Rutherford County’s contribution to musical culture will be on display in a new exhibit at the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County.

Panels displaying information about Rutherford County’s musical heritage adorn a new display at the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. (Photos submitted)

The public opening of “Home Grown to Nationally Known: The Artistic Legacies of Murfreesboro” is scheduled for 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, at the center, located at 225 West College St.

MTSU graduate students majoring in history researched and constructed the exhibit under the guidance of Dr. Carroll Van West, who serves as director of MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation as well as Tennessee state historian.

The exhibit covers artists from country legend Uncle Dave Macon to MTSU student Julien Baker, an indie music sensation. It includes objects and photos from famous artists who have performed or recorded in Murfreesboro over the years, as well as artifacts from the Young’Un Sound Studio that operated near Rockvale in the 1970s.

“With Nashville being so close, it’s kind of eclipsed by the big Nashville country sound,” Lane Tillner, a doctoral student from Collierville, Tennessee, said of Rutherford County’s musical heritage, “but Murfreesboro really has a lot of interesting music.”

Tillner’s primary focus was on Spongebath Records, an independent record label based in Murfreesboro during the 1990s. She said one of her sources was a Facebook group called “Murfreesboro Music Documentary.”

“There were a lot of images there, and I was able to get more background information about Spongebath and the bands that were under that label,” said Tillner.

Sherry Teal, a master’s degree candidate from Murfreesboro, focused on early music and gospel acts. Fellow graduate student Annabeth Hayes of Jackson, Tennessee, investigated Young’Un Sound Studio, which session guitarist Chip Young founded by on his farm in 1969.

Also featured in the exhibit are acts that played Murphy Center and the Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp, a weeklong day camp that allows girls to express themselves musically. It was founded in July 2003 by MTSU alumna Kelley Anderson and takes place on the university campus during the summer.

Tillner said West, who is quite a music aficionado, indicated that he wants the display to remain active for at least a few years. She said the experience of working on the display has been beneficial for the student team that created it.

“It’s very hands-on practical experience,” Tillner said. “It shows that we can take just one little aspect and design this whole exhibit.”

For more information, contact the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County at 615-217-8013 or Tillner at olt2c@mtmail.mtsu.edu.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)

Murfreesboro and MTSU are on the front cover of music industry magazine Billboard in an article written by Nashville Bureau Chief Chet Flippo in 1997. The artifact is part of a new exhibit chronicling Rutherford County’s musical history at the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County.