From Jimmie Rodgers to Elvis Presley: Paul Kingsbury on Mississippi’s Country DNA
Mississippi on the MapShow Notes
What do the Bristol Sessions, a blue yodel, a preserved shotgun house in Tupelo, and a guitar once held by Jimmie Rodgers all have in common? They’re all threads in Mississippi’s country-music DNA. Host Charlie Worsham sits down with Paul Kingsbury of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum for a wide-ranging conversation that traces Mississippi’s influence from Jimmie Rodgers (and his genre-bending “blue yodels”) to Elvis Presley’s country beginnings, Tammy Wynette’s drive, Charley Pride’s legacy, and the creative liberation of the outlaw era. Along the way, they swap behind-the-scenes stories from the Hall of Fame, spotlight Marty Stuart’s astonishing collection, and explore the beautiful, complicated history of American music and Mississippi's role in that legacy. Mississippi Places Mentioned: Grenada, Tupelo, Starkville, the Mississippi Delta, Bentonia, Amite County, Tallahatchie Bridge, Oxford (Ole Miss), North Mississippi, the Natchez Trace. People and Groups Mentioned: Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family, The Tennessee Ramblers, Ralph Peer, James Burton, Keith Richards, Ernest Tubb, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Bobby Bare, Tom T. Hall, Will Campbell, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, Connie Smith, Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline, Billy Sherrill, Lyle Lovett, Marty Stuart, Chris Stapleton, George Jones, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, Sammy Smith, Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster, Charley Pride, Lloyd Green, Cowboy Jack Clement, Chet Atkins, Sam Phillips, Marion Keisker, Bill Monroe, Hank Snow, Red Sovine, Red Foley, Ernest Withers, Jimmy Martin, Larry Wallace, Tom Piazza, Bobbie Gentry, Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Johnny Russell, LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill, Paul Overstreet, Craig Wiseman, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Son House, B.B. King, Charlie Patton, Bo Diddley, Elmore James, Jimmy Reed, The Mississippi Sheiks, Mississippi John Hurt, Doc Watson, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
More from Mississippi on the Map
In the season finale of Mississippi on the Map, host Charlie Worsham turns the mic on himself, reflecting on his own Mississippi story. From growing up in Grenada to finding his way into music, Charlie shares the early influences, experiences, and moments that shaped his path, both as an artist and as a storyteller. Along the way, he explores Mississippi’s lasting cultural impact through the lens of music, history, and place. He also shares the books that shaped his understanding of the state and reveals who would go on his personal "Mississippi Mount Rushmore." It’s a thoughtful, personal look at the connection between place and perspective—and why Mississippi continues to play such an outsized role in the American story. Mississippi Places Mentioned: Grenada, Mississippi Delta, Philadelphia, Greenville, Walnut Street Blues Bar (Greenville), Studio 55 (Grenada), The Tiki Bar (Grenada), Jackson, Yazoo City, Po' Monkeys Lounge, Hattiesburg, Chaney's Pharmacy & Gifts (Grenada), Parchman (Mississippi State Penitentiary), Lynyrd Skynyrd Crash Site, Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, University of Mississippi, Tunica, Highway 61, Clarksdale, Red's, Oxford, Natchez, Spencer's Dairy Kream (Grenada), Marty Stuart's Congress of Country Music, Philadelphia, Doe's Eat Place, Neshoba County Fair, Ground Zero Blues Club, Indianola, Dockery Farms, Delta Blues Museum, Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. People and Groups Mentioned: Visit Mississippi; Maris, West & Baker; Troy Dixon; Craig Wiseman; Joe Diffie; B100 (radio station); Johnny Russell; Cindy Dugan (piano teacher); Vince Gill; Larry Wallace (banjo player and teacher); Hanson; Haley Bennett (drummer); Rick Lambert (guitarist); Peavey Electronics Corporation; Norbert Putnam; Jimmy Buffett; Joan Baez; Miss Trish's Barbershop (Grenada); Cross Coutry Seed & Feed (Grenada); Mo Hubbard (musician); Elvis Presley; B.B. King; Muddy Waters; Marty Stuart; Pop Staples; Paul Overstreet; Mac McAnally; Willie Morris; Anthony Bourdain; Tracy Lawrence; Kermit the Frog; Grenada High School Marching Band; Ketch Secor; Wright Thompson; Emmett Till; Fannie Lou Hamer; Medgar Evers; James Meredith; Mark McClure; the Parchman Band (band members Houston and L.J.); Myrlie Evers; Ken Burns; Haley Barber; Charlie Patton; William Winter; Will D. Campbell; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Waylon Jennings; Donna Tartt; John Grisham; William Faulkner; Eudor Welty; Jesmyn Ward; John T. Edge; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Morgan Freeman; Alan Lomax; Keith Richards; Mike Jagger; The Rolling Stones; HARDY; Lester Flatt; Connie Smith; Jimmie Rodgers; Dierks Bentley; Grand Ole Opry. Learn more: Charlie Worsham Official Website, Visit Mississippi
Charlie joins Boo Mitchell, GRAMMY Award-winning musician, producer, engineer, and owner of the legendary Royal Studios in Memphis, the recording studio founded by his father, Willie Mitchell. Boo grew up inside one of the most influential recording environments in American music, where artists like Al Green helped define the sound of soul. The conversation explores the balance between honoring a deeply rooted musical legacy and continuing to evolve it, as Boo reflects on the responsibility of preserving the studio's signature sound while working with a new generation of artists. From the arrangements that shaped the studio’s signature horn sound to reflections on collaboration across racial lines during a complex time in the South, this episode offers a rare inside look at a studio and a family that helped shape the sound of the South. Be sure to stick around to the very end for a special solo musical performance from Charlie.
In Part 2 of our conversation with hitmaking songwriter Craig Wiseman, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer dives deeper into the stories, influences, and lessons behind some of country music’s biggest songs. Craig and Charlie talk about the gospel roots that shaped songs like “When the Lights Go Down,” the moment he realized there was “another gear” after writing “Live Like You Were Dying,” and the unlikely origin of the name of his powerhouse publishing company, Big Loud. Along the way, Craig reflects on Mississippi’s creative influence on the world and the real-life stories that inspired his songs. He also shares candid advice for today’s artists about originality, building fans instead of chasing deals, and why helping others succeed can unlock your own potential. Mississippi places mentioned: Hattiesburg, Mississippi Delta, Mississippi Gulf Coast People and Groups Mentioned: Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Morgan Wallen, Ronnie Dunn, Blake Shelton, Faith Hill, Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Chuck Berry, Chris Tompkins, Connie Bradley, Big Loud
Charlie welcomes Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Craig Wiseman, a fellow Mississippian whose story starts in Hattiesburg and led to a career that includes numerous No. 1 hits and a 2015 induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Craig looks back on the radio station, church camps, and bar bands that formed his early musical education, experiences that helped shape his knack for writing honest, crowd-ready songs. Along the way, Craig and Charlie trade music industry war stories, from VFW Sunday-night gigs and “five-piece jukebox” setlists to the hard-earned lesson that if you want to get called back, you write what people will sing. Craig shares an early formative interaction with an AM radio deejay, then takes us inside the leap to Nashville, the early grind, and his “tempo song” reputation that opened doors to partnerships with Roy Orbison, Tim McGraw, and Kenny Chesney. It’s Part 1 of a conversation full of craft, characters, and the Mississippi sensibility that informs Craig’s work to this day. Mississippi Places Mentioned: Hattiesburg (including Midtown), Jackson, Waynesboro, Vicksburg, Hattiesburg VFW, WFOR People and Groups Mentioned: Jim Wood, Waylon Jennings, Ferlin Husky, Frank Sinatra, George Jones, Andy Williams, Marty Stuart, Rex Bob Lowenstein, Kenny Chesney, Charlie Daniels, Barry Beckett, Ronnie Dunn, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hank Snow, Hank Williams Jr. (song referenced), David Allen Coe (song referenced), Alabama, Roy Orbison, Confederate Railroad, Tim McGraw, Tracy Lawrence, Ken Levitan, Paul Harvey, David Conrad, Chet Atkins, Steve Wariner, Emmylou Harris, Paul Overstreet, Troy Seals, Mike Reid, Kent Robbins, Joe Galante, Jim Collins, Steve McEwan.
Charlie welcomes two friends from the Grand Ole Opry, which celebrated its 100th year in 2025. Jordan Pettit, a fellow Mississippian, traces his path from Olive Branch and family trips through north Mississippi to a career that took him from Vanderbilt to record labels and eventually to the Opry. Dan Rogers shares what it meant to grow up in rural Illinois with the Opry as a Saturday-night lighthouse, guiding the imagination far beyond the fence line. Along the way, they swap stories about Opryland, cassette-tape road trips, bluegrass competitions, and the kind of backstage camaraderie that makes the Opry feel like a small town with a global microphone. The conversation hits peak “pinch-me” with a fresh recap of Ringo Starr’s recent Opry appearance and the moment he performed the Johnny Russell-penned “Act Naturally.” From Rod Brasfield and Minnie Pearl to Charley Pride’s magnetic presence, the episode becomes a love letter to an institution that keeps evolving without losing its soul, and to Mississippi’s steady current running through it all. Mississippi Places Mentioned: Olive Branch, Como, Grenada, Tallahatchie County, Smithville, Liberty, Sledge, Philadelphia, Oxford, Amite County. People and Groups Mentioned: Grand Ole Opry, Ringo Starr, The Beatles, Johnny Russell, Buck Owens, Riders in the Sky, Minnie Pearl, Rod Brasfield, Jerry Clower, Robbie Caldwell, Show Dog, Charley Pride, Dion Pride, Mike Snider, Marty Robbins, Ernest Tubb, Bill Monroe, Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Marty Stuart, Connie Smith, Les Leverett, Tom T. Hall, Porter Wagoner, The Louvin Brothers, The Everly Brothers, Roxanne Russell, Robert Johnson, Jimmie Rodgers, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Randy Houser, Britney Spears, HARDY, R.L. Burnside, Conway Twitty, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Sam Cooke, William Faulkner, John Grisham, Donna Tartt, Willie Morris.