Kent Underwood

Staff Photo by John Rawlston Kent Underwood, president of Quiddity Entertainment, is pictured in the company's offices at the Mill, located near Main Street in downtown Chattanooga. Mr. Underwood is holding an autographed guitar given to him as a gift after a previous festival.

From his office in Chattanooga's Southside, Kent Underwood is busy planning the operations for a country music festival Country Thunder 700 miles away in Twin Lakes, Wis.

The headliners for the mid-July festival are Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Alan Jackson -- and he's doing most of the prep work here.

Mr. Underwood's company, Quiddity Entertainment, operates festivals all over the country, so last year when he was deciding where he wanted to live he took the opportunity to consider what he liked to do in his off time. Mr. Underwood is an avid mountain biker, and his girlfriend, Angelie Gibson, loves all of the rock climbing available here. After visiting the city a few times, they were sold.

"We came here and it made immediate sense," he said. "It was a lifestyle move for us."

At the time, Quiddity had an office in downtown Memphis, where it started in 2003. The company had worked with the Memphis Music Foundation and the producers of Memphis in May, which packs a three-day music festival, BBQ festival and more into one month.

"There was no real reason for us to be in Memphis," he said.

He moved the company to Chattanooga in January and continued operating the way he always had. He still works with some festival organizers in Memphis and groups like Elvis Presley Enterprises for its tribute artist contests.

Many of his clients are in Nashville, so being even closer to the Music City has been a plus. Because his job takes him out of the office most of the summer, he and his five employees are rarely all in the office at the same time these days. The company handles four or five big festivals each year -- Country Thunder's attendance should be around 20,000 a day or more.

More people just like Mr. Underwood are choosing to live in Chattanooga when they can go elsewhere, said Bob Doak, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The quality of life offered here is seldom seen other places, he said.

"When you've got that opportunity to mix a lot of the big city amenities without having the big city problems," he said. "Also when you've got outdoor recreation within just a few minutes away, it becomes an unbeatable combination."

Chip Baker, executive director of Friends of the Festival, can sympathize with Mr. Underwood's desire to be here. Mr. Baker, who moved to Chattanooga from Dallas many years ago, said Chattanooga is not only a beautiful place, but the people here are wonderful, too.

"It's just a great place to raise to a family," he said.

Mr. Underwood had once lived in Lake Tahoe, Calif., and said during his years in Memphis began to really miss the outdoors. His office in Cypress Corners off Main Street looks across a park to Lookout Mountain, and he said it's the best office he could have ever hoped for.

He moved into a condo on the Southside and he has been continually impressed by the revitalization downtown and how progressive the city is, but especially the attitude of its people.

"We were struck by how many people here were like, 'You should move. I left when I was young out of high school and I missed it' -- you get that a lot," he said. "It was more than I was expecting."