reels:

Born October 23, 1998, in Knoxville, Emily Ann Roberts gained fame as a finalist on The Voice (Season 9). Her performances charted on country and Christian charts. Post-graduation, she performed at the Grand Ole Opry and toured with “The Gospel Through Girls & Guitars.”

Photo courtesy of EmilyAnnRoberts.com.

Artist Reels:

Based in Maryville, folk duo Sparky and Rhonda Rucker perform historical roots music. Sparky, a Knoxville native, blends music with civil rights activism, while Rhonda, from Louisville, is a multi-instrumentalist and author. They have recorded around 10 albums together.

Photo by Pam Zappardino

Artist Reels:

Born July 29, 1929, in Georgetown, South Carolina, Andy Smalls, “the Knoxville Cowboy,” promotes Western music and film through his ETPBS show, Riders of the Silver Screen. His advertising career brought him to Knoxville in 1968, where he stayed, working in marketing and TV.

Photo courtesy of MarshalAndy.com.

James Pritchett (1909–1963), known as Arthur Q. Smith, was a prolific songwriter who sold rights to his songs for quick cash. His works, later credited to others, include “Wedding Bells” (Hank Williams) and “I Overlooked an Orchid” (Mickey Gilley). Recent research has restored his legacy.

Artist Reels:

Born March 15, 1927, in Maynardville, Carl Smith became a top country hitmaker in the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on WROL, recorded a demo that led to a Columbia Records contract, and scored multiple #1 hits. He frequently appeared on Red Foley’s Jubilee U.S.A. and hosted Carl Smith’s Country Music Hall. Smith was married to June Carter (1952–1956) and later to Goldie Hill. He died January 16, 2010.

Artist Reels:

Born June 21, 1952, Ed Snodderly is a singer-songwriter rooted in East Tennessee culture. He co-founded The Down Home music club in Johnson City and has performed solo and in the duo The Brother Boys. His lyrics are enshrined in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Photo courtesy of EdSnodderlyMusic.com.

Artist Reels:

Born May 29, 1916, in North Carolina, Carl Story played fiddle for Bill Monroe before forming the Rambling Mountaineers. He recorded extensively, appeared on WNOX, and later worked as a DJ while performing on the festival circuit. He died March 31, 1995.

Artist Reels:

Born December 11, 1914, in Sevier County, Summey played dobro and joined Roy Acuff’s band in 1938. He later performed with Pee Wee King and became a comedic act on the Grand Ole Opry. He died August 18, 1975.

Photo courtesy of CountryReunionMusic.com.

A family band from Anderson County, the Tennessee Ramblers recorded for Brunswick Records in 1928 and gained popularity through radio performances. Guitarist Willie Sievers Wiggins became known for her showy playing style.

Artist Reels:

Formed in Knoxville in 1994, the V-Roys gained acclaim in the alternative country scene. Featuring Scott Miller and Mic Harrison, they released two albums before disbanding in 1999.

Artist Reels:

Cas Walker (1902–1998) was a businessman and country music promoter. His Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour launched stars like Dolly Parton. He built a successful grocery chain across East Tennessee.

Born May 13, 1993, in Sneedville, Morgan Wallen gained fame after competing on The Voice in 2014. His albums If I Know Me (2018) and Dangerous: The Double Album (2021) were multi-platinum, making him a top country star.

Artist Reels: