ACCIDENTALLY FAMOUS: How two high school sweethearts became darlings of the southern tourism influencer game

By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR AND PUBLISHER: The Lynchburg Times

Mary and Dan Peery cheese for the camera at the Lawn Sessions Concert at the Tennessee Whiskey Trailhead in Lynchburg in May. The two have develop a strong following as influencers for Experience Tennessee.

When South Central Tennessee Tourism Director Ryan French, a Lynchburg native, spotted Dan and Mary Peery online, he knew there was something special about them. Now nearly two million views later, the Winchester couple have reached legit influencer status as they steer folks to visit events and small businesses in the 13-county footprint that SCTTA serves, which includes Moore, Bedford, Coffee, Franklin, Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Marshall, Maury, Perry, and Wayne counties.

They’d been influencing for fun on their personal Facebook page for years, but when French first reached out inviting them to apply, Dan immediately thought it was a scam and deleted the email. Several months later, French pinged them again, and the couple decided to take a chance and apply. A couple of months after that, they received another email that said: Congratulations, we had 900 applicants, we chose 36 people and y’all made the cut.

“I think Ryan was drunk,” Dan jokes. “I’m not sure. I question his sanity sometimes of why he chose us.”

At orientation, they noticed that they were older than everyone else in the room and felt a little out of place. French explained that he only wanted them to continue what they were already doing, and the rest is history. They stopped and made their very first Experience Tennessee video on the way home. It got 27 views. A post they made over a month ago had over 800,000.

We didn’t plan any of this.

The couple live in Winchester and met in Mr. Bobo’s seventh grade science class at Wright Junior High in Nashville, fell in love as teenagers, and have been side-by-side ever since – through careers in nursing and auto manufacturing, through raising children and doting on grandkids, and now, through one of the most surprising second acts on the Tennessee tourism circuit.

Together, Dan and Mary are the quirky, camera-ready duo behind a viral online presence that blends small-town charm, goofy costumes, fried chicken reviews, and a deep-rooted love for the backroads of Tennessee. As regional ambassadors for Experience Tennessee, they’ve become unlikely influencers, racking up 1.9 million views in just 90 days and charming audiences far beyond state lines. In fact, their influence has grown to the point where local small businesses reach out and invite them to visit.

What began as a private Facebook page for family updates quickly evolved into “The Great American Roadshow” – a freewheeling chronicle of their travels to every Tennessee county, all 50 states, and 19 foreign countries. The couple say when their kids set them up with social media accounts, they had no idea it would eventually turn into a full-blown side hustle – one that now includes multiple platforms, costume closets, and loyal followers who stop them in grocery store aisles to say “Hey Y’all.”

“We didn’t plan any of this,” Dan laughs. “But once the videos started taking off, we realized folks really liked our goofy stuff.”

And it’s not just about fun. The couple is passionate about showcasing rural small businesses – the places most tourists miss. From restaurants like Rocky’s in Fayetteville to oddities like a 15-foot-tall chicken with cutlery under its wings, Dan and Mary make it their mission to shine a spotlight on the unique corners of Tennessee that mainstream tourism overlooks.

Their content isn’t scripted. It isn’t filtered. And that’s the point.

“We don’t do politics. We don’t do religion. We don’t even touch SEC football,” Dan jokes. “We’re just here to make people smile.”

Keeping things positive

The Peery’s say small businesses are the backbone of the state.

“When people come to Tennessee, they think about Memphis and Elvis, Nashville and country music, Dolly Parton and the mountains, or Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg, but there’s so much more to see and do and a lot of it is in small towns,” Mary says.

With over 10,000 followers and counting, their presence has grown into a feel-good phenomenon. Their favorite moments aren’t measured in likes or shares, though – they’re in the stories from small business owners who’ve had to increase deliveries after being featured or the elderly women who work up the courage to say hello in public.

The couple may look like a couple of amateurs but behind the scenes they take influencing seriously. They travel with cameras, tripods, and costumes. Mary says there are two full rooms in the Franklin County home filled with costumes that they’ve picked up at yard sales, flea markets, or thrift stores.

“We call it the Liberace rooms,” she jokes.

Their process is simple. They arrive and walk around separately to get a feel for the event or small business they are covering then go their separate ways.

“When we get somewhere, we usually break apart, because I see things differently than he does,” Mary explains.

Together, they take hundreds of pictures that get culled down to around 20 and make multiple videos. Once they’re back at home, they pick their favorite ones.

“Usually there’s a lot of things that I caught that he didn’t, and there’s a lot of things that he caught that I didn’t,” she says.

They also explain that they’re in the promotion game and don’t consider themselves critics. They live by the “if we don’t have something nice to say, we just don’t say anything at all” rule.

“When we get a negative comment about a business on the page, we usually hide it,” Dan says. “They are allowed their opinion, but we keep things positive.”

In the end, their success seems to have more to do with chemistry, especially the chemistry between Dan and Mary – two newlyweds who’ve been married 43 years and sincerely like one another’s company. It’s that love and devotion that oozes through with every frame. In a world of filters, ring lights, and Insta-perfect photography, Dan and Mary Peery have injected a little authenticity into the influencer game. At the heart of it all is a love story – one built on banter, teamwork, and a shared curiosity about the places most people drive past.