Knoxville's music history is an interesting story.
"This was the beauty of Knoxville's Music," said Bradley Reeves of the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound. "We were so diverse. We had it all, and we still do."
Reeves, along with others from The Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound, has been compiling artifacts, photographs and recordings for years.
Their findings are now available for public viewing.
"We've got just a bit of everything," said Reeves. "We're going to really highlight Knoxville's great history diverse and cultural heritage of music."
The new exhibit at the East Tennessee History Center is called "Come to Make Records, Knoxville's Contributions to American Popular Music".
"You'll see original instruments, banjos, mandalins, now even a zither from some of the original recording artists that made these great and wonderful, but extremely rare records in Knoxville 85 years ago," added Reeves.
The recordings are also available for the first time in a box set.
There will be an opening ceremony for the exhibit on Friday, April 15th.
"Come to Make Records, Knoxville's Contributions to American Popular Music" will run through October 31st.