StoryTown Radio

Listen in as StoryTown Radio Show hosts its annual “Salute to Veterans” performance! Featured stories come from local men and women who served in the Armed Forces. Stories include a reluctant optometrist who served his country one pair of glasses at a time, a Marine on the front lines of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and a member of the Special Forces who showed his former teachers what he was capable of. The cast will be joined by the town’s very own Jonesborough Novelty Band!

In November's episode of Voices from the Archive, we're hearing from Steve Cook, the craftsman and musician who started Jonesborough's esteemed music festival: Music on the Square. Listen in as Steve shares the story of how Music on the Square got its roots. Voices from the Archive is a monthly segment of StoryTown Radio. It shares stories from people living here, just how they told them. You might think of it like a news report that tells you about all sorts of things. From apple butter to ghost encounters, you could learn just about anything from the people living here in East Tennessee. Listen in as they tell the stories of their lives here in Appalachia. StoryTown Radio is a production of the McKinney Center's Story Initiative. Grounded in the belief that stories connect people to each other, the Story Initiative sets out to collect, archive, and share the stories from the region. Broadcast from Jonesborough, Tennessee, the Storytelling Capital of the World, StoryTown Radio is one way these stories are shared with people, nearby and all around.

This story was written by Reenie Fetters for the September 2025 Radio Show.

Celebrate the new semester with the latest edition of the StoryTown Radio Show. This month’s show is all about the “Old College Try: Higher Education Stories.” From dorm life to late night study sessions, and Greek tragedy readings that lead to the cops being called, StoryTown has a bunch of new stories to share. Joining the cast this month are the Flying J’s. This local band blends classic country tunes with a lot of humor. We also have storyteller Andy Offutt Irwin with us. This episode was sponsored by Mauk's of Jonesborough.

In this month's Voices from the Archive, we're listening to Joyce Dean Garrison, a retired music teacher and member fo the johnson city orchestra guild. Today, we’re going to hear her talk about her experience as a teacher, her love for music, and the importance of music in education. Voices from the Archive is a monthly segment of StoryTown Radio. It shares stories from people living here, just how they told them. You might think of it like a news report that tells you about all sorts of things. From apple butter to ghost encounters, you could learn just about anything from the people living here in East Tennessee. Listen in as they tell the stories of their lives here in Appalachia. StoryTown Radio is a production of the McKinney Center's Story Initiative. Grounded in the belief that stories connect people to each other, the Story Initiative sets out to collect, archive, and share the stories from the region. Broadcast from Jonesborough, Tennessee, the Storytelling Capital of the World, StoryTown Radio is one way these stories are shared with people, nearby and all around.