Photographer Ed Rode discusses his career, his photography of musicians and songwriters, and his 2024 book, “Songwriter Musician: Behind the Curtain with Nashville’s Iconic Storytellers and Players,” during this program, which also features music from songwriters Tony Arata, Matraca Berg, and Don Henry, all of whom Rode has photographed. Presented in support of the exhibit “Writers, Pickers, and Stars: The Photography of Ed Rode” and moderated by the Museum’s Angela Stefano Zimmer, this program was recorded on February 28, 2026.

During the program, Rode shares how he became a photographer; discusses his journey to Nashville and his start as a photographer at “The Nashville Banner,” at the time an afternoon newspaper; and recounts how Chet Atkins helped him start his “Songwriter Musician” photography project. After his conversation with Stefano Zimmer, Rode leads a writers round with Arata, Berg, and Henry. Arata plays “Handful of Dust,” “Satisfied Mind,” and “The Dance”; Berg performs “You and Tequila” and, with her husband, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band founding member Jeff Hanna, “Oh Cumberland”; and Henry plays “All Kinds of Kinds” and an unreleased song in tribute to David Olney, his late friend and a fellow songwriter.

In addition to his photography work, Rode is a full-time instructor in Murray State University’s Journalism and Mass Communications Department. Arata, a Nasvhille Songwriters Hall of Fame member, has written songs recorded by Patty Loveless, Lee Roy Parnell, Clay Walker, and others. Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Berg wrote Deana Carter’s “Strawberry Wine,” Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl),” and more. Henry wrote Kathy Mattea’s “Where’ve You Been” and songs recorded by the Oak Ridge Boys, Blake Shelton, and other artists.

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