January Newsletter - Heritage

Heritage - American Music Heritage!

In the lovely town of Bristol, Tennessee, uh – Virginia, uh – well, both actually! The boundary between the two cities is also the state line, which runs along State Street in their common downtown district. (Actually, it’s lovely towns – even though they seem like one town, there are two separate municipalities – and both towns are called Bristol.)

Bristol is best known for being the site of some of the first commercial recordings of country music, showcasing Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. The U.S. Congress recognized Bristol as the "Birthplace of Country Music" in 1998, and the Birthplace of Country Music Museum is located in Bristol. 

The mountains of southern Appalachia (btw – pronounced App-uh-latch-uh – See t-shirt below. They are quite touchy about the pronunciation there!) have long been recognized as a breeding ground for traditional music. The earliest settlers in the region brought their instruments and musical traditions, which were fused together to form country, blues, folk, and other styles of American popular music.

In 1927, Ralph Peer, a record producer, traveled to Bristol and set up a portable recording studio. Over the course of two weeks, he recorded 76 songs by 39 different acts, including The Carter Family, now known as “the first family of country music,” and Jimmie Rodgers, “the father of country music.” In 2002, the Library of Congress ranked the 1927 Bristol sessions among the 50 most significant sound recording events of all time.

The Birthplace of Country Music Museum tells the history of these recordings, and highlights how this rich music heritage lives on in today’s music.