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Detour from Bristol Rhythm to Wise: Riding the Road to RTE 23

Festival Music & Songs

August 23, 2017

Posted on August 23, 2017June 12, 2021 by Rene Rodgers

By Dave Stallard, August 23, 2017

The idea for what would eventually become the RTE 23 Music Festival dates back to a drive home from work in the fall of 2008. As I was headed up the mountain to my home in Wise, Virginia, I was ruminating on a simple thought: how could we bring the cool music of Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion to Wise? Though I lived in the heart of Southwest Virginia, Wise residents who loved live music generally traveled to Bristol, Johnson City, or Kingsport – more than an hour’s drive from home. For some, the drive and the distance to hear live music were problematic.

At that time, I was the current chair of the music committee for Bristol Rhythm. I took the idea to festival director Leah Ross (now Executive Director of BCM) about the possibility of doing some outreach in Wise. She agreed that it was a great idea.

Quick phone calls to a couple friends started the ball rolling, and in February of 2009 we began our first concert series on the campus of The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Over the next five years, we hosted shows and festivals on both the UVa-Wise campus and in downtown Wise, bringing in bands like St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Folk Soul Revival, The New Familiars, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Last Train Home, Erick Baker, Dave Eggar, and more.

The evolution of our concert series to what would become RTE 23 began in the fall of 2013. Chatting with the folks who were involved with staging these concerts, we began to feel like we wanted to put all of our eggs in one basket, to create something bigger. In other words, instead of several smaller shows, we wanted one big one. And so that original thoughtful drive in 2008 culminated in the first RTE 23 Music Festival in 2013, which saw us partnering again with our good friends at UVa-Wise.

Love Canon and Elliot Root delighted the crowd at last year’s festival. © Jason Wamsley

The 2013 festival was quite an endeavor, bigger than our previous events and more complicated. We put together a fantastic lineup for this first RTE 23, one which included The David Mayfield Parade, Sol Driven Train, Jarekus Singleton, and Derek Hoke. Early in the planning, we knew that we wanted to tap into the spirit of our work in Bristol and feature an eclectic, rootsy lineup – and that diversity was on show with our first performers for sure.

We have continued down that route in the crafting of the lineup for more recent festivals, including The London Souls, Love Canon, Desert Noises, Annabelle’s Curse, This Mountain, and many more wonderful artists. Our goal continues to be to offer an experience that is varied and diverse, and we carry that out each summer with festival bills that feature bands from across the Americana soundscape.

This year’s festival on August 26 – our fourth – promises to be the best yet. We have streamlined the lineup, going from four acts to three, and have assembled what we believe to be the best collection of bands offered by a festival in Wise County this year. Budding southern rock guitar titan Marcus King and his band will headline the festivities. Rounding out the bill are vintage soul rockers The Broadcast, out of Asheville, and Demon Waffle, an energetic ska band from Johnson City.

Festival fans enjoying local libations and great music. © Jason Wamsley

In recent years, we’ve added wine, beer, and first-class food options from local and regional businesses that showcase the very best our region has to offer. There are so many talented producers in this area, and music is always more enjoyable when paired with the good things in life!

It is also important to mention that all of the events we have ever produced in Wise have been absolutely free to our patrons. How have we managed to do that? Simple. We have been blessed with incredible financial support from an array of sponsors in the area. We have presented our vision of what we want to do with RTE 23, and our community has responded with tremendous support. Without these great folks, we could not do what we do.

The team behind RTE 23 is incredibly proud of what this festival has become. It is a labor of love that requires hours of scheming, planning, and work. Hopefully you will come to Wise and join us for a great evening of music!

Fans of all ages love RTE 23! © Jason Wamsley

Guest blogger Dave Stallard is a member of the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Music Committee and one of the organizers of the RTE 23 Music Festival in Wise, Virginia.

No Bouncy Houses? No Problem! Bristol Rhythm Children’s Day Focused on Family Fun

Education Festival

July 21, 2017

Posted on July 21, 2017June 17, 2021 by Charlene Baker

“It’s hot. We’re hungry. Why are we just standing here?”

Whiny, yet totally legit complaints heard at every summer festival in existence since the advent of festivals. Why not move on? Find some shade? Go get a snack? You can’t. Because you and your whole family are trapped, covered in flop sweat, held hostage in long lines to an attraction some parents consider the kid equivalent to a cage match – the bouncy house.

Is all that waiting in line really worth it when there are so many other awesome things to do?

Children’s Day at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion happens annually on Saturday mornings of the festival from 10:00am—2:00pm. It’s free and open to the community, so nobody needs a ticket to attend. Last year the event underwent a change when the staff at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum took over the organization of Children’s Day so it could better serve our mission of music.

As scholars do, museum staff asked a lot of questions about Children’s Day: How was this mini-event honoring our music heritage? Was it creating lasting memories that would make families want to return? What could they do to make it more fun? At the end of the day, the decision was made to bounce anything families couldn’t participate in together, sooo…bye-bye bouncies. And you know what? Nobody really missed them.

Since the first Children’s Day began with the 4th annual Bristol Rhythm in 2004, we have been blessed to have dozens of local nonprofits, organizations, and businesses generously donate their time and an array of fun crafts, games, and activities for the event. Last year we saw more families interacting with these activities than ever, and we are so grateful to those organizations for being part of Children’s Day, adding so much creativity and making it even more special.

We were thrilled to see the young ladies of YWCA Bristol TechGYRLS work their booth – a fine example of youth leadership for all the kids attending Children’s Day! © Birthplace of Country Music

Families gathered at the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable booth to make art with recyclables and did hands-on gardening with the volunteers from Appalachian Sustainable Development. There was also lots of interest in the Keep Bristol Beautiful mobile classroom, and everyone wanted to make a cool terra-cotta pot wind chime, thanks to the Sullivan County Soil & Water Conservation District. Whether families were making puffy letter art, necklaces from small discs of wood, paper plate tambourines, or shaker drums from cups, they all got to be creative and bring back a memento to keep or give as a gift.

A treasured make-take-and-do item – wind chimes made from terra-cotta pots! At another booth, kids used Sharpies to customize wooden discs recycled from small tree limbs for the centerpiece of a colorful, beaded necklace. © Birthplace of Country Music

The Birthplace of Country Music Museum’s special exhibit We are the Music Makers: Preserving the Soul of America’s Music was on display inside the museum during last year’s festival, so an extension to the exhibit was placed outdoors for the duration of Bristol Rhythm. The temporary and waterproof display introduced families to the striking images in the exhibit and also invited kids to make music with the attached spoons and Boomwhackers. The museum also hosted a separate Boomwhacker station where groups of children and adults played a variety of songs together, which proved to be a huge hit!

Song notes were projected on a screen in the Boomwhacker station to teach families how to make music with these simple instruments. ©Birthplace of Country Music

Of course, our favorite Children’s Day activities involve music. And there were lots of musical options at last year’s festival. Families square danced and dosey doe’d with the Empty Bottle String Band and frolicked to the sounds of Silly Bus, while the kids from local school Sullins Academy performed for the audience with big smiles and a sweet dash of sass – appropriate for their tribute to the great Loretta Lynn!

A sight we love to see: the entire family dancing together! During a later part of Children’s Day, Millie Rainero performed a solo with the Sullins Academy kids. © Birthplace of Country Music

Each year we look for new and entertaining additions to Children’s Day. Last year Jalopy Junction took everyone on a wild ride with death-defying balancing acts and feats of strength – an adrenaline rush for the performers and audience alike.

Children’s Day brings so much value to our festival each year – an opportunity to partner with and highlight the many wonderful nonprofits and organizations in our local community, a chance to extend our mission beyond our brick-and-mortar doors, and most importantly as a way to share a deep love of music with children. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll see some of them on our festival stages!

So we invite everyone to come out to Children’s Day at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion in 2017, bring the whole family, put on your dancing shoes, and get ready to have fun!

Contortionism and breathing fire were just a few tricks the vaudeville troupe Jalopy Junction performed during Children’s Day. In another area of the event, the music brought people out to dance together. © Birthplace of Country Music, photographers: Dyan Buck and Jonathan McCoy, King University Department of Digital Media Art & Design

Charlene Tipton Baker is a Marketing Specialist at the Birthplace of Country Music.

Volunteers: The Glue that Holds Us Together

Festival Museum

July 10, 2017

Posted on July 10, 2017June 17, 2021 by Rene Rodgers

Every year, volunteers across the country lend a hand to help organizations, charities and nonprofits, schools, and churches to do their work and to carry out their missions. In museums alone, volunteers give over a million hours of volunteer service every single week!

As a small nonprofit, the Birthplace of Country Music is fortunate to tap into the time and talents of hundreds of volunteers each year. We recruit these dedicated people throughout the year – from calls for volunteers for Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion to regular training sessions at the museum.

Our volunteers act in dozens of important roles supporting all three elements of our organization: the museum, the festival, and the radio station. They are docents and gallery assistants, work behind the scenes in our archives, tackle the logistical puzzle of our 3-day music festival, greet and transport performing musicians, help facilitate our live radio shows, and so much more. There is no doubt that they are integral to our success.

There are many reasons to love our volunteers – I could definitely write a hugely long post about this – but, for now, here are our top 5!

1. We consider our volunteers to be the equivalent of members of staff. Every day we see their professionalism on display, and we know that they take their responsibility to our visitors seriously. By sharing their input with us, helping us when our paid staff cannot fulfill all the organization’s needs and roles, and holding themselves accountable on a daily basis, it also means that they make our work easier. This allows us to focus on other necessary tasks knowing that whatever they are doing is in good hands. And because they are immersed in our work – and truly understand the depth of that work – our volunteers are our very best advocates, sharing our story and our mission with visitors, the local community, and even further afield.

Volunteer gallery assistant Kathe shares her passion for Tennessee Ernie Ford with our visitors. © Birthplace of Country Music

2. Our volunteers are interesting! We have volunteers from all walks of life – from retired schoolteachers to neurologists, high school and college kids to history buffs, and artists and musicians. Every day we get the chance to have a fascinating conversation with a volunteer, learn something new about a topic we previously knew little to nothing about, or tap into their many skills, making all the difference to our work.

3. Volunteers help make our grant applications even stronger. The significant amount each and every one of them gives to our organization can be viewed as in-kind donations from our community. Each year we have over 800 volunteers on the ground from the break of dawn until late at night at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion festival; we also have volunteers working on the planning committees for the festival all year round. Since the Birthplace of Country Music Museum opened in August 2014 and Radio Bristol launched in August 2015, our museum and radio volunteers have given almost 10,000 hours to help us on a daily basis. Volunteers also pitch in with other outreach projects like the annual Border Bash concert series and our support of Bristol Motor Speedway’s Speedway in Lights program every winter. All of the time and support given to us by our volunteers is a tangible marker of community support and engagement, which is integral to successful grant applications – and successful grants help our organization to develop and to deliver our mission.

4. Not only are our volunteers good at what they do, but they also know how to have a good time – and how to make our lives fun! From getting into the spirit of a volunteer party theme by dressing up like country musicians to sharing the best-tasting potluck dishes in town at our annual Christmas party, you can count on our volunteers to bring good cheer and good fun to every occasion.

While helping to set up an outdoor display during Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, volunteer Bob tried his hand at the spoons. © Birthplace of Country Music

5. Most importantly, because our volunteers are dedicated, welcoming, and knowledgeable, they have a direct and meaningful impact on our visitors. Our festival may be a blast, our museum may be engaging, and our radio station may make your toes tap, but it is our volunteers who make your time with us special.

René Rodgers is Curator of Exhibits & Publications at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. If you are interested in volunteering at the museum, new volunteer training is being held on July 25 and August 1.

I’m Running Out of Wall Space! The Poster Artwork of Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion

Festival

July 5, 2017

Posted on July 5, 2017June 12, 2021 by Charlene Baker

The primary marketing piece for any music festival or event is the commemorative poster. Companies like Nashville’s Hatch Show Print, Knoxville’s Status Serigraph, and Asheville’s Subject Matter Studio have built their businesses – and stellar reputations – creating distinct artistic visions of their clients’ brands. For music fans, posters are a sentimental reminder of a good time and great music; they are also an essential collector’s item.

Since the inaugural festival in October 2001, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion has commissioned a variety of local and regional artists to create designs that we feel capture the essence of the event. A few of our most popular are now out of print, though they occasionally pop up on ebay for purchase at a higher price than they originally sold.

If you have been collecting Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion posters since the beginning – that’s 17 posters and counting this year – you might find that wall space has become an issue. To help with that challenge, and for those who want to collect on a smaller scale, we started producing a collection of festival poster note cards. The note cards are small, frame-worthy, and run through the 16th annual event so you can display them without taking up a lot of space. And, of course, they are great cards to send to friends and family to encourage them to come to the festival!

Even we are running out of wall space in our office! © Charlene Tipton Baker

For those of you who collect and frame, we recommend having your favorite posters professionally framed using museum quality glass to keep the colors vibrant. Can’t decide on a favorite? Have a frame shop cut a piece of museum quality glass to fit a store-bought frame so you can change posters out on a whim. If sticker shock is an issue, think of it as an investment. We have no plans to reissue out-of-print posters so they retain value and, with care, the glass is something you’ll have forever even if you switch out frames.

We’ve pulled together all the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion festival poster designs we’ve collected over the years (with those that are no longer in print indicated) below so you have the chance to see each and every design. Hats off to all the wonderful artists for their inspired visions of our event – they showcase a variety of styles and themes from funky graphic music-related designs and historic references to playful story art and striking hand-pressed prints.

These three posters use a combination of historic images of Bristol, drawings of old and new musicians, and other photographs and artwork. 2001 poster: Concept, design, and photography by Malcolm J. Wilson and Jennifer Wilson (out of print); 2002 poster: Concept, art direction, and design by Katherine DeVault, vintage Bristol photographs by Bristol Historical Association, and photograph of the 1926 Martin 00-45 12-fret guitar courtesy of Gruhn Guitars Inc. (out of print); 2005 poster: Original art by Willard Gayheart, and graphic design by Saundra Reynolds.

The 2003, 2008, and 2009 posters used graphics focused on instruments within their design. 2003 poster: Original painting by Malcolm J. Wilson, and design by Jennifer & Malcolm J. Wilson (out of print); 2008 and 2009 posters: Graphic design by Chad Carpenter.

The posters created for the 2004, 2007, and 2012 festivals were also very graphic design-based and went for a more “decorative” look and feel. 2004 poster: Design by Katherine DeVault; 2007 poster: Original art by April Street; 2012 poster: Graphic design by Bobby Starnes.

Local artist Charles Vess – an internationally acclaimed fantasy and comic illustrator – has created original artwork for three of our festival posters: 2006, 2010, and 2015. The artwork for each poster is filled with detail and energy, and they reflect Vess’s graphic style and the use of nature as a major theme in his art. Vess’s posters always prove hugely popular with festival-goers and collectors – the 2006 and 2010 posters are both out of print.

The artwork for the 2011 and 2016 posters was also created by two local and regional artists: P. Buckley Moss and Leigh Ann Agee. Moss – a well-known artist whose wonderful renditions of rural life, especially in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, are highly collectible – has created other pieces of art for the Birthplace of Country Music, including a commemorative poster for the museum’s opening in 2014. Her festival poster from 2011 is out of print; the graphic design for this poster was done by Charlene Tipton Baker. Muralist and artist Agee, originally from Bristol, based the 2016 poster on her popular Moon Bound Girl artworks. The graphic design for Agee’s poster was done by Hannah Devaney Holmes.

Three of the most recent posters – for 2013, 2014, and 2017 – reflect a wonderful vintage style and are all individually hand-pressed on manila paper. Instruments are central to the designs of each of these posters, and the 2014 poster takes inspiration from the roots in Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. 2013 and 2017 posters: Graphic design by Justin Helton, Status Serigraph (2013 is out of print); 2014 poster:
Graphic design by Drew Findley, Subject Matter Studio (out of print).

Charlene Tipton Baker is a Marketing Specialist at the Birthplace of Country Music. Please note that some posters are not sold in our online store, but you can call our office at 423-573-1927 to see if they are available.