The Road Home: Charlie Worsham Reflects on His Mississippi Story

The Road Home: Charlie Worsham Reflects on His Mississippi Story

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 [https://www.charlieworsham.com/], Visit Mississippi [https://visitmississippi.org/]

The Sound of Southern Soul: Boo Mitchell and the Royal Studios Legacy

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. Mississippi Places Mentioned: Ashland, Clarksdale, Red’s, Indianola, B.B. King Museum, GRAMMY Museum Mississippi, Dockery Farms, Club Ebony, McComb, Jackson, Highway 61. People and Groups Mentioned: Willie "Pop" Mitchell, Al Green, B.B. King, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Carla Thomas, Elvis Presley, Charley Pride, Chuck Berry, Tina Turner, The Doobie Brothers, The Temptations, William Bell, Snoop Dogg, Yo Gotti, Frazier Boy, Al Kapone, Bobby Rush, Cody Dickinson, Martin Shore, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Isaiah Sharkey, Kingfish, Cedric Burnside, Mark Ronson, Steve Jordan, Trombone Shorty, Willie Weeks, The Dap-Kings, Michael Chabon, Kevin Parker, Tame Impala, Andy Wyatt, Lana Del Rey, Emile Haynie, Lester Snell, Ann Peebles, Charlie Rich, Jay Joyce, Isaac Hayes, Wu-Tang Clan, Drake, Melissa Etheridge, Brandy Clark, John Mayer, Bruno Mars, Tom Jones, The Beatles, Lorraine Bracco, Sam Phillips, W.C. Handy, Alan Lomax, Ray Harris, Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell, Dickie Klein, Reggie Young, Cowboy Jack Clement, Hi Records, Stax, Ardent Studios, Stax Music Academy, Royal Studios.

A Songwriter’s Journey: Craig Wiseman’s Rise from Hub City Drummer to Music Row Hitmaker (Part 2)

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

A Songwriter’s Journey: Craig Wiseman’s Rise from Hub City Drummer to Music Row Hitmaker (Part 1)

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.

Opry Dreams: Mississippi Memories and the Grand Ole Opry at 100

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.