History Hootenanny

The East Tennessee Historical Society's 3rd annual History Hootenanny showcases the best of the East Tennessee History Center and its partners. This year’s theme is “Music in East Tennessee” as we celebrate the closing of the feature exhibition, They Sang What They Lived: The Story of Carl and Pearl Butler.

Guests can enjoy live music, music-themed children’s activities, a used local history book sale, Knoxville walking tours, shuttles to the Historic House Museums of Knoxville, and more!

History Hootenanny is a free public history event organized in partnership by the East Tennessee Historical Society, Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, and Tennessee Archive of Moving Image & Sound.

Featuring

• Music by Jarrett Wildcatt, Kelle Jolly, Wild Blue Yonder, and more
• Children’s activities
• Walking tours
• Screenings from Tennessee Archives of Moving Image and Sound at the Tennessee Theatre
• Self-guided tours of the Tennessee Theatre
• Shuttles to the Historic House Museums of Knoxville
• Friends of the Library Used Book Sale

Tennessee Theatre schedule:

10:30-1:30: Self-guided tours of the Theatre

11:00: Screening of “An Unforgettable Ride: How Klondike Kate and Dolly Shaped Pigeon Forge Tourism” (45 minutes)

Encore screening of the popular video essay made by TAMIS archivist Janine Winfree from archival footage and photographs.

12:30: Screening of “The Reed Sisters: An American Story” (45 minutes)

Nearly 50 years ago the Reed Sisters, a teenage Filipina-Hawaiian Country-Western Rock and Pop group, entertained audiences in East TN with their homegrown musical variety show. Captivated by their Oak Ridge cable access TV show as a child, documentary filmmaker Rachel Nanstad wanted to find out what happened to the Reed Sisters and discovered more than she expected.

4:00: Screening of “Keepin’ It Country with Carl and Pearl Butler” (45 minutes)

Bradley Reeves, curator of the Carl and Pearl Butler exhibit, presents a video recounting the story of the classic country duo. Using archival film and video footage and new interviews, “Keepin’ It Country” follows the pair from their beginnings in Happy Holler to the height of their fame in Nashville and beyond.

5:00: Wyatt Ellis and his All-Star Bluegrass Band – a journey through the history of the “Knoxville Sound”

Wyatt Ellis represents the newest generation of “the Knoxville Sound,” his musical through line tracing back through Paul Brewster (the Knoxville Grass and Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder) to his father Willie G. Brewster (Rocky Mountain Boys and Carl Butler). Wyatt’s upcoming performance with his All-Star Bluegrass Band at the Tennessee Theatre will not only highlight his exceptional skills but also celebrate the enduring legacy of the Knoxville Sound, blending the old with the new and continuing the city’s storied tradition of musical innovation. 

Many thanks to the Friends of the Library for sponsoring Wyatt Ellis and his All Star Bluegrass Band