Banquet Dinner Speaker

Banquet Dinner Speaker

Jack Neely

Located at at an American cultural crossroads, Knoxville has become known as “The Cradle of Country Music” thanks to its role in launching the early careers of Roy Acuff, Chet Atkins, Archie Campbell, Flatt & Scruggs, the Everly Brothers, and Dolly Parton, much of it thanks to the medium of radio, and most of it right downtown, within four blocks or so of the  conference. But there’s much more to Knoxville’s role in American popular music, going back to the 1830s, and including the popularization of opera, and key events concerning the development of rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll.  Then there’s the still-mysterious death of 29-year-old Hank Williams, likely the result of what happened during a stay in a downtown hotel–a tall landmark that also has a fatal association with a famous Russian composer. In fact, downtown Knoxville is the location of the Western Hemisphere’s only statue of Sergei Rachmaninoff. And city’s musical genius is still afoot, with the 21st century’s unique annual Big Ears Festival, a four-day celebration of new and daring music from around the world, which the New Yorker has called “the most open-minded music gathering in the country.”

Jack Neely will explain. A longtime newspaper journalist, Neely has written about a dozen books related to the history of Knoxville, emphasizing its complex culture, and has received numerous honors for his work, including the Distinguished Alumnus award from UT’s History Department and an honorary doctorate from Maryville College. He is currently executive director of the educational nonprofit Knoxville History Project, which researches and promotes Knoxville’s multifaceted history through talks, tours, books, guides, podcasts, website (knoxvillehistoryproject.org) and public art projects. Their best-known product is the award-winning Historic Knoxville: The Curious Visitor’s Guide.

Make sure to add the conference dinner to your conference registration here!