I’ve been told I have a multi-stage accent. I grew up around Limestone, Tennesee home of Davy Crockett . Most of my family lives in the mountains and hills of northeast Tennessee, so whatever accent I have is 100% Tennessean.
My accent his been dulled a bit by speech therapy, first as a kid and then later in college. I’m also on my working on my third college degree and this long in higher ed has exposed me to lots of people and lots of ways of speaking. This has led my my multi-stage accent that changes depending om who I’m talking to. I don’t notice but other people seem to.
The Metropulse has an interesting article on the Knoxville accent. I think the conclusion is that accents are just strange things.
Update: Nov. 21 Metropulse has a follow-up to the original accents story.