The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development unveiled its official 2019 Tennessee Vacation Guide today. Designed to inspire travel, the magazine-style guide features 194 pages of Tennessee’s music, scenic beauty, creative spirit, culinary excellence and history and is distributed to nearly 500,000 visitors annually.

The hand-illustrated cover depicts a quilt with the seven genres of music that call Tennessee home: blues, bluegrass, country, gospel, rockabilly, soul and rock ‘n’ roll. The metaphorical quilt represents the historical impact of music throughout the state and is a nod to the recently launched Tennessee Music Pathways.  In Tennessee, nearly every city, town and hamlet has a musical connection and story to tell; a birthplace, iconic radio station, museum, still-thriving venue, festival, a studio, a home or resting place.

Within the pages of the 2019 Tennessee Vacation Guide, readers will find:

· “Your Soundtrack Starts Here” – All roads lead to the Tennessee Music Pathways. From Justin Timberlake’s birthplace just north of Memphis to the birthplace of country music in Bristol. From Rockabilly King Carl Perkins’ home in Jackson to Usher’s homeplace in Chattanooga. Discover the musical connection and stories to tell in nearly every city and town.

· “What’s Old is New” – Historic places across the state have been reinvented, including Historic Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, now offering tours, a restaurant and moonshine. Other spots include Marathon Village in Nashville, Granville’s Sutton Old Time Music Hour at T.B. Sutton General Store and Crosstown Concourse in Memphis.

· “New & Noteworthy” -- New things are on tap for 2019. Explore Tennessee’s New & Noteworthy attractions, such as the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville and Dollywood’s Wildwood Grove. Nashville hosts the NFL Draft, Memphis marks its bicentennial and Knoxville hosts the Bassmaster Classic for the first time. Tennessee Songwriters Week the last full week of February will include open mic nights and special programming across the state.

The guide also offers insight into Tennessee’s growing food scene, the important historical journey along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, adventures on water, making memories in a top-five destination nationally for weddings and a perfect place for family reunions, family-friendly experiences and driving tours throughout the state’s 95 counties on the Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways. Stunning photography and noted writers profile the places, people and events that attract more than 113 million visitors to Tennessee each year.

The 2019 Vacation Guide is available for free at any of Tennessee’s 16 Welcome Centers, and can also be ordered or downloaded online at www.tnvacation.com. 

For more information or additional photos, contact Jill Kilgore, public relations media manager for the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, at 615-927-1320 or by email atJill.Kilgore@tn.gov.