PRESS RELEASES

Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness


The following Press Releases for Immediate Release . . .  for newspaper and other periodical use.

  1. Listen to the Natchez Trace
  2. Only on the Natchez Trace
  3. [AASLH announcement and Press Release]

Contact: (800) 896-9892

THOMASFILMS, INC.
P. O. BOX 153
IUKA, MS 38852-0153
Telephone TOLL FREE: 800-896-9892
Fax Phone/FAX: 601-423-3333


Listen to the Natchez Trace

Folks in Iuka, Mississippi are taking a new interest in the Natchez Trace. Forever it seems, this old road had just been the way for them to go down to Jackson or up to Nashville, and with a strictly enforced speed limit of 50 mph the phrase "Slow boat to China" crossed more than one traveler's mind. Well, all that's different now for Iuka folks. The speed limit hasn't changed. The road hasn't changed. People are changing. They're beginning to listen to the Natchez Trace.

Two brothers from Iuka, Eddie and Frank Thomas, have produced a driving tour, Natchez Trace Parkway: A Road Through the Wilderness. It was a mammoth project they began early in 1993, kind of a New Years resolution to help people learn more of the special heritage reflected in the Natchez Trace. Today, this is a complete self-guided driving tour for use in your car whether you drive the parkway from north to south or travel it south to north. It contains six stereo cassette tapes with over 8 1/2 hours of narrated history and original music, something the brothers call RoadMusic®. This is special music inspired by the stories you'll hear and the unique spots you'll see if you take this driving tour today. Songs like Loess, Pale Moon Rider, A Long Ride Along the Reservoir, When I Get Back Home, Gone About as Far as I Can Go and many many more. Eddie and Frank have performed their RoadMusic® at the BlueBird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee.

You'll take a trip of discovery through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee and experience anew the Old South... You'll journey through deep ruts in the loose soil called "Loess" that was deposited along the eastern banks of the Mississippi River at the end of the last Ice Age, ruts formed by migrating buffaloes, followed by Indians, explorers, armies and frontier settlers. You'll travel the ancient trail from the Antebellum Plantation homes in Natchez, Mississippi to the Country Music Capitol of the World in Nashville, Tennessee. The Natchez Trace crosses three states, covers 450 miles, spans 5 degrees of latitude and cuts its way through over 100,000 years of life on earth.

Quickly the word has gotten out and spread beyond Iuka and Tishomingo County. Folks from across the nation are listening to the tape series in their homes and many are now planning spring, summer and fall vacations. The tour tapes are being carried in shops all up and down the Natchez Trace Parkway and in bookstores and gift shops throughout Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. These tapes are now available to bookstores nationwide through INGRAM BOOK COMPANY and BAKER & TAYLOR BOOKS.

The Trace is no longer just the way to get to Natchez, or Nashville or Jackson. It's growing as a tourist destination, a place to go and learn a marvelous history. This road has been here a long time. It's not the road that's changing; it's the people who are changing as they hear the story the Natchez Trace has to tell.

Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness has received an Award of Merit from the Mississippi Historical Society and the Mississippi Heritage Trust and a 1995 Benjamin Franklin Award from PMA (Publishers Marketing Association) out of Hermosa Beach, California. For more information on how you can get these award winning tapes contact Eddie or Frank Thomas at P. O. Box 153, Iuka, MS 38852 or call TOLL FREE 1-800-896-9892.

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ONLY ON THE NATCHEZ TRACE

Perhaps you've heard someone talking about it or seen it on TV. It's the award-winning new tool for the '90s to help you and your family escape to an enchanted landscape, enjoy the freedom of the road and follow ancient footsteps through time &endash; guaranteed to give you a vacation you'll never forget. It's all here for you now, and the only place you'll experience it is on the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Natchez Trace is an historic frontier road that dates back to prehistory, "one of the oldest roads in the world." Today it connects the modern city of Nashville, Tennessee with the historic city of Natchez, Mississippi on the banks of the Mighty and Muddy Mississippi River.

The Natchez Trace also passes near the home of Eddie and Frank Thomas, who a few years back asked themselves the simple question, "What is this Natchez Trace?" In answering that question, the two brothers have come up with the first travel product of its kind anywhere on the face of the planet. The Brothers Thomas researched and created a Self-Guided Driving Tour with the title, Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness. It contains 8.5 hours of narrated history and original music written for specific places and events along the 450 mile long Natchez Trace Parkway.

What makes this road trip "One of a kind?" It's the RoadMusic® &endash; that's what the Thomas Brothers call their music on this tour. The driving tour comes housed in a sturdy vinyl album with 6 stereo, audio cassettes, a map of the Trace, reminder cards, detailed instructions and color coding to make taking this tour a breeze. You play the tapes on the cassette player in your car while driving the parkway from Natchez up to Nashville or the other way around from Nashville down to Natchez. The narrated histories and RoadMusic® are queued to the mileposts and keep you informed about upcoming landmarks along your journey. This allows you to listen to the RoadMusic as you pass through the very spots that inspired these original songs and tunes. Those who have traveled this gem of a parkway while listening to its history unfold in narration and song have described their experience as beautiful, exciting and educational; and the RoadMusic?

Well, at times they say it is nothing less than "haunting."

If you are looking for an inexpensive vacation for your family this summer and overlook the Natchez Trace Parkway and this unique driving tour, you'll be missing the vacation of a lifetime, the chance to inspire yourself and your family to a deeper understanding of one of the most amazing sections of our nation, and you'll miss the RoadMusic experience and songs like Loess, Pale Moon Rider, A Long Ride Along the Reservoir, When I Get Back Home, Gone About as Far as I Can Go and many many more in a wide variety of styles that match the ever-changing venues of the parkway.

It's time to start planning your ideal summer and fall vacation and learn of ancient Indian cultures and historic tribes. You'll take a trip of discovery through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee and experience anew the Old South... You'll journey through deep ruts in the loose soil called "Loess" that was deposited along the eastern banks of the Mississippi River at the end of the last Ice Age, ruts formed by migrating buffaloes, followed by Indians, explorers, armies and frontier settlers. You'll travel the ancient trail from the Antebellum Plantation homes in Natchez, Mississippi to the Country Music Capitol of the World in Nashville, Tennessee. The Natchez Trace crosses three states, covers 450 miles, spans 5 degrees of latitude and cuts its way through over 100,000 years of life on earth.

Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness received an Award of Merit from the Mississippi Historical Society and the Mississippi Heritage Trust and a 1995 Benjamin Franklin Award from PMA (Publishers Marketing Association). These tour tapes with their RoadMusic are being carried in shops all up and down the Natchez Trace Parkway and in bookstores and gift shops throughout Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. These tapes are now available to bookstores nationwide through INGRAM BOOK COMPANY and BAKER & TAYLOR BOOKS. For more information on how you can get these award winning tapes contact Eddie or Frank Thomas at P. O. Box 153, Iuka, MS 38852 or call TOLL FREE 1-800-896-9892.

Plan your vacation trip today and have your family be among the first to experience this new trend in travel and entertainment. This award winning new product makes learning the history of this ancient roadway easy and fun. This season enjoy the benefits, rewards and charms of RoadMusic®. The only place you'll find it is on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

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Thomasfilms, Inc.
P.O. Box 153
Iuka, MS 38852-0153
Phone/Fax (601)423-3333
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