October 25th is your last day to see Tennessee Music Boxes.

The Tennessee music box is a folk music instrument which originated in the rural counties of West or Middle Tennessee shortly after the Civil War. Its origins are shrouded in mystery, but there are enough similarities among the documented instruments to suggest common ancestry.

They were never commercially produced on any scale but the most skilled craftsmen might have built several instruments for friends and family. The techniques of constructing and playing these “box dulcimers” were transmitted through family tradition or from neighbor to neighbor making them true regional folk instruments. Each one was constructed from materials at hand lending every Tennessee music box individual aesthetic and tonal characteristics.

This exhibition highlights seven unique instruments from the 1800s, along with details about the instruments’ construction, history, and rediscovery. Come experience these truly unique artifacts at The Carnegie Center for Arts and History.

Tennessee Music Boxes is on loan from Arts in McNairy.