Honorary Inductees are admitted to the McNairy County Music Hall of Fame at the recommendation of Arts in McNairy's Traditional Arts Committee and by affirmation of the Arts in McNairy Board of Directors.
Dr. Shawn Pitts
Musician, Arts Advocate and Preservationist
Inducted by Jack Martin (Board Representative) and Russell Ingle (cofounder McNairy Music Hall of Fame)
September 10, 2022
Shawn Pitts is a native of McNairy County, a musician, a community arts advocate, an avocational folklorist and a historic and cultural preservationist.
He began playing organized music at the age of ten, and has played drums in various bands and ensembles ever since, covering a wide range of musical styles from jazz, to rock, blues, classical, country and rockabilly. In high school, he was a student of Hall of Fame band director, Frank Congiardo Jr., and was recognized with the John Philip Sousa Award for outstanding musicianship and leadership in Congiardo’s band program. Shawn is also handy at a piano and with a number of stringed instruments, playing often with friends and family, or for his own enjoyment.
In 2001, Shawn cofounded Arts in McNairy, the first countywide nonprofit arts agency. As the organization’s original Music Chair, he brought a variety of musical genres to local stages for public performances; organized and played for the McNairy County Community Band; and acted as orchestra coordinator and percussionist for numerous musical theatre productions.
In his role as Arts in McNairy’s Traditional Arts Chair, Shawn has made a profound impact on the county’s musical culture. Beginning in 2006, he began documenting the region’s rich musical history, resulting in the rediscovery and digital preservation of the Stanton Littlejohn archive. For this work, he was awarded by the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. To date, he has produced three media releases associated with the Littlejohn material: a short film titled Homegrown: Music in McNairy; a local “best of” CD titled, The Littlejohn Sessions Vol. I; and the international release of Discovering Carl Perkins: Eastview, Tennessee 1952-53, a critically acclaimed LP/CD set by Bear Family Records.
Shawn has also been active speaking and writing about the region’s music with essays appearing in prestigious journals such as Southern Cultures from University of North Carolina Press and the Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin. Popular online and print periodical such as The Bitter Southerner, Salvation South, Y’all Magazine and The Daily Yonder, among others, have published his music writing. He has presented on local music culture for many conferences and panels including events for The Tennessee Folklore Society, Jackson Madison County Library Foundation, Tennessee Arts Commission, West Tennessee Historical Society, Tennessee Association of Museums, Freed Hardeman University and many others.
In 2015 Shawn played a pivotal role in acquiring and preserving a collection of seven Tennessee music boxes, a rare and endangered folk instrument native to the counties of southwest and south middle Tennessee. His research has added four previously unknown instruments to the collection and provided documentation for several others. The Ellis Truett Jr. collection, now owned by Arts in McNairy, is one of the largest and most significant assemblages of Tennessee music boxes in the world. Additionally, the Arts in McNairy Cultural Collection, curated and managed by Shawn’s Traditional Arts Committee, houses hundreds of photos, videos, documents and recordings preserving a lasting record of many aspects of McNairy County musical history.
Shawn, along with County Mayor Jai Templeton, was the driving force behind the acquisition and preservation of the Latta Visitors and Cultural Center in downtown Selmer. He spent five years coordinating local and state efforts to restore the property, while thoroughly documenting the history of the building as a cultural space. The Latta, as it is now affectionately known, opened as a hub for arts programming, cultural tourism, and economic development in 2012. Shortly thereafter, Shawn became cofounder of the McNairy County Music Hall of Fame and Trail of Music Legends, and he has acted as primary organizer and producer of the annual induction ceremony and tribute concert for more than a decade. In cooperation with the Arts in McNairy Visual Arts Committee, he commissioned artist, Brian Tull, to complete the iconic Rockabilly Highway Murals which pay homage to many of the facets of local music history Shawn has worked to preserve.
Shawn's wife, Joanna, is a gifted vocalist, actor, director, visual and textile artist. The couple raised their daughters Emily Pitts Donahoe and Allie Pitts Miller in this community, and both are deeply creative and musical in their own right. As a family, the Pittses have etched a deep mark in McNairy County's cultural history with their advocacy for local arts and music.
September 10, 2022
Shawn Pitts is a native of McNairy County, a musician, a community arts advocate, an avocational folklorist and a historic and cultural preservationist.
He began playing organized music at the age of ten, and has played drums in various bands and ensembles ever since, covering a wide range of musical styles from jazz, to rock, blues, classical, country and rockabilly. In high school, he was a student of Hall of Fame band director, Frank Congiardo Jr., and was recognized with the John Philip Sousa Award for outstanding musicianship and leadership in Congiardo’s band program. Shawn is also handy at a piano and with a number of stringed instruments, playing often with friends and family, or for his own enjoyment.
In 2001, Shawn cofounded Arts in McNairy, the first countywide nonprofit arts agency. As the organization’s original Music Chair, he brought a variety of musical genres to local stages for public performances; organized and played for the McNairy County Community Band; and acted as orchestra coordinator and percussionist for numerous musical theatre productions.
In his role as Arts in McNairy’s Traditional Arts Chair, Shawn has made a profound impact on the county’s musical culture. Beginning in 2006, he began documenting the region’s rich musical history, resulting in the rediscovery and digital preservation of the Stanton Littlejohn archive. For this work, he was awarded by the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. To date, he has produced three media releases associated with the Littlejohn material: a short film titled Homegrown: Music in McNairy; a local “best of” CD titled, The Littlejohn Sessions Vol. I; and the international release of Discovering Carl Perkins: Eastview, Tennessee 1952-53, a critically acclaimed LP/CD set by Bear Family Records.
Shawn has also been active speaking and writing about the region’s music with essays appearing in prestigious journals such as Southern Cultures from University of North Carolina Press and the Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin. Popular online and print periodical such as The Bitter Southerner, Salvation South, Y’all Magazine and The Daily Yonder, among others, have published his music writing. He has presented on local music culture for many conferences and panels including events for The Tennessee Folklore Society, Jackson Madison County Library Foundation, Tennessee Arts Commission, West Tennessee Historical Society, Tennessee Association of Museums, Freed Hardeman University and many others.
In 2015 Shawn played a pivotal role in acquiring and preserving a collection of seven Tennessee music boxes, a rare and endangered folk instrument native to the counties of southwest and south middle Tennessee. His research has added four previously unknown instruments to the collection and provided documentation for several others. The Ellis Truett Jr. collection, now owned by Arts in McNairy, is one of the largest and most significant assemblages of Tennessee music boxes in the world. Additionally, the Arts in McNairy Cultural Collection, curated and managed by Shawn’s Traditional Arts Committee, houses hundreds of photos, videos, documents and recordings preserving a lasting record of many aspects of McNairy County musical history.
Shawn, along with County Mayor Jai Templeton, was the driving force behind the acquisition and preservation of the Latta Visitors and Cultural Center in downtown Selmer. He spent five years coordinating local and state efforts to restore the property, while thoroughly documenting the history of the building as a cultural space. The Latta, as it is now affectionately known, opened as a hub for arts programming, cultural tourism, and economic development in 2012. Shortly thereafter, Shawn became cofounder of the McNairy County Music Hall of Fame and Trail of Music Legends, and he has acted as primary organizer and producer of the annual induction ceremony and tribute concert for more than a decade. In cooperation with the Arts in McNairy Visual Arts Committee, he commissioned artist, Brian Tull, to complete the iconic Rockabilly Highway Murals which pay homage to many of the facets of local music history Shawn has worked to preserve.
Shawn's wife, Joanna, is a gifted vocalist, actor, director, visual and textile artist. The couple raised their daughters Emily Pitts Donahoe and Allie Pitts Miller in this community, and both are deeply creative and musical in their own right. As a family, the Pittses have etched a deep mark in McNairy County's cultural history with their advocacy for local arts and music.
