Knox Vegas

Im going go off Nick's good initiative, and introducing ya'll to Knoxville, TN.

Its been alittle over 11 months since i moved down here, and there are a number of things that this city has to offer that on first glance, may be missed.

Most notably if you're simply driving through, you may miss the awesome live music scene. It starts with the blue plate special; 5 days aweek, the visitor center sponsors- free live music at lunch, that usually hosts traveling acts that range from the 'big time' to local fame. Such acts over the past few months have included Bela Fleck, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the Hackensaw Boys stopped by to perform for short noon time show. From there nearly all of the bars located in the historic Old City offer a variety of acts that are all free most nights of the week. I've managed to see alot of live shows this year by simply getting these places before 10. It is true that genre wise, the scene is predominately bluegrass, alternative country/ rock, but there are some progressive alternative music spots, most notably the Pilot Light and what is now the Catalyst. Beyond these there are big venue places, such as the Tennessee Theater & the Bijou, where everyone from Sonic Youth to Robert Randolph to Iron & Wine to Avett Bros have played this year.

The next major thing about Knoxville, is its location. Nestled in the Tennessee Valley on the Tennessee River, K-town is roughly an hour from the Great Smoky Mountains and less than two hours from the Cumberland plateau. On a clear day, you can see the Smokies from the city. A cool part of my job down here, was being able to go hike around some of the state parks close to town, wading around in streams for fish sampling and assessments. And I managed to go on a few hikes in the Smokies, but not nearly enough. Being one of the most easily accessible national parks in the country, its attracted a fair bit of tourist type industries, which has detracted from the area surrounding the park (at least on the TN side) but once inside the park, its still peaceful and gorgeous.

Probably the last major thing to take note of for Knoxville, is some good, inexpensive food/drink. There are a some local initiatives to promote local produce such as the farmer's market and Knoxville's Co-op Three River Market, which aren't great when held up in comparison to the efforts in other states, but its step in the right direction. There are few places in town though that do strive for the local taste, such as the Tomato Head, a great little sandwich/ pizza restaurant that is super popular and always busy. Others while as proactive on that end, still offer great deals such as Barley's Taproom, ($2 pint nights), Downtown Grill and Brewery ( 25 cent mimosa's for brunch), Preservation Pub (Free pizza at happy hour), Nama's Sushi and the Bistro at the Bijou.

So there are some things that this city has to offer. Definitely more than I anticipated before moving here. While the State is largely still a very poor (as is Knoxville), and in some instances very backwards, Knoxville is making strides to be more of compelling and interesting places, such as Nashville and Memphis. I figure most of you might still have an image of the south as being confederate flag waving rednecks and trailer parks, but if you ever find yourself in this part of the country, you'll be pleasantly surprised that the stereotype is slowly fading, and there are some cools things going on down here.