New initiative promotes music ‘triangle’ in the South

Photo: Associated Press

By Adrian Sainz
Associated Press
CLARKSDALE, Miss. – Blues. Jazz. Country. Rock n’ roll. Gospel. Southern Gospel. Cajun-zydeco. Soul/ R&B. Bluegrass.

Nine of America’s most well-known music genres now have their own road map.
Led by Nashville preservationist Aubrey Preston, a group of historians and music lovers have come up with the “Americana Music Triangle.”

Stretching from Nashville to Memphis to New Orleans – and encompassing points in between – the triangle includes locations in the South that contributed to the birth of the musical genres, from Clarksdale, Mississippi, the home of blues masters Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, site of the famed music studio where Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones and many others recorded songs.

Destinations are connected by the so-called “Gold Record Road,” a 1,500-mile stretch of highway made up of Interstate 40 from Nashville to Memphis, Highway 61 – the Blues Trail – from Memphis to New Orleans, and the Natchez Trace Parkway from Nashville to Natchez, Miss. Travelers planning road trips can use a flashy website, or web “guide,” pinpointing destinations in the triangle and describing points of interest in more than 30 communities in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Preston hopes the triangle gives traveling music lovers, both foreign and domestic, a multi-state, Internet-based, interactive guide of the cradle of America’s music, while also spurring enough interest for community leaders to preserve these spots for future educational and tourism opportunities. State and local tourism officials hope much-needed dollars flow into their towns from travelers with cash to spend on restaurants, music shows, shops, and even gas stations and car washes.

“We’re giving an anchor, a cloud of information ... that’s easily accessible and connects places, stories, people and music to information that people can get from any place in the world,” said Preston, whose last-minute purchase of Nashville’s legendary RCA Studio A in October 2014 saved it from being torn down.


Historian Colin Escott says the triangle accurately spotlights locations that will draw people to the South: The jazz halls of New Orleans, the rock ’n’ roll and soul studios of Memphis, the cotton plantations of the Mississippi Delta.

read more: http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20150524/LIFESTYLES/150529737