Calendar
Next appearing at the Bluebird Cafe Nashville, TN
3/15/25—7/30/25
Country Music Hall of Fame Museum Nashville, TN
8/15/25—8/1/26
Booth Western Art Museum
Cartersville, GA
9/19/26—3/14/27
Past
Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Bristol, VA
8/30/24—12/31/24
Songwriter Musician
The Storytellers Behind the Sound
Through the lens of acclaimed photo documentarian Ed Rode, Songwriter Musician captures the essence of Nashville’s songwriting tradition and its enduring influence on American culture. This exhibition presents a 35-year photographic retroscpective of the songwriters, musicians, and industry legends who have shaped the sound of country music. Spanning generations and genres, the collection offers a rare, unfiltered look at the creative forces behind the music.
Songwriter Musician showcases the humanity and artistry of both legendary figures and unsung heroes. From its 19th-century origins to its digital-era innovation, the exhibition includes GRAMMY winners Dolly Parton, Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson, as well as contemporary artists like Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Lainey Wilson, and Jelly Roll. Yet, beyond the familiar faces, the collection elevates the often-overlooked songwriters and session musicians—those whose work defines the genre but whose stories remain largely untold.
In the early 1990s, Ed Rode began documenting Nashville’s songwriting community, gaining access into private writing sessions, historic studio recordings, and behind-the-scenes collaborations that . Accompanied by personal reflections and artist biographies, each portrait tells a story, offering a glimpse into the creative process and the personal journeys that have shaped country music’s most iconic songs.
Songwriter Musician is more than a visual history of Nashville’s music scene—it is a tribute to the voices behind the sound, honoring the storytellers whose lyrics and melodies have left an indelible mark on American culture.
Booking & Availability
For Booking + Public Relations
Chris Sommerdyke
For Content Questions
Ed Rode
615-541-9433
Songwriter Musician
A visual journey into the heart of storytelling through music.
About the Exhibit
This traveling exhibit features 41 framed archival photographs, blending black-and-white and color imagery to capture the essence of songwriting and musical storytelling. Each piece is accompanied by wall labels and text panelsthat provide context and depth, making it an immersive experience for visitors.
The exhibit is adaptable to various spaces while maintaining a cohesive narrative, offering flexibility for host venues.
Exhibit Details
Total Pieces: 41 framed photographs
Sizes:
10 prints – 24” x 28”
31 prints – 24” x 20”
Introductory Panels: Title Panel & Artist Statement
Space Requirements:
2,000 square feet (recommended)
175–200 feet of running wall space
Customization & Local Integration
The exhibit is fully customizable to accommodate different venue sizes. Host venues can add or subtract pieces based on their available space while preserving the exhibit’s storytelling integrity.
Additionally, venues are encouraged to personalize the exhibit by incorporating local objects, images, and stories related to their own music and songwriting communities. This adds a regional connection and enhances audience engagement.
View the Exhibit
To see images from the exhibit’s March 2023 opening reception, as well as individual photographs of exhibit panels, visit our Google Drive folder here.
put ed’s video below
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Discover the Art
Songwriters are the origin point for the music we hear on our radios and sound systems. Over his 30-year career documenting the country music, Ed forged partnerships, fostered friendships, and at times, was welcomed into their worlds as family. This special status allowed him to truly get to know, understand and dive deeper into the hearts of his subjects, often photographing them throughout their careers. Documenting both the renowned and lesser-known, this selection of aluminum prints in multiple sizes contains a wide range of songwriters photographed in places that inspired them the most: from humble homes to secluded hideaways to clifftop vistas.
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Hear the Stories
By scanning a special QR code, visitors immerse themselves in the stories behind the project as they explore the exhibit. Highlights include Dolly Parton’s unforgettable time-traveling moment, a dramatic cliffside encounter with Billy Joe Shaver and the wild moment when Steven Tyler jumped on the bar with Keith Urban at Tootsie's. These captivating stories, along with many others, bring the imagery to life and showcase the significance of this visual documentary, now presented as both a book and photo exhibition.
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Listen to the Music
Enjoy the Museum’s custom playlist featuring the songwriters and artists featured in the exhibit, adding a rich audio layer to the visual experience. From legendary hits to hidden gems, the music behind the portraits comes alive, enhancing the storytelling and deepening the connection between the artists and their timeless work.
An Immersive
Storytelling Experience
Discover the Art
This collection of black-and-white and color photographs captures songwriters in their most authentic moments—writing, reflecting, and performing in the spaces that fueled their creativity. From Dolly Parton’s childhood home to Billy Joe Shaver on a rugged cliffside, the exhibit brings visitors into the personal worlds of music’s greatest storytellers.
Hear the Stories
Visitors can scan a QR code to hear the behind-the-scenes stories that bring the images to life:
Dolly Parton’s time-traveling memory
Billy Joe Shaver’s unexpected moment on a cliff
The night Steven Tyler jumped on a bar with Keith Urban at Tootsie's
These exclusive insights connect audiences directly to the creative journey of each artist.
Listen to the Music
A museum-curated playlist accompanies the exhibition, allowing visitors to hear the music created by the songwriters featured in the photographs. This multi-sensory experience deepens engagement, making the visuals even more powerful.
Ed Rode
About the Artist
A nationally recognized photographer based in Nashville, Ed Rode has spent most of his career, camera in hand, chasing meaningful moments in music history and making them permanent.
He isn’t only — or even primarily — a music photographer. Over the course of nearly four decades, Rode has captured sports legends, movie and TV stars, travel destinations, whiskey brands, and restaurant chains. But he moved to Nashville in 1990, just as country music's neo-traditionalist era was shifting into the shadow of arena fireworks, as legends were entering their golden years, and as Nashville itself was prepping for unparalleled change.
Growing up in the Midwest, Rode thought he might become a history teacher, relaying the narratives that emerged and lessons learned. But a high school photojournalism mentoring program showed him another way to hold onto history. A Master of Arts degree in Photo Communications from Ohio University helped fine-tune his skills.
And a fresh-from-grad-school job as a staff photographer for The Nashville Banner, the city’s afternoon daily, brought Rode to Music City to find and tell stories. In Nashville, Rode saw that history was unfolding all around him, and that meaningful moments were going undocumented. So for decades, he made sure to put himself — and his camera — where the moments were.
From that first newspaper post, Rode built a career and a reputation as a photographer with a storyteller’s eye and a historian’s instincts. His work has appeared in numerous national publications; in exhibits from the Nashville International Airport to the legendary Bluebird Cafe; and on album covers for artists including Willie Nelson, The Chicks and Peter Frampton.
Ultimately, Rode did become a teacher, too. Along with instructing, lecturing, and advising students at Vanderbilt University, O’More College of Design, Western Kentucky University, and Northwestern University, Rode works as a full-time instructor in the Journalism and Mass Communications Department at Murray State University, teaching young artists how to find their stories, focus their storyteller’s eye, and click.