Bristol: It All Dates Back to the Bristol Sessions
If you like music then you owe a debt of gratitude for events that occurred 90 years ago in Bristol, Tennessee.
That is where a handful of musicians came in 1927 to record 76 songs for the Victor Talking Machine Company and producer Ralph Peer.
Those recordings—made at what became known as the Bristol Sessions—helped form musical tastes in America. According to Johnny Cash, it was “the most important event in the history of country music.”
That music went on to inform a variety of artists, from Cash, Bill Monroe and Flatt and Scruggs to Bob Dylan, the Beatles and beyond.
Artists who recorded during the Bristol Sessions include Ernest V. Stoneman, Alfred G. Karnes, El Watson, The Carter Family and “The Singing Brakeman” Jimmie Rodgers.
The stories of those recording sessions and the history of their impact are the core of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Virginia.
The recordings helped spur the world’s interest in “what was then called Hillbilly music,” says museum director Jessica Turner.
While the museum and the region talk of how the Bristol Sessions were “The Big Bang” of country music, it also rightfully notes how rock ’n’ roll, folk and other modern styles can be traced to either what happened there in Bristol or to the influences that helped sculpt the music that was recorded there.
The museum, housed in a historic brick building in downtown Bristol, offers visitors an active exploration of music through a variety of interactive and immersive experiences.
Among the items displayed in the museum are nuggets of detail on how this handful of rural singers and the use of the then-groundbreaking Western Electric electronic microphone spawned the broad commercialization of country music.
“They came in the summer of 1927. They put ads in the newspapers; they went to civic groups and tried to get the word out. It wasn’t happenstance,” said Turner. “It was part of a series of cities that Victor Company went to. There was a Southern tour to try to collect what was then called Hillbilly music—that was the genre name at the time. They were trying to find new markets; new kinds of music that would be commercially viable.”
Turner said the museum “explores how evolving sound technology shaped their success, and highlights how this rich musical heritage lives on in today’s music. Through text and artifacts, multiple theater experiences, and interactive displays—along with a variety of educational programs, music performances, and community events—the story of these recording sessions comes alive.”
Housed in the museum are vintage instruments played by many of the luminaries of the day.
Rotating exhibitions from guest curators and other institutions, including the Smithsonian, are featured throughout the year in the Special Exhibits Gallery. The museum also houses a research collection including an extensive digital archive, she said.
Incorporated in the museum is radio station WBCM-FM that broadcasts daily, is streamed online, and is available through an app on mobile devices. Programming focuses primarily on American roots music.
The museum is located at the corner of Cumberland and Moore streets in Bristol at 520 Birthplace of Country Music Way. It is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sundays 1-5 p.m.
— By Jonathan Austin