Thanks for the advice. Sowing rye right now.......haven't decided on fescue or bermuda yet. May be a mixture since I have mostly sun and the summer heat is a killer on fescue. Whatever I discover is the most trouble free is what I will use.
The same things I said about fescue should apply to annual rye as well, only there's no expectation for it to last once it gets hot next year. That would provide you groundcover for the winter and Spring, anyway, and then next fall you can spend a little more for a decent fescue to put down and expect success.
Fescue and bermuda won't play well together. They have different nutritional, water, and maintenance needs, so at least one of them will eventually succumb to the other . . . it's about 99.9% that the bermuda will win, especially if you don't water.
If you're only concerned about it being green and alive in the summer, common or improved bermuda will do that. As others have said, it will also invade beds, driveways, small children, and pets if allowed to do so. It will also be brown for about 3 months during the winter, and look pretty ragged year-round because common bermuda is ugly.
Fescue is hard in Tennessee. If you don't have the time or will to baby it, it's not going to stay pretty. Most of my neighbors have given up and just let the bermuda do what it wants, which is why I had a painful renovation to do this Fall. I killed the entire front yard, which was 90% common bermuda, and planted a high quality blend of tall fescue. Below are a few photos.
Bermuda up close:
Bermuda lawn:
Day of seeding:
About 5 weeks after seeding:
I think it's easy to see why I prefer the fescue despite the work involved.