Episode 3832

- [Presenter] "Tennessee Crossroads" is brought to you in part by...

- [Announcer 1] Some of our biggest checks have also made the biggest difference. The Tennessee Lottery, proud to have raised more than $7.5 billion for education. Now, that's some game-changing, life-changing fun.

- [Announcer 2] Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways. Discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history, and more made-in-Tennessee experiences showcased among these 16 driving trails. More at TNTrailsAndByways.com.

- [Announcer 3] The co-op system in Tennessee consists of independently-owned co-ops, driven to serve farmer owners, rural-lifestyle customers, and their communities throughout Tennessee and in five neighboring states. More at ourcoop.com.

- [Announcer 4] Middle Tennessee State University College of Liberal Arts helps students explore the world, engage minds, enrich lives, and earn a living. More at mtsu.edu/cla.

- This week, we find a deli that rocks, enjoy cookies powered by moonshine, meet a legendary family of guitar makers, and spend the night at an inn fit for a Commodore. Anchor down folks, I'm Laura Faber. Welcome to "Tennessee Crossroads." It's not easy running a small business. And we are always impressed when we see what these owners have to do to keep them up and running. We're even more impressed when the entrepreneur is barely old enough to vote. In Bedford County, a little over an hour from Nashville, sits historic Wartrace, Tennessee. An old railroad depot town, it's known for its Civil War history, preserved architecture, and the Tennessee Walking Horse breed was developed here. Just off the square of Wartrace, Tennessee, you might not expect to find a great place for lunch. But here it is, the Rock House Deli. And it's all thanks to an entrepreneur who might surprise you. Lunch prep is underway in this small rock building in this small Tennessee town where the population sits just under 700. Customers file in as soon as the doors open.

- [Carrie] Hey, how are you doing?

- [Laura] They're greeted by the owner of the Rock House Deli, KerriAnn Brewer. She was 18 when this deli became hers.

- I've been born and raised here for 20 years. And I went to school here, grew up here. My mom worked at a restaurant in the square and then my dad sold vegetables over there.

- [Laura] I don't know if you remember what you were doing when you were 18, but running a restaurant was probably not it.

- Couldn't have picked a better place to come look at.

- Working here was her first job. And the longer she worked here, the more her responsibilities grew. When the original owners decided to sell, they asked if KerriAnn was interested.

- [KerriAnn] I was 18 years old at the time, so I didn't have money saved. So I was like, "Let me talk to my mom about it." I had to give it a shot.

- [Laura] Why? What was it about this place?

- I kind of just thought like, as far as being here and interacting with the customers and knowing how to order the groceries or how much and making a menu and things like that, I already knew how to do all of that from working here. So it was just having to learn the tax side of it and all of that paperwork portion of it. But I thought like, "I mean, we all gotta start somewhere." Everyone started somewhere when they became a business owners.

- [Laura] Soups, sandwiches, and salads are always on the menu. Top sellers are the Reuben, the Club, and something called the Strollin' Jim.

- [KerriAnn] And then the Strollin' Jim is a panini on a sub with pesto, mayo, turkey, red onion, tomato, provolone, and Italian seasoning. And then we top it with Parmesan and garlic butter, and we do banana peppers on the side of that.

- [Laura] Her homemade soups are always popular and customers have strong opinions about them. Like Eva Hawkins, the soup tester.

- Well, 'cause I came here three days in a row to eat the soup. Broccoli cheddar.

- [Laura] You got the broccoli cheddar today.

- And the chili's good too.

- And we sell a lot of the Tomato Bisque. Everyone loves that one. I tried to get rid of doing the soup throughout the summer. And so when I said that we were gonna stop doing Tomato Bisque, everyone was tagging me on Facebook, like, "Oh, no. No more Tomato Bisque." So I'm like, "Okay, y'all, next week we're starting back up Tomato Bisque and we'll have that all the time." And then we have another soup that we'll switch weekly.

- [Laura] Jessie's Tomato Salad is a side with a story.

- So that's actually named after my dad. He used to sell vegetables on the square here in Wartrace. And really one day we just had ran out of a potato salad and macaroni salad in our chips. Or whatever sides we had that day, we had ran out and we had all the ingredients for that. So I just ended up whipping it up, throwing it together, and we've been selling it and people love it. And so when I remade the menu, I decided to name it after my dad also, just in honor of him.

- [Laura] Since KerriAnn's father passed away, many of her customers step in to help when needed. Like Robert Parks, a regular who loves the fried bologna.

- Very proud of this young lady. She's done an exceptional job for somebody her age to be able to do what she's done, and it should be an inspiration to everybody about how she's got such a good work ethic.

- [Laura] Her customers range from locals, construction workers, and other businesswomen like Brooke Gibson.

- We actually met at a women's networking group that I run in Manchester. Someone had sent her the invitation, she showed up one night, and the rest is history. The chicken salad, every time she has chicken salad as a special, she shoots me a text and I make the drive 'cause it's my absolute favorite,

- [KerriAnn] Honestly, my favorite thing, I feel like it sounds kind of cliche to say, but is literally just reacting, like, interacting with the customers. How have you been doing, Toni?

- [Toni] Doing good.

- [Laura] When KerriAnn thinks of the future, she imagines a Rock House Deli food truck. She and her staff are used to working in tight quarters in this tight-knit community, where KerriAnn feels like everyone is rooting for her.

- Sometimes it's like overwhelming, but in the best way possible overwhelming. It's just like I never could imagine that that would be my life starting at 18. So... But I love it and I wouldn't change it for anything.

- Moonshine goes by many names. But whatever you call it, it is a Tennessee tradition. In our next story, Miranda Cohen takes us to a gourmet cookie shop in Knoxville, where the tradition is alive and well and being poured into some delicious baked goods.

- [Miranda] Rick Dunlap is from McMinnville. Mike Maddox is from Mount Juliet. And Robin Maddox is from Knoxville. And this dynamic trio has been friends for nearly 40 years. It all started back at the University of Tennessee. From their sophomore year, Rick Dunlap and Mike Maddox were college roommates. Mike and Robin were sweethearts, now married for 35 years.

- I saw something in him that he just became my dearest friend. And here 40 years later, he's still my dearest friend. He's a thinker. And so it doesn't shock me at any of his ideas that he comes up with.

- Robin thinks I'm a serial entrepreneur, so I would say that I'm guilty as charged.

- [Miranda] So no one was surprised when Mike opened a pizza restaurant in Knoxville in his 20s. Always the thinker, he wanted to make his business stand out, so he talked his new bride into making her delicious homemade cookies.

- [Mike] So we started sending out the cookies with the pizzas that day, and about 30, 45 minutes later, the phone starts ringing off the hook and it's people not calling back to order an extra pizza, but they're wanting extra cookies.

- I thought it was amazing. I thought it was just like unlike any cookie I'd ever tried before.

- [Miranda] Fast forward 30 years. Now older, wiser, and with the desire to do something a little different, the old friends were brought back together by fate and those amazing cookies. Robin still had the great recipe for the cookies they called Rocky Top and Peanut Buttercup Rocky Top, but they wanted to give their new cookies a little something extra.

- And I knew that there was one thing that was smoking hot at the time, and that was moonshine. It had just been legalized. The whole idea for the moonshine was really just to get people's attention.

- [Rick] It was such a novel thing, but also delicious. Novelty only goes so far. And when they tasted, it was unlike anything they had ever tried.

- [Robin] So we started the moonshine. It was like just trial and error, starting another one. "Can we do one with strawberry moonshine?" "Well, how about orange moonshine?" Well, how about..." You know, so we just kinda went from there and just started creating different recipes.

- [Miranda] And that's how the Moonshine Mountain Cookie Company started. Now they have two locations in Knoxville and a busy mail order business. And though each cookie has a little something special, they are still completely family-friendly.

- [Mike] This is not an adulterated product in any way. We had it tested by the state and they kind of laughed at us. You're not gonna taste the alcohol. Some people are disappointed about that and some people are happy about it. But it's safe for kids, it's safe for everyone.

- [Miranda] In fact, spirited baking has been around for centuries.

- [Rick] We know from our past that a lot of our grandmothers or great-grandmothers put alcohol in their baking, and that extends the life of it.

- For me in east Tennessee, when you say you say "moonshine," you think Tennessee. It helps keep our cookies moist. And as the alcohol bakes off, most bakers will tell you that the alcohol bakes off, the flavoring that was used in that flavored moonshine stays and it gives the cookie an extra flavor burst.

- [Rick] It really does accentuate the taste and the moisture content.

- [Miranda] And the founders of the Moonshine Mountain Cookie Company didn't have to look far to find the perfect libation. They use Ole Smoky Moonshine.

- We're very proud of being a Tennessee company, so we're very proud that it's Tennessee moonshine.

- [Miranda] In the beginning, they enlisted a small army of family and friends. Now they have a full-time staff, who carefully oversee the mixing of only the finest ingredients.

- [Robin] We just don't wanna skimp. And we're like, "You know what? We think the cookie's worth it. We put a lot of love and a lot of time into it, so we want them to be the best."

- And the Moonshine Mountain Cookie Company cookies are true to their name. In each cookie, there is a little splash of moonshine. And if you look closely on each cookie, there is a mountain.

- [Rick] We found the novel approach to use a ice cream scoop. So therefore, we had Moonshine Mountain, because our cookies are shaped like a mountain. I think it's our signature. I think every single business needs a brand and something that reminds them of what it is, and to stand out from the others.

- [Miranda] And stand out they do. In fact, the cookies made with a little secret recipe are hardly a secret anymore. They will ship all over the country from this Kingston Pike location. And once you've had one of their creative libations, you'll be coming back for more. With flavors like Berry White, John Lemon, Mint Jagger, Fall and Oats, Happy Pappy, Decadent, Choco Khan, and many more. They even make giant cookie cakes with handwritten inscriptions like "Happy Birthday!" "Congratulations!" or even the name of your favorite TV show.

- We try to be creative and a wholesome company, and we put the two together. And we really are just looking for fun. And we want it to be an excellent product. But we want to be a wholesome company that has fun and is fun.

- [Mike] We really emphasize the customer service. Because I can't control whether you like our cookie or not, but we can certainly control whether you were treated well when you came in.

- [Rick] We've put out a product that comes from Tennessee, from products of Tennessee, and nothing makes us happier than to represent the state of Tennessee with a cookie that is worthy of all Tennesseans.

- Thanks, Miranda. There are quite a few talented Tennessee craftsmen who make guitars and other stringed instruments. The name Delgado represents four generations of world-class craftsmanship. It's a story that began in Mexico and continues nowadays in Nashville.

- [Manuel] We've been around for 94 years. We have over 45 different types of instruments that we make. And we have some pretty well-known artists within all of those different genres of music that play them.

- [Joe] Manuel Delgado's custom handmade instruments are part of a proud family tradition that began in 1928. That's when his Mexican-born great-grandfather and great-uncle went from building cabinets to building guitars. And the Delgado brand was born. Manuel's father, Candelario, became the second-generation luthier just before the business moved to Los Angeles. There was little doubt young Manuel would follow in his footsteps. However, as a young man, he was also attracted to law enforcement.

- I was still working in the shop, but I was going through the process with the LA County Sheriff's Academy, going through all the background information and everything. And when my father got diagnosed with cancer, that's when I just decided to go back to the shop. And I don't regret it. I don't. Yeah. The guitars don't shoot back at you.

- [Joe] Manuel, who built his first guitar at age 12, follows the family tradition of quality craftsmanship, building each instrument by hand using mostly old-style tools and even some he made himself.

- Most people do what they call a dovetail joint. They build the body of the instrument complete, they make the neck separate, and then they slide the neck into the body. We will actually build the body around the neck, so you never have to do a neck reset on a Delgado guitar. ♪ My dog has fleas ♪

- That's the tuning for the...

- [Joe] A ukulele? No, it's pronounced "ukulele." Delgado has made them since day one, and Manuel believes they're often rudely underrated.

- [Manuel] The ukulele became very popular around the '40s or '50s. It was an instrument that was used in schools, actually, going back to schools. And then I think it was really Tiny Tim that kind of put the nail in the coffin. You know? And he just kind of made it not so cool to play the ukulele and it kind of went away. But then we saw in later years, you have artists like Jake Shimabukuro, or Eddie Vedder, or Train, all these bands that started implementing that instrument in their music and it became a lot more popular again. I think it's still probably the most popular instrument in the world right now.

- [Joe] By the way, moving from east LA to east Nashville was a no-brainer for Manuel. He had a partner who was also ready for a new life in Music City.

- I met my wife in 1999 at a church. And she's a singer songwriter, and she had dreams of coming here to Nashville. And just through life circumstances, we decided to give it a shot. I felt like I had my father's blessing. My mom was always supportive, and continues to be, of what I was doing.

- [Joe] In recent years, Manuel added electric instruments to his product line. This one was inspired by a very famous rock and roller.

- 3764 Highway 51, and that's the address of Graceland. And the original one, which is hanging next door, is made from wood from Graceland. This is a chambered body, gold frets. You think of everything that the king wore was gold. So unbleached nuts so it looks like gold, gold tuners, gold mother-of-pearl inlay.

- [Joe] During the family's 90-plus year history, the list of customers reads like a history of famous guitar players. From classical legend Andrés Segovia to folk music star Burl Ives, to more recent artists like Los Lobos.

- [Manuel] People, when they're ready to order a guitar of this caliber, they have several other instruments. So I always ask them to bring in instruments that they have, things that they like. So they might say, "I really like the way the neck of this one feels," "I love the wood on this one," "I like the body style, I like the low end on this one." And then we make all of those things into one instrument for them.

- [Joe] Naturally, paying several thousand dollars for a guitar is not in the budget of most musicians. That's why Manuel carries several more affordable brands and even gives them the same professional setup as the higher price instruments.

- If we have a guitar that we're selling for $150, we still do that same job on it before we put it on the floor. Because even though we're losing money by putting that much time into it, if you leave here, we want to know that you had a great experience buying even that entry-level guitar.

- [Joe] Manuel feels honored to carry on this Delgado family music tradition. And without a doubt, his late father would be proud.

- I think about him every day. And I'm surrounded by him and my grandfather, so I feel closest to him when I'm in the shop and I'm able to actually be working on instruments.

- [Joe] Oh, and get this. His oldest daughter, Eva, recently made family history, building her first instrument at age 10.

- [Manuel] My dad really kind of broke the mold for us and showed us in a culture where sometimes it can be considered, you know, male dominant or chauvinistic, we were taught to kind of anything is possible. And that's the way that my wife and I are raising our girls, and my oldest daughter already beat my record.

- Next we head to southwest Tennessee, where Cindy Carter found a beautiful old home providing wonderful memories for new visitors. It's a Victorian B&B on the banks of the Tennessee River called the Commodore Inn at Clifton.

- [Cindy] In Clifton, Tennessee, a front porch is a revered space. A place for conversation and relaxation.

- We have a front porch, a back porch, and a side porch. You can take your choice.

- [Cindy] And the porches at the Commodore Inn at Clifton offer a great view of a world where life moves at a much slower pace.

- Everybody in town knows everybody.

- We are a very small town. We don't even have a traffic light.

- [Cindy] Innkeepers Sharon and John Dumont are often invited to sit a spell with their guests, who have chosen to vacation or staycation at this beautiful and historic Victorian home.

- Ambiance of a time going by where people sit here and they just feel as though they're back in the 1900s with modern conveniences.

- We try to make people feel like this is their house.

- [Cindy] The house was built in 1892 and renovated into a bed and breakfast in 2016. A blend of past and present-day delights.

- [John] We have five rooms, each with a king size bed, private bath with all the amenities of...

- [Sharon] A modern hotel.

- [John] A modern hotel. They have the parlor/sitting area to sit and have conversation and fellowship.

- [Cindy] The inn is positioned about a block from Clifton's Main Street and the Tennessee River, a prominent location for the prominent family who originally lived here. William Hughes and his wife Lillian raised their nine children in their lovely and a bit lavish home.

- [John] Mr. Hughes was local businessman, kind of one of the movers and shakers of the whole area. And they pretty much ran the town, I guess, for quite some time. Very opulent, I think for the time.

- [Sharon] I think they had were the first families with electricity. They had the extras here. Thank you all that.

- These are my cranberry pecan .

- [Cindy] The Dumonts enjoy bringing people together. The couple settled in the area after fleeing their Florida home during a hurricane. So they completely understand why visitors are drawn to the Commodore Inn. In fact, they say their guest book is filled with the names of visitors who hail from all around the world. People who are looking for a unique experience as they slow things down.

- [John] The peace and quiet and tranquility, I guess, is the big draw.

- But it's also location.

- And location.

- We're halfway between Nashville and Memphis. So people who come here to visit, especially from other countries, they fly into one of the cities to travel to the other city and they will look for "historic bed and breakfast." And that's how they've come here.

- [Cindy] The inn is now listed on the National Historic Register. It's been a part of this community for more than 100 years. And so folks around here are glad the old home brings new faces, new friends into Clifton.

- We have numerous townspeople come by, stop, and say, "I just wanna say thank you for bringing this home back and making it what it is today."

- [Cindy] And today, the Commodore Inn at Clifton is a picturesque place with an inviting front porch, where guests and neighbors can just relax, take a few breaths, and stay a while.

- Thanks, Cindy. Well, we've run out of time for this week, but you can always catch us online at tennesseecrossroads.org, and always on the PBS app. As always, thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time.

- [Presenter] "Tennessee Crossroads" is brought to you in part by...

- [Announcer 1] Students across Tennessee have benefited from over $7.5 billion we've raised for education, providing more than two million scholarships and grants. The Tennessee Lottery game-changing, life-changing fun.

- [Announcer 2] Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways. Discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history, and more made-in-Tennessee experiences showcased among these 16 driving trails. More at TNTrailsAndByways.com.

- [Announcer 3] The co-op system in Tennessee consists of independently owned co-ops, driven to serve farmer owners, rural-lifestyle customers, and their communities throughout Tennessee and in five neighboring states. More at ourcoop.com.

- [Announcer 4] Middle Tennessee State University College of Liberal Arts helps students explore the world, engage minds, enrich lives, and earn a living. More at mtsu.edu/cla.