MyTN50 Tennessee Life, Told by Tennesseans

MyTN50

Tennessee Life, Told by Tennesseans

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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.
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.
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.
Paddles, Peaks, and Possibility: The River Towns Quietly Becoming Tennessee's Outdoor Playgrounds
Food & Travel

Paddles, Peaks, and Possibility: The River Towns Quietly Becoming Tennessee's Outdoor Playgrounds

From the bluffs above the Hiwassee to the calm stretches of the Duck River, a handful of Tennessee's lesser-known riverside communities are rewriting their own stories — and drawing serious outdoor adventurers in the process. Forget the overcrowded trailheads of Moab or the pricy ski-town vibes of Colorado. Tennessee's got something different brewing along its waterways, and the people building it there are just getting started.
Clay, Thread, and Sawdust: Meet the Tennessee Makers Betting Everything on the Handmade Life
Music & Culture

Clay, Thread, and Sawdust: Meet the Tennessee Makers Betting Everything on the Handmade Life

Something's happening in Tennessee's rural towns, and it smells like fresh-cut walnut and kiln-fired clay. A new generation of makers — potters, weavers, woodworkers, and beyond — is staking their futures on traditional craft, and they're finding that the rest of the country is ready to buy in. This is the story of a creative revival that's as much about community as it is about commerce.
Small Stages, Big Dreams: The Tennessee Venues That Turn Unknown Artists Into Household Names
Music & Culture

Small Stages, Big Dreams: The Tennessee Venues That Turn Unknown Artists Into Household Names

Long before the arena tours and the radio hits, most Tennessee musicians got their start in a cramped listening room or a backyard amphitheater where somebody's uncle ran the soundboard. These grassroots venues are more than just places to play — they're the classrooms, proving grounds, and community heartbeats that keep Tennessee's musical legacy alive and growing.
Beyond Biscuits and Gravy: The Chefs Putting Unexpected Tennessee Towns on the Culinary Map
Food & Travel

Beyond Biscuits and Gravy: The Chefs Putting Unexpected Tennessee Towns on the Culinary Map

Southern food has always had soul, but a new generation of Tennessee chefs is proving it can have swagger too. From a reimagined Appalachian kitchen in Jonesborough to a farm-driven restaurant tucked into the hills outside of Cookeville, these nationally recognized culinary talents are building something remarkable — and they're doing it without leaving home.
Chords, Craft, and Community: Inside the Tennessee Schools Teaching the Next Wave of Country Songwriters
Music & Culture

Chords, Craft, and Community: Inside the Tennessee Schools Teaching the Next Wave of Country Songwriters

Across Tennessee, a quiet revolution in music education is unfolding — one co-write session, mentorship call, and late-night workshop at a time. From Nashville's publishing row to smaller cities like Johnson City and Murfreesboro, aspiring songwriters are finding world-class instruction without ever leaving the state. We went inside these programs to see what makes Tennessee's approach to teaching the craft so different from anywhere else.
Coming Home on Purpose: Meet the Tennesseans Trading City Life for Small-Town Roots
Food & Travel

Coming Home on Purpose: Meet the Tennesseans Trading City Life for Small-Town Roots

Something unexpected has been happening across Tennessee's smaller communities — the people who left are coming back, and this time they're staying. Fueled by remote work flexibility and a hard reset on what matters, young professionals are trading city apartments for hometown front porches, and in the process, they're reshaping the towns they grew up in. We talked to four of them about why they left, why they returned, and what they found when they got here.