The music of Texas is as vast and hard to define as the Lone Star state itself; it covers every genre of American music—transcending culture, race, language, and historical circumstance—and yet reveals a distinctive soulprint that you won’t hear anywhere else.

Every state in the South has contributed to the grand narrative of American music, but few can match Tennessee’s deep roots in the blues and jazz, gospel, soul and r&b, rockabilly, rock & roll, and country—or its tremendous concentration of historic record labels and music industry visionaries.