Tennessee and Mississippi get most of the attention when people talk about American music, but Arkansas keeps showing up in the story. Johnny Cash grew up working in the cotton fields in Dyess. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was born in Cotton Plant decades before her electric guitar helped shape rock and roll. Louis Jordan came from Brinkley, Levon Helm from Turkey Scratch and Jimmy Driftwood from the Ozarks.
The music itself came from all over. Gospel filled churches, blues traveled through the Delta and old folk songs were passed down in the mountains. Radio stations carried those sounds farther, while clubs, school gyms and dance halls gave musicians places to play. By the 1950s, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Conway Twitty were among the young performers traveling Highway 67 through Northeast Arkansas.
Much of that music history can still be explored today through museums, historic theaters, radio stations and communities that haven’t forgotten their musical roots. Here are 10 places to start…