'Tennessee River' | Pierce Pettis | 'Studio-A: New Music' | WFSU-TV (1983)

Pierce Pettis performs an original song based on his hometown. The song is called "Tennessee River."

[iskandartaib]

I first heard this many, many years ago, on Public Radio (WFIU in Bloomington, IN). Every Saturday night, they'd have the Folk Sampler sandwiched between Prairie Home Companion and the Thistle and Shamrock, and for many years I'd record all four hours. Not very long after that, Pierce Pettis came to town to perform. This song had just been covered by a major Bluegrass band, and he was quite excited about it and performed it for us. After the show, I asked him which of the CDs he had on sale had the song on it - he said it wasn't on any of the CDs - it was on a cassette he was selling out of the back of his car many years ago when he was performing. I told him I'd heard it on the Folk Sampler, it was one of my favorites, and I was hoping he'd play it. So did two or three others in the audience who were there, and we wanted to know if he'd consider recording it again in the future. He said he would consider it, although he'd moved away from that sort of music. I guess we're lucky to have YouTube - we get to listen to music that would otherwise be forgotten.

[raineynancy]

To me, as great as he is, there's nothing like these first songs.