Scenic Roots

Investing in the future of Chattanooga’s Black educators. This year’s Signal Centers Accessibility Awareness Summit. Talking Writing:  Flynn Berry on her novel “Northern Spy.” These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”          

(Barking Legs Theater / Facebook) Richard Winham presents a recent virtual set from Knoxville-based saxophonist Will Boyd and bassist David Becher from Barking Legs Theater in Chattanooga.

(MGHC) This weekend, the Spring Garden Festival returns to Chattanooga. The Master Gardeners of Hamilton County - along with the University of Tennessee Extension - will present the outdoor festival on Saturday, starting at 10 AM, around the Hamilton County Extension Ag Center and Bonny Oaks Arboretum.   Proceeds will help fund scholarships and community grants. Suzanne Ford is the current preside...

(zairelove.com) Zaire Love is a filmmaker, music maker and writer in Mississippi. In her short documentary film "Trees," her grandmother Dorothy is the star - and storyteller.    Dorothy grew up in Sledge, Mississippi - in the Delta.  Both of her parents were sharecroppers, paid cents for picking hundreds of pounds of cotton a day in the 1950’s.  They raised Dorothy and her ten siblings in a one-b...

Mississippi filmmaker Zaire Love on her documentary “Trees.” Suzanne Ford & Carlton Mathis on the Spring Garden Festival. Barking Legs Theater:  A virtual set by Will Boyd & David Becher. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”          

(isisasheville.com) Richard Winham presents the second half of a set from the Baltimore-based quartet Ultrafaux, performed at the Isis Music Hall in Asheville, NC for the Mountain Spirit Acoustic Series.         

One day, Rodney Gipson had an idea:  he wanted to recreate NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series. Rodney is music director at Morris Innovative High School in Dalton - and this year, he is giving his music technology students the chance to learn how to stage their own Tiny Desk Concerts in the school library.   Last month, I spoke with Rodney - and two of his students:  Jacqui Perez and David Lizcano. Ti...

(Marchet Butler) Karen White is a bestselling author who now lives near Atlanta, but grew up in London. Her latest novel - “The Last Night in London” - is her most personal yet, set in the home where she lived with her family.   It jumps between London during the Blitz of World War II and the present-day, featuring characters from her previous books:  Maddie from “Falling Home” and “After the Rain...

Author Karen White on her novel “The Last Night in London.” Students in Dalton learn how to stage Tiny Desk Concerts. Mountain Spirit Acoustic Series:  Baltimore’s Ultrafaux, Part II. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”          

Richard Winham shares the second half of the public debut of The Premier Jazz Orchestra - featuring Alan Wyatt, Robert Crabtree, Nathan Warner, Landis Batts and David Schwab - from Barking Legs Theater in Chattanooga.

(WTCI PBS) “The A List with Alison Lebovitz” returns to WTCI PBS on Thursday night at 8:30 PM. Alison’s first guest in the new series of conversations:  Paula Kerger, the president and CEO of PBS. For the A List archive, watch here .

Small businesses in the Chattanooga area, here’s a podcast just for you.   The “How to Business” podcast features the team at the Chattanooga office of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center - produced in collaboration with Missing Word Solutions.   Joining us from the TSBDC team:  Lynn Chestnutt, managing director; Sarah Mattson, small business specialist - and Madison McCann, office sup...

The “How to Business” podcast by Chattanooga’s TSBDC. Barking Legs Theater:  The Premier Jazz Orchestra, Part II. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”          

(isisasheville.com) Richard Winham presents the first half of a set from the Baltimore-based quartet Ultrafaux, performed at the Isis Music Hall in Asheville, NC for the Mountain Spirit Acoustic Series.

(UTC Echo) A short walk from our campus - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - is a recent addition to the city’s arts scene. You can find Wavelength Space on McCallie Avenue.   Raquel Mullins is its director and curator.

(Lula Lake Land Trust) The weekend after next, the Lula Lake Land Trust will host the Mountain Miler race.   The running and mountain biking race - on Saturday, May 15th and Sunday, May 16th - will raise funds for conservation and trails at the site. Gaston Farmer is with Lula Lake Land Trust.  

(Chattanooga Area Veterans Council) Chattanooga’s Armed Forces Day Parade takes place later this week. Military service units, veterans’ groups, high school bands and more will gather for the parade on Friday, starting at 10:30 AM at Market Street and MLK Boulevard.   Mickey McCamish - a retired Navy captain - is the military co-chairman of this year’s parade.   Mickey is also executive director o...

Mickey McCamish on Chattanooga’s Armed Forces Day Parade. The Lula Laker Mountain Miler Race; Wavelength Space. Mountain Spirit Acoustic Series:  Baltimore’s Ultrafaux, Part I. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”          

(The Peace Mercahnts / Facebook) Richard Winham shares an encore session of The Peace Merchants - guitarist Jimmy Dormire, bassist Gary Hicks and drummer Ward Wilson - recorded live downtown at The Chattanooga Public Library.

(EJI) The Jefferson County Memorial Project - based in Birmingham - remembers the Black men and women killed in racially motivated violence by white mobs during the Jim Crow era of segregation in Alabama. Earlier this year, a plaque was installed along the railroad tracks in the town of Irondale - recalling the killing of a Black man there in 1896, as he tried to make a purchase at a grocery store...

(UTC) Mechatronics combines robotics with electrical and mechanical engineering - an interdisciplinary field with a growing demand for the engineers of tomorrow and the future of manufacturing. A few years ago, our campus - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - began to offer its own program in mechatronics.   This past semester, UTC opened its Mechatronics Lab on campus - filled with metal...

(highwaysee.com) Chris Hill is a podcaster who is based in Knoxville -  but lately, he’s been hitting the roadways of our Volunteer State.    He is host and producer of “Highway See,” brought to you by his podcasting company HumblePod and the Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance, which advocates for sustainable funding for road-building and other infrastructure needs in the state.      

Chris Hill, host and producer of the “Highway See” podcast. The future of manufacturing at UTC’s Mechatronics Lab. Markers of a violent racial past in Jefferson County, Alabama. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”   

Richard Winham shares the second part of his conversation with poet and teacher KB Ballentine, whose most recent collection - “Edge of the Echo” - was recently published.

(Tennessee Bluebird Society / Facebook) Bluebird enthusiasts here in the Chattanooga area have a few opportunities to … yes, flock … to this weekend and beyond.   Don Hazel of Crossville is president of the Tennessee Bluebird Society, and Alison Hoffman of Signal Mountain is co-manager of the Society’s Tri-State Chapter.