SEC Network's TrueSouth, presented by YellaWood, explores Jasper, Alabama on Tuesday, October 22nd

The seventh season of the Emmy award-winning series TrueSouth Presented by YellaWood travels to Jasper, Alabama for Episode 5 on Tuesday, October 22nd at 8pm ET. The crew joins their guide Caleb Johnson in the former coal mining hub of Alabama as they document the legacy of that hard work. Johnson is familiar with the area, having grown up in the nearby town of Arley and his father, Ronnie, having worked in these Alabama mines for 36 years.

The series revolves around two food stories told in one place TrueSouth sets a conversation in motion to address larger points about Southern beliefs and identities.

All episodes of TrueSouth are available immediately after broadcast on SEC Network+ and ESPN+.

TrueSouth Episode Hub

Episode summary
Johnson works as an author and teacher in Mobile State, Alabama. His next novel, tentative title LouHe was inspired by current research results: looking through old family photos, listening to old family stories, asking new questions. When Caleb was a boy, Ronnie stopped his son from talking about the mines. For this episode, Caleb and Ronnie sat down to talk about this work, what it gave their family, and the price they paid across generations.

Judge Evans grew up in his father's welding shop on the outskirts of Jasper, and the coal mines fueled that business. Justice followed his father, Howard Evans, into this business. He also followed his father onto the route. His father raced a stock car at nearby Sayre Speedway, and in second grade Justice drove a souped-up go-kart. Now he drives in his father's old Monte Carlo.

Two restaurants anchor our story – both take place at gas stations:

• Nikki Quillen runs the kitchen at Brown's Grocery. Ronnie Johnson met other miners here to carpool to work. Brown's opens at 4 a.m. and serves foam coffee and homemade sausage-stuffed biscuits.
• Across town: Bayou Fresh Seafood, owned by Zhu and Janice JianjunJudge Evans and his family come there to eat Hawaiian rolls with extra crunch.

Since the first episode in 2018, the focus has been on local and regional music TrueSouth. Lee Bains III, a longtime friend of Caleb Johnson, worked with the crew on this episode, performing his songs live, speaking on camera about his respect for working women and men, playing guitar with other local acts, and sourcing music from bands, which he admires. “Music by Bains” opened the first episode of our show, set in Birmingham, Alabama, where he grew up. The crew was honored to have him back.

TrueSouth Episode poster
This week's poster was designed by the Matey company in Birmingham, Alabama. Since the first episode, posters have also been part of the formula. We book a local artist or designer and print fewer than 50 copies as a reminder of the restaurants we visit and the friends we make. This poster was inspired by the lunchbox that Ronnie carried to work in the mines every evening.

Season summary
Season seven began August 27 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and looked at the oil and livestock industries that put money in your pockets and ribeye steaks on the table. To understand Austin, Texas, we focused on the east side of the city and dined on Tex-Mex migas and Tex-Egyptian ribs with pomegranate. We started in Lexington, Tennessee, and explored that state's Whole Hog Triangle to eat middlin meat doused in vinegar sauce. In Little Rock, AR, we followed Jordan Narvaez, who owns four businesses there, including El Super Pollo, where his crew cooks whole chickens over charcoal. Episodes premiere every two weeks on November 19th. The next episode is on Monday November 4th^Thwe drive across the state of South Carolina to eat chili dogs with short story author George Singleton. To wrap up the season, we're sharing our annual road trip behind the scenes.

Advance press previews of TrueSouth: Season Seven, Episode Five are available upon request: (email protected).

Um TrueSouth
TrueSouth is an Emmy Award-winning limited series about Southern food and culture that airs biweekly on SEC Network. Four-time James Beard Award winner John T Edge is the author and host of the show, executive produced by the two-time New York Times bestselling author and senior writer at ESPN Wright Thompson, and produced by Bluefoot Entertainment.

The series, now in its seventh season, revolves around two food stories told in one location TrueSouth sets a conversation in motion to address larger points about Southern beliefs and identities. Locations featured this season include Oklahoma City, Austin, Texas, Lexington & Parsons, Tennessee, Spartanburg & Abbeville, SC, Jasper, Alabama, Little Rock, Arkansas, and a special behind-the-scenes finale to conclude Season 7. Seasons 1-6 of TrueSouth are available in full on ESPN+.

Music plays an essential role in this TrueSouthis storytelling through on-screen performances and on-screen credits. The TrueSouth The playlist on Spotify features the full soundtrack and score of every season of TrueSouth.

About SEC Network
The Southeastern Conference and ESPN launched the SEC Network on August 14, 2014. The network televises hundreds of games annually across the SEC's 21 sports. Programming includes in-depth analysis and storytelling in studio shows such as: SEC Nation, Marty & McGee, Out Of Pocket, Read & React And Rally capdaily news and information The Paul Finebaum Show And SEC nowOriginal content like the Emmy Award-winning TrueSouth, SEC history And SEC Insideand more. Hundreds of other live events will be available to stream exclusively on SEC Network's digital companion, SEC Network+, the ESPN app and SECNetwork.com. Follow SEC Network on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter/X.