BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn have famously sung songs about Kentucky. Now there’s another new single to add to the list of tributes to the commonwealth. The band Moon Taxi and Molly Tuttle are teaming up on the song “Evergreen,” which is about Bowling Green. 

Spencer Thomson, the guitarist for the Nashville-based band, grew up in Bowling Green. When a tornado hit his hometown in December of last year, he felt encouraged to reflect on the city. 

“I mean, the tornado that blew through there is what sort of sparked me to write about it, just seeing pictures of the town after it,” Thomson said. 

Thomson sprinkled in iconic Bowling Green spots, including Shawnty Hallow Lake, where he would camp and rock climb. 

“I thought it was an insider Bowling Green reference but also just a cool phrase — Shanty Hallow.”

And the opening line of the song mentions the famous hilltop. “A place where you can go and see a large part of the town, so it seemed like a nice place to start from,” Thomson explained. 

Though Thomson’s band, Moontaxi, has traditionally gained success in the Indie and Alternative genres, they jumped into the sound of Bluegrass for “Evergreen,” with the help of Molly Tuttle, a Grammy-award nominated Bluegrass musician. 

“With this song’s release and the growing popularity of Moon Taxi, and Molly Tuttle too, we bring a bit more of an awareness of that rock scene here,” Marissa Butler, the hospitality service director of Bowling Green Convention and Visitors Bureau, said.  

Butler has compiled a playlist of songs that were inspired by Bowling Green and musicians who grew up in the city, including the new single. 

“There’s something special here about the music scene in Bowling Green and it’s time to shine a little more spotlight on that and to tell the public about that and to tell the stories more,” she said. 

The Bowling Green Convention and Visitors Bureau official playlist can be found on Youtube.