StoryTown will be sharing stories about Jimmy Neil Smith in this new episode, titled, “A Country Boy with a Dream." A Jonesborough native, Jimmy Neil was a journalism teacher at Science Hill High School, and his early love for storytelling led him to create the Storytelling Festival in 1973. He also served as Jonesborough’s mayor for several years and helped to turn the historic town into the destination it is today. He was a well known and much beloved character, and everyone who met him has a story to tell about him. We’ll be sharing stories from co-workers, family members, fellow storytellers, former students, and more. The music guest for this production is the Science Hill SteelToppers, making their high-energy Radio Show debut!

Director's Cut No. 22: Guerry McConnell's Wedding

Real stories, real people. This storytelling program is filled with true-life adventures of people past and present from Jonesborough, Tennessee, and the surrounding Southern Appalachian Region. Each program presents stories built around a common theme. All of these stories, which are collected from the hills and hollers, and sometimes up in the Mountains of East Tennessee, are scripted into a show that explores the culture, heritage, and history of these diverse voices. Home to the town of the first Abolitionist Newspaper in the Country. Home to the state that made Women’s Suffrage a reality. Home to Warner Institute, training Freedmen and Women as teachers beginning less than a decade after the end of the Civil War. Surprising, heartwarming, and often hilarious stories of the independent East Tennessee people come to life in this podcast with a voice and accent that can be found nowhere else.  
Sponsored by: The Tennessee Arts Commission, WETS 89.5 FM, The Town of Jonesborough, The McKinney Center, The Wild Women of Jonesborough, McLeod Organics, Trivia with Budds, Wolfe Development, Gary and Sandee Degner, and Terry and Sandy Countermine.