MyTN50 Tennessee Life, Told by Tennesseans

MyTN50

Tennessee Life, Told by Tennesseans

Latest Articles

When the World Sleeps, They Create: Tennessee's Night Shift Artists Living Between Two Lives
Music & Culture

When the World Sleeps, They Create: Tennessee's Night Shift Artists Living Between Two Lives

While most of Tennessee clocks out and heads home, a quiet army of nurses, bakers, factory workers, and security guards is punching in — and somewhere between the overnight hours and the early morning light, they're making art nobody asked for and everything they needed. These are the Tennesseans who found their creative voice in the margins of the traditional workday, and they're not slowing down anytime soon.
Still Playing After All These Years: The Church Organists Keeping Tennessee's Pipe Organ Tradition Breathing
Music & Culture

Still Playing After All These Years: The Church Organists Keeping Tennessee's Pipe Organ Tradition Breathing

Across Tennessee, a small but fierce group of organists and music directors are showing up every Sunday to play instruments that took decades to build and could take just one budget meeting to silence. They're teaching kids, restoring pipes, and making a case that sacred music still matters — not just spiritually, but as a living piece of Tennessee's cultural identity.
Written in the Land: The Tennesseans Hunting Down Place Names History Almost Erased
Music & Culture

Written in the Land: The Tennesseans Hunting Down Place Names History Almost Erased

Across Tennessee, a loose-knit crew of cartographers, genealogists, and community historians are doing something quietly extraordinary — pulling vanished town names, creek names, and hollow names back from the edge of oblivion. Their work isn't just academic. It's reshaping how everyday Tennesseans understand the ground beneath their feet.
Old Bones, New Purpose: The Tennessee Architects Rebuilding Rural Life Without Bulldozing the Past
Music & Culture

Old Bones, New Purpose: The Tennessee Architects Rebuilding Rural Life Without Bulldozing the Past

A new wave of Tennessee architects and designers is proving that rural revival doesn't have to mean starting from scratch. From repurposed tobacco barns to front-porch-friendly housing developments, these builders are threading the needle between honoring what's always been there and making room for what comes next.
Quit the Prestige, Kept the Vision: Tennessee Creatives Who Chose Weird Over Safe
Music & Culture

Quit the Prestige, Kept the Vision: Tennessee Creatives Who Chose Weird Over Safe

They had the résumés, the titles, and the corner offices. Then they walked away. Meet the Tennessee artists, designers, and makers who traded institutional prestige for something smaller, stranger, and entirely their own.
Homegrown and on Film: The Tennessee Documentarians Who Refuse to Wait for Hollywood's Permission
Music & Culture

Homegrown and on Film: The Tennessee Documentarians Who Refuse to Wait for Hollywood's Permission

A new generation of Tennessee-based filmmakers is turning cameras on their own communities, capturing stories that national media never bothered to tell. Armed with affordable gear, crowdfunding hustle, and a deep love for place, these storytellers are building something lasting — one hyperlocal documentary at a time.
The Quiet Keepers: How Tennessee's Small-Town Librarians Became the Heart of Main Street
Music & Culture

The Quiet Keepers: How Tennessee's Small-Town Librarians Became the Heart of Main Street

Across Tennessee, a new generation of public librarians is tearing up the old rulebook and turning their buildings into living, breathing community centers. From maker spaces to oral history projects, these unsung civic heroes are proving that the library isn't just surviving the digital age — it's leading the charge.
Late Bloomers, Big Moves: The Tennessee Entrepreneurs Who Built Their Best Thing After 50
Music & Culture

Late Bloomers, Big Moves: The Tennessee Entrepreneurs Who Built Their Best Thing After 50

Forget the myth that great ideas belong to the young. Across Tennessee, a wave of entrepreneurs in their 50s, 60s, and beyond are launching ventures that are turning heads — and turning profits. Their secret weapon? Decades of living, failing, and knowing exactly who they are.
After the Bell Rings: Tennessee Teachers Who Are Turning Forgotten Spaces Into Art Communities
Music & Culture

After the Bell Rings: Tennessee Teachers Who Are Turning Forgotten Spaces Into Art Communities

When the school day ends, a quietly growing movement of Tennessee educators trades lesson plans for paintbrushes — and empty storefronts for gallery walls. These teachers aren't waiting for the art world to invite them in. They're building something entirely their own.
First Bell, Then Spotlight: The Tennessee Educators Living Double Lives as Working Artists
Music & Culture

First Bell, Then Spotlight: The Tennessee Educators Living Double Lives as Working Artists

Across Tennessee, a quiet wave of teachers is spending their weekdays shaping young minds — and their weekends chasing something else entirely. From jazz clubs in Memphis to gallery walls in Chattanooga, these educators are proving that a life in the arts doesn't have to end when the school year begins.
Building Something Real: The Tennessee Women Who Are Writing the Rules From Scratch
Music & Culture

Building Something Real: The Tennessee Women Who Are Writing the Rules From Scratch

From tech startups in Nashville to grassroots nonprofits in the hollows of East Tennessee, a remarkable wave of women is reshaping what entrepreneurship looks like in this state. They're not waiting for permission, and they're definitely not doing it alone. Meet the women building legacies that go well beyond the bottom line.
Playing by Their Own Rules: Tennessee's Independent Venues Are Taking Live Music Back
Music & Culture

Playing by Their Own Rules: Tennessee's Independent Venues Are Taking Live Music Back

Across Tennessee, a scrappy wave of independent venue owners is pushing back against the stranglehold of mega-promoters and corporate touring machines. By betting on direct artist relationships and deeply local programming, these spaces are rewriting the rules of live entertainment — one show at a time.
When the Final Whistle Blows: Tennessee Athletes Who Found Their Second Game in the Arts
Music & Culture

When the Final Whistle Blows: Tennessee Athletes Who Found Their Second Game in the Arts

For some Tennessee athletes, the end of their playing days wasn't a closing door — it was an open studio. Meet the former players, collegiate stars, and weekend warriors who traded jerseys for paintbrushes, guitar straps, and clay wheels, and are building something just as compelling as any championship run.
Gates Open, Boots Welcome: How Tennessee Farm Families Are Turning Acres Into Experiences
Food & Travel

Gates Open, Boots Welcome: How Tennessee Farm Families Are Turning Acres Into Experiences

Across Tennessee's rolling countryside, family farms aren't just growing crops anymore — they're growing memories. From u-pick strawberry fields in the Highland Rim to glamping setups tucked between hay bales in the Cumberland Plateau, a quiet revolution is reshaping how rural communities stay alive and stay relevant.
Rooted and Rising: Fifteen Tennesseans Under 50 Who Are Changing Everything
Music & Culture

Rooted and Rising: Fifteen Tennesseans Under 50 Who Are Changing Everything

From a Knoxville engineer turning vacant lots into urban farms to a Memphis activist rewriting the rules on juvenile justice, Tennessee's next generation of change-makers isn't waiting for permission. These fifteen individuals — all under 50, all deeply rooted in their communities — are solving real problems, building real things, and proving that the future of this state is already here.
Spinning Stories: The Tennessee Record Shops Turning Turntables Into Town Squares
Music & Culture

Spinning Stories: The Tennessee Record Shops Turning Turntables Into Town Squares

Across Tennessee, independent record stores are doing a whole lot more than selling albums. From Nashville's storied crates to tucked-away shops in small towns most people drive right past, these spaces are becoming the living rooms of local music culture — and the folks running them wouldn't have it any other way.
From Home Kitchen to Hustle: How Shared Food Spaces Are Changing the Game for Tennessee Makers
Food & Travel

From Home Kitchen to Hustle: How Shared Food Spaces Are Changing the Game for Tennessee Makers

Across Tennessee, a quiet revolution is happening one commercial kitchen at a time. Shared culinary spaces and homegrown food halls are giving everyday cooks, jam makers, and hot sauce obsessives the infrastructure to turn weekend hobbies into real businesses — without betting the house to do it.
Threads of Home: The Makers Stitching Tennessee's Textile Tradition Back Together
Music & Culture

Threads of Home: The Makers Stitching Tennessee's Textile Tradition Back Together

From dusty mill towns in the Appalachian foothills to urban design studios in Nashville and Knoxville, a quiet revolution is happening one loom at a time. Tennessee's textile heritage — long thought to be a relic of the industrial past — is finding new life in the hands of mill operators, indie designers, and community entrepreneurs who believe that what's made here matters. We went deep into the fabric of this movement to find out what's driving it.
From Grain to Glass: The Small-Batch Distillers Putting Tennessee on the Craft Spirits Map
Food & Travel

From Grain to Glass: The Small-Batch Distillers Putting Tennessee on the Craft Spirits Map

Tennessee's spirit story goes way deeper than the big brown bottles you already know. Across the state, a new generation of craft distillers is experimenting with local grains, bold aging tricks, and flavors rooted in the land itself. Pull up a stool — this is a tour worth taking.
Dog-Eared and Proud: Why Tennessee's Independent Bookstores and Homegrown Writers Are Having a Moment
Music & Culture

Dog-Eared and Proud: Why Tennessee's Independent Bookstores and Homegrown Writers Are Having a Moment

Between the shelves of a growing number of fiercely independent bookstores and the pages of novels, memoirs, and poetry collections written by Tennesseans, something quietly remarkable is happening. The state's literary culture is finding its voice — and readers across the country are starting to listen.