Special thanks to Shane Rhyne, a good friend of Sonic Geography, for stopping by my World Regional Geography class today to talk about the geography of Tennessee music. It covered the early germination of “mountain music” with African, English, and Scots/Irish traditions and their legendary mingling in Knoxville’s Market Square. A lot of people had no idea Knoxville once even had a “Little Ireland” or a “Little Harlem.”

Shane Rhyne doing a guest lecture in my GEO 101 class, October 23, 2014.

Anybody interested in learning more about Shane’s background in as a local music and culture historian for Eastern Tennessee can feel free to contact him at shanerhyne[at]gmail[dot]com. You can also read about the 2002 Japanese documentary he appeared in here on this site, and you can also take a look at an interview I did with him way back… last year. Those of you who are local instructors in any geography course that has any material connected to Appalachia, don’t hesitate to invite him to come by and talk to your class; you won’t regret it.