Scenic Roots

Talking tariffs - and their impact - in the Chattanooga area. At the Chattanooga Airport, soaring to new heights. “Glass From The Past” - and the Chattanooga Film Festival. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

(Chattanooga Entrepreneur Week) Entrepreneurs are gathering for Chattanooga Entrepreneur Week. Back for a second year, the week of events - presented by TVFCU - runs Monday through Saturday at the Signal and the Historic Chattanooga Choo-Choo. Sarah Mattson is Senior Director of Economic Development at River City Company.

Randy Steele (TEDxChattanooga) “Sessions” from TEDxChattanooga presents local musicians in a mix of music and storytelling with a listening room vibe. The 2025 version of “Sessions” was held at the end of March at Songbirds in downtown Chattanooga. One of the artists: Randy Steele. _____ Coming this fall: The TEDxChattanooga Conference - on Wednesday, November 19th at the Walker Theatre. Visit TED...

Butch Ross (Butch Ross / Facebook) Singer/songwriter Butch Ross joins Richard Winham in the studio for this episode of WUTC's "Live in the Library" - recorded live downtown at The Chattanooga Public Library.

(Chattamatters) (Aired Thu 5/01/25) Here in Chattanooga and Hamilton County, property values have risen in the past few years - but it’s still up to city and county governments to decide whether property tax bills should reflect the increase, as William Newlin of Chattamatters tells us.

(Songbirds) (Aired Thu 5/01/25) At Songbirds in downtown Chattanooga, it’s the season for artists in residence. “In The Company of Wolves” - the singer / songwriter duo of brother and sister Brayden and Sydney Guerrette - performs at Songbirds as its Artists in Residence for this spring on Saturday, starting at 7 PM. I spoke with Sydney, who’s also with the nonprofit Be the Change Youth Initiative...

(St. Elmo Stroll) (Aired Thu 5/01/25) Here in Chattanooga, what began in Highland Park a few years ago will debut in St. Elmo this weekend. On Saturday, the first-ever St. Elmo Porchfest will present a free community festival of local music where front porches are the stages and the streets are gathering places. Kim Frankel Marsh and Tyler Russell are with the St. Elmo Stroll, which is organizing...

(collectively / here) (Aired Thu 5/01/25) Think of a stage as a canvas, ready to be filled with dance that tells story after story. That’s what you’ll find at blank / slate - a performance by collectively / here, a dance movement collective - this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 PM at Barking Legs Theater in Chattanooga. Marah Bates is one of the founders of collectively / here - and Jessi Faircltoth...

“A Fine Romance” by Aurora Robson. (Marshall Coles / aurorarobson.com) (Aired Thu 5/01/25) Aurora Robson is a sculptor who turns plastic waste into art that evokes patterns in nature. Her artwork is featured in an exhibition that opened a few months ago at the Hunter Museum of American Art here in Chattanooga, titled: “The Long View: From Conservation to Sustainability / Works from the Bank of Ame...

(Lookout Live) (Aired Thu 5/01/25) Lin-Manuel Miranda has described his Broadway hit “Hamilton” as a story about - quote - “America then, told by America now.” The musical - which remixes a biography of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton with hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway - arrived last week at Chattanooga’s Memorial Auditorium, where it runs through this Sunday. In the meantime, a play by a...

(Nessa Parrish / WUTC) (Aired Weds 4/30/25) On this special edition of "Scenic Roots," listen to the student storytellers of Rising Rock from the Spring 2025 semester here on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

(Rising Rock) (Aired Tues 4/29/25) Rising Rock is a multimedia storytelling class here on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. This Thursday, we’ll share the latest showcase of stories by Rising Rock students from this past semester. Billy Weeks teaches the class in UTC’s Communication Department. I spoke with him - and four Rising Rock students: Alexis Carpenter, Miller Richard...

Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and author - with Alison Lebovitz, host of “The A List with Alison Lebovitz.” (WTCI PBS) (Aired Tues 4/29/25) This week, “The A List” returns to our public media partner WTCI PBS. Alison Lebovitz hosts the 16th season of her one-on-one interview series, produced locally by WTCI, premiering Thursday at 8:30 PM and available on the PBS app. (WTCI PBS)

The Chattanooga Armed Forces Day Parade. (Chattanooga Area Veterans Council) (Aired Tues 4/29/25) For the first time, a new branch of this nation’s armed forces will be highlighted at this year’s Armed Forces Day Parade here in downtown Chattanooga. Friday’s parade - the longest-running armed forces parade in the country - begins at 10:30 AM on Market Street, and runs from Martin Luther King, Jr....

Shelves at the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. (Chattanooga Area Food Bank) (Aired Tues 4/29/25) Food banks across the country began this year already stretched by record demand and high food prices. Then came another blow: a billion dollar cut in Federal food aid, from food banks to meal programs. The Chattanooga Area Food Bank serves 20 counties in Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia. Melissa...

(Cast Iron Storytelling) Last year, a series of Chattanooga storytellers began telling their true tales at Barking Legs Theater. This weekend, Cast Iron Storytelling returns to Barking Legs with “Mileage” - a first anniversary story swap, on Sunday starting at 5:30 PM. Jason Tinney is founder and director of Cast Iron Storytelling. (Cast Iron Storytelling)

(4lexandre / Creative Commons) For educators here in Chattanooga and Hamilton County, it takes a toolkit to cultivate learning through the arts for students in the classroom. That toolkit is teacher training in arts integration through a Kennedy Center Partners in Education team - or PIE. Among the organizations on the team: Hamilton County Schools, Chattanooga Theatre Centre, our public media par...

Tanqueray Harper (abc@utc) In the arts, movement can be a form of alchemy - for the artists, and for their audiences. Tanqueray Harper, known as Tangles, is a performance artist across disciplines who is on the move - and who flows with movement. She is one of the teaching artists in the Wolf Trap program at the Arts-Based Collaborative here on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanoog...

(ArtsBuild) Here in Chattanooga and Hamilton County, the first Arts Week is in full swing. At event after event since Monday and through Saturday, local creatives and arts organizations are weaving a tapestry of talent through performances, exhibits, workshops and activities for the community to celebrate the nonprofit arts sector and its economic, social and cultural impact in this area. Alex Clo...

Daniel Tiger - out and about in Chattanooga. (WTCI PBS) (Aired Tues 4/22/25) What do Daniel Tiger and Lyla from “Lyla in the Loop” have in common? You’ll find them on PBS, of course. And on Saturday, you can meet them at WTCI PBS, as our public media partner hosts “Be My Neighbor Day”: a free, family-friendly event in the spirit of Fred Rogers of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” from 10 AM to 2 PM at 75...

(Creative Arts Guild) (Aired Tues 4/22/25) At Creative Arts Guild in Dalton, the sculpture garden is the star this weekend. That’s where the Guild’s “Art & Soul” celebration takes place - on Saturday starting at 11 AM - coinciding with International Sculpture Day. Amanda Brown is the Guild’s executive director. Cindy McCreery is an artist and chair of “Art & Soul.” (Creative Arts Guild)

(Sculpture Fields at Montague Park) (Aired Tues 4/22/25) Nearly twenty years ago, sculptor John Henry envisioned what is today Sculpture Fields at Montague Park here in Chattanooga. This Friday, “Best for Last” - John Henry’s final work before his death in 2022 - will be dedicated at Sculpture Fields, as part of two days of events to mark this year’s International Sculpture Day which falls on the...

Andrew Wood (The Tennessee Aquarium) (Aired Tues 4/22/25) Here in downtown Chattanooga, it’s a new chapter at the Tennessee Aquarium. Andrew Wood joined the Aquarium as its new president and CEO at the end of March. For the past seven years, he served as chief operating officer at The Florida Aquarium in Tampa.

Lorrie Moore (Basso Canarsa / Opale) (Aired Tues 4/22/25) She has written short stories and novels, she teaches creative writing here in the South that became her home - and this week, she is visiting Chattanooga. Lorrie Moore - the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University - is the featured author at this year’s Writers@Work, a series of free events from Tuesday th...

Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp, delivering his 2025 State of the County Address at Soddy-Daisy Middle School in Soddy-Daisy, TN. (Hamilton County Government) On Tuesday evening, at Soddy-Daisy Middle School, Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp delivered this year’s State of the County Address - which we bring you here from the County’s livestream. _____ Watch:  Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp’s...