New tourism project brands five states as Americana Music Triangle

Now, you can tap into legendary sites where Americana music was born if you remember to follow the Golden Record Road.

Tennessee philanthropist Aubrey Preston has turned his eye to promoting hotspots in the Delta in a preservation and tourism initiative called the Americana Music Triangle. The web-based project is a natural extension of Preston’s work; he created the Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways Program and saved Nashville’s legendary RCA Studio A from demolition when he purchased it in late 2014. The result of his experience in this project is a unique combination of technology, authentic history and grassroots movement.

“It's probably the most high-leverage marketing thing that's ever come along to any of the states in terms of their return on investment,” Founder Preston said. He hopes to bring some of the smaller towns rich in history into cultural consciousness by branding the region under the flag of the American Music Triangle.  “Hopefully it's a little bit of a blueprint for everybody to play as a team on more of a global scale, kind of like playing in the Olympics versus just playing on your own team,” he said.
 
The site is like a flashy AAA TripTik planner for the 21st century music fan. Visitors can select from six routes, New Orleans to Natchez, Mississippi; Vicksburg, Mississippi to Memphis; Memphis to Nashville; Nashville to Muscle Shoals, Alabama; and Tupelo, Mississippi to New Orleans. Destinations are connected by the newly-branded Golden Record Road, a 1,500-mile stretch made up of Interstate 40, Highway 61 and Natchez Trace Parkway.

Every stop along the way is laid out for its influence in music history. The guide directs people to storied stops like Sun Studio and Graceland, of course, but it also draws attention to the living, breathing sites of Memphis music like the Levitt Shell, St. Blues Guitar Workshop, Center for Southern Folklore and the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church where Reverend Al Green presides.

The website also contains extensive timelines dating the formation of Americana’s nine distinct genres: blues, jazz, country, rock ‘n roll, R&B/soul, gospel, Southern gospel, Cajun/zydeco and bluegrass. A calendar connects the triangle’s five-state reach with a database of festivals and musical gatherings.

The initiative, which is the culmination of more than three years of effort, will be coordinated with state tourism agencies across the region. The project is headed by nonprofit Leipers Fork Foundation, Inc. which sells the collateral materials such as maps and rack cards.  

Overall, Preston’s vision is a “musical central park” that garners visitors and online enthusiasts via the online platform.

“People travel largely using the net now,” Preston added. “If we create an online  community with a little bit of organization, we believe that we can create the core of a global music community online and again create a tremendous amount of value just by connecting people to other people who have this passion about music.”
 
Check out the website here.