Page 16 - AAA Magazine – AAA Ohio Auto Club – September 2021

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“It’s been a long journey,” said Wolfe. “It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I had never done television before; had never been on camera. It’s a non-scripted show. I try to find different ways to say the same thing. What saves us is the people that we’re picking and the process – us rummaging through a barn or an old chicken coop. It’s very voyeuristic. It allows you to get into a world that maybe you never knew existed.”
The wildly popular television show has since been syndicated in 63 other countries. There is “Italian Pickers,” “Australian Pickers” and “Irish Pickers,” all featuring their own versions of America’s stars Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz and Danielle Colby searching for remnants of their own country’s history.
Considering Wolfe’s passion for all things small-town America, it should come as no surprise that he has joined up with leaders from 13 rural middle Tennessee and northwest Alabama communities to launch a new regional movement known as “Nashville’s Big Back Yard.”
Anchored by 100 miles of the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway, the movement is designed to highlight communities with populations less than 5,000 –
from Leiper’s Fork, Tenn. (Wolfe’s home), down to The Shoals of Alabama.
Said Wolfe, “Everybody’s always looking for an authentic experience. We were just creating an outline for others to do the same. That’s what we want. ‘Nashville’s Big Back Yard’ can serve as a model for building tourism in small towns across the country. These are also places to
live affordably and with a new sense of purpose.” Wolfe is quick to point out that the main character
behind this movement is philanthropist Aubrey Preston, founder of the Americana Music Triangle, which connects Nashville, Memphis, Tenn., and New Orleans. Preston and his team began researching the two-lane-road towns that have survived between these major tourist cities.
“He connected it all together,” said Wolfe. “The research that has been done is amazing.”
Asked why he felt so compelled to take on the role of frontman for this movement, Wolfe said, “I always try to lose myself in the landscape. Get off your travel apps and just drive. Visit small town America and do it now because it’s fading fast. It’s a national pandemic. I don’t want all of these places to disappear on our watch. This is our time. This is our chance to make a difference.”
Asked about the appeal of Leiper’s Fork, the northernmost town on the trail, Wolfe described it as
once being very bohemian. It has since come to be home to soap opera stars, world-class musicians and pro athletes and coaches.
“It’s become something different, but the core of it is the same,” he said.
As for the other “Nashville’s Big Back Yard” towns, Wolfe provided a few highlights:
Santa Fe – Just outside of Santa Fe, in the small community of Bethel, is Nett’s Country Store. In addition to selling gasoline and a few groceries, Nett, the owner, serves some of the best Southern food in the region – fried chicken, fried catfish, macaroni and cheese, green beans, corn and homemade pies for dessert.
Centerville – This is the home of Minnie Pearl, arguably one of the most popular Grand Ole Opry stars in its 95-year history. Minnie’s famed and fictionalized “Grinders Switch” is memorialized with The Grinders Switch Hour, a 90-minute live radio show broadcast every Saturday morning from downtown Centerville and the Grinders Switch Museum, housed in the Hickman County Chamber of Commerce offices in Centerville.
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