Myles New

Tennessee

Most states have one official state song. Tennessee has 10! And there's a reason for that: Tennessee has music deep within its soul. Here, the folk music of the Scots-Irish in the eastern mountains combined with the bluesy rhythms of the African Americans in the western Delta to give birth to the modern country music that makes Nashville famous.

Best Things to Do

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Songbirds

Chattanooga

Myriad songbirds of the avian variety call Tennessee home, but Chattanooga's newly revamped Songbirds – an innovative interactive learning space devoted…
Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum

Downtown & the Gulch

This monumental museum, reflecting the near-biblical importance of country music to Nashville's soul, is a must-see whether you're a country music fan or…
Lookout Mountain

Chattanooga

Just ten minutes from downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, rising along the upper rim of the city, Lookout Mountain is rich in both Civil War history and…
Graceland

Memphis

If you only make one stop in Memphis, it should be here: the sublimely kitschy, gloriously bizarre home of the King of Rock and Roll. Though born in…
Sun Studio

Memphis

This dusty storefront is ground zero for American rock and roll. Starting in the early 1950s, Sun's Sam Phillips recorded blues artists such as Howlin'…
National Civil Rights Museum

Memphis

Housed partly inside the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr was fatally shot on April 4, 1968, is the gut-wrenching National Civil Rights Museum…
Stax Museum of American Soul Music

Memphis

Wanna get funky? Head directly to Soulsville, USA, where this 17,000-sq-ft museum sits on the site of the old Stax recording studio. This venerable spot…
Tennessee Aquarium

Chattanooga

Situated on the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga, TN, the Tennessee Aquarium is home to 10,000 animals. The aquarium, Chattanooga’s most visited…