Every year we try to come up with new and exciting ways to announce the lineup for Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. We always throw a big press conference, and look forward to sharing the news with the world. This year we produced a fun video listing the top headliners, and got several of our staff members and volunteers involved.
We worked with the amazing team at Loch & Key Productions to produce the video. They are a top-notch crew based in Knoxville, and they work with a number of other great festivals like Bonnaroo and Forecastle. We have had the pleasure of working with them for several years at Bristol Rhythm, and they always come up with creative and fun ideas. Shooting in local hair salons was their concept, and we totally went for it!
(L) Shooting the first scene. “Wynonna” enters salon. With a guitar. Maybe she’s thinking of an impromptu sing along? (R) Marty (Paige Cook) and Wynonna ready to duet.
Call time for our first scene came early – 6:45 a.m. We met up at Salon Remington in Historic Downtown Bristol where owner Lelia Matney and her glam squad graciously moved appointments so we shoot in her shop. This was where our make-believe Wynonna would be getting her hair done. Several scenes were shot in this location and much of our staff got into the act!
There is but a fabulous few so inherently iconic that they are instantly recognized by a single name. In country music, that list is short and sweet: Dolly, Reba, and Wynonna. Body positive before it was cool, Wynonna has always impressed me as a strong and triumphant spirit. I was stoked to get to trot around Bristol in a long, red wig (the color of my own red hair isn’t as brilliant) and pretend!
(Top L) This day we learned our Executive Director Leah Ross has had some experience as a shampoo girl! She used to work in her sister’s salon! (Top R) Our Graphic Designer Hannah Holmes ended up needing a shampoo after this scene. So. Much. Hair Spray! (Bottom L) Erika Barker, our Sales & Business Development Manager, and Terry Napier, 2019 Bristol Rhythm Festival Chair. He refused to let her trim the beard. (Bottom R) Toni Doman is our grant writer and also does a shift on Radio Bristol; Tracey Childress is our “Director of First Impressions.” They are totally method acting here.
After leaving Salon Remington, a few scenes were shot at various locations downtown. It was meant to look like Wynonna and our pretend Marty Stuart were strolling around on their way to get haircuts. We didn’t necessarily stop traffic, but we did get a few odd looks from curious folks. Even in costume we weren’t allowed to reveal our fictional identities for fear that it would ruin the announcement!
(Top) Our “extras” included our Music Committee Chairman Brent Treash. (Bottom) Scotty Almany was our St. Paul stand-in.
After lunch we moved production to Rockin’ Ruby Salon, where owners Misti Maples and Tonya Galloway rolled out the red carpet for the crew. The interior of this salon is so cool and retro, just the type of place where we envision Marty getting his hair did.
I cast my friend Paige Duncan in the role as Marty because she naturally has some beautiful silver streaks in her hair. However, we ended up using a wig in the off-chance we’d need to shoot extra scenes when she wasn’t going to be available. At the end of the day, we had a great time and made a fun video of which we are all proud.
Thank you to our friends at Salon Remington and Rockin’ Ruby for letting us shoot in their awesome businesses! We hope the next time you’re in need of a new “do” you’ll check them out!
Can’t wait for the festival? Check out our fun Bristol Rhythm 2019 Spotify playlist in the mean time! And feel free to share with friends!
Ken Burns, one of the most acclaimed documentary makers in America, knows how to tell a story. He and his team have dug deep into the histories and stories of several important subjects – from national parks, baseball, and jazz to the Civil War, the Central Park Five, and the Vietnam War, and more. And now he has turned his clear vision to the story of country music!
On Sunday, March 24, Burns along with his Emmy Award-winning creative team including producers Dayton Duncan and Julie Dunfey, arrived in Bristol on a large tour bus to kick off the promotion for this latest documentary: Country Music. As the bus arrived at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, they were also joined by Old Crow Medicine Show’s frontman Ketch Secor, whose love of the history of country music made him a frequent collaborator with the team.
The kick-off event at the museum was the start of a 30-city road show tour promoting the 8-episode, 16-hour series that begins airing on September 15. The film explores the questions “What is country music?” and “Where did it come from?” while focusing on the biographies of the fascinating trailblazers who created and shaped it — from The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe, and Bob Wills to Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Charley Pride, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Garth Brooks, and many more — as well as the times in which they lived. Much like the music itself, the film tells unforgettable stories of the hardships and joys shared by everyday people.
The 1927 Bristol Sessions are featured in the first two episodes of the series, as the documentary starts with the early recordings of what was then called “hillbilly music,” including those in Bristol by producer Ralph Peer of the Victor Talking Machine Company. Peer saw the commercial viability of artists like Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family, who first recorded in Bristol in 1927, along with the continuing impact of Ernest “Pop” Stoneman, who he had worked with before. A portion of Episode 3 also includes the Stanley Brothers from Clintwood, Virginia, and the Farm and Fun Time radio show, which was broadcast from Bristol in the 1940s and 1950s. The Stanley Brothers were frequent performers on that show.
During his time at the museum, Burns and his team took a private tour of the exhibits, led by Head Curator Rene Rodgers, which was followed by a reception in the museum’s Special Exhibits Gallery. They also provided a real treat for the event attendees: a short screening with a clip from the film and an in-depth Q&A session, led by Radio Bristol producer Kris Truelsen, and filled with lively conversation and inside insights from Burns, Duncan, Dunfey, and Secor.
Within the filmmaking process, Duncan noted: “We discovered that country music isn’t – and never was – one type of music; it actually is many styles. It sprang from diverse roots, and it sprouted many branches. What unites them all is the way the music connects personal stories and elemental experiences with universal themes that every person can relate to. And as it evolved, from the bottom up, it created a special bond between the artists and fans that is unique among all other musical genres.”
A Ken Burns’ documentary is a work of many years, and that time, research, and attention to detail is always apparent in the finished film. Burns’ team conducted over 100 interviews with artists like Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire, Jack White, Elvis Costello and many more. Twenty of the film’s interview subjects have since died, including Merle Haggard, Ralph Stanley, and Little Jimmy Dickens. The team also looked through over 100,000 photographs and 700 hours of archival footage. There are also around 600 music cues in the film, and Legacy Records will release a comprehensive music set to accompany the film’s airing. We were fortunate and honored to play a small part in the team’s early research, including helping to facilitate some filming with a local collector.
If you are as excited as we are to see the full film, then start planning your nights in with the TV now! The first four episodes will begin airing on Sunday, September 15 and run through Wednesday, September 18, and then episodes 5–8 will air the following week on Sunday, September 22 through Wednesday, September 25 at 8:00–10:00 p.m. ET. Country Music will also be on Blu-ray and DVD in September 2019 from PBS Distribution at www.shopPBS.org, and available as a digital download. The DVD and Blu-ray extras include a preview program, a behind-the-scenes look at how the film was made, and material gleaned from the hours of interviews.
Welcome to Radio Bristol Book Club! Inspired by the museum’s current special exhibit – Reading Appalachia: Voices from Children’s Literature – readers from BCM and the Bristol Public Library are coming together each month to celebrate and explore one book featured in the exhibit. We invite you to read along and then listen in on the 4th Thursday of each month at 11—11:30am when we will dig deep into the feelings and questions raised by the books, learn more about the authors, and celebrate the joys of being a bookworm!
Our first on-air discussion on March 28, featuring Sounder by William H. Armstrong, was a great start to Radio Bristol Book Club. After the discussion group – including Amy Kimani and Ambrea Baumgardner from the Bristol Public Library and René Rodgers and Mary Geiger from the museum – got through our initial jitters about talking live on the radio, the conversation flowed as we explored our reactions to the book and talked through the author’s use of language and storytelling devices. And as die-hard readers, we had no trouble filling the whole half hour!
Our next Radio Bristol Book Club book is Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, which we will be discussing on-air on Thursday, April 25. Many of us will remember reading Bridge to Terabithia in middle school, and in turn, we will remember both the wonderful storytelling and the gut-wrenching impact this book had on us. It is a book about friendship and imagination, tracing an arc between the two from the first day that fifth-grader Jess Aarons meets Leslie Burke to their creation of a fantastical land together. But Bridge to Terabithia is so much more than that – for those who haven’t read it yet, I’ll avoid spoilers, but needless to say, it is also a story about love and loss, and the strength, hope, and resilience needed to cope with those two things.
The many covers of Bridge to Terabithia over the years capture the power of imagination, a central theme of the book.
Katherine Paterson lived in China as a child but settled in the hills and valleys of North Carolina, West Virginia, and finally Virginia when her family moved back to America during World War II; her time as a student at King College also gave her direct ties to Bristol. She has written numerous books, including 16 for children and young people. Two of her books – Bridge to Terabithia (1978) and Jacob Have I Loved (1981) – have won the Newbery Medal, an award honoring the “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.” She was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress in 2000.
We hope you will read – or reread – Bridge to Terabithia for yourself, and then join us for our on-air conversation about the book later this month. You can pick up a copy at your favorite local bookstore or stop by the Bristol Public Library and check out a copy today! The librarians at the library will be happy to help you find a copy of the book in any format that suits you best, from book to audiobook, and even e-books.
Make plans to listen live at 11:00am on Thursday, April 25 for Radio Bristol Book Club! And most importantly, happy reading!
As a group of campers were finishing up
lunch one day, I was preparing to take everyone to the park for some recreation
time and a bit of a mental break from their hard work. As I was about to ask
who wanted to carry the sidewalk chalk, a few students approached me with a
request.
“Miss Erin, instead of playing
games, can we bring our instruments to the park so we can practice?”
The first time I heard this question, I was surprised and impressed by the desire of our Pick Along students to continue playing instruments rather than a game of kickball. But as the days and weeks continued, I begin to receive this request over and over again. In hindsight, I realize that it is not surprising at all that a child would want to play their instrument over other activities. Learning a musical instrument is engaging. It is a connection to others. It’s actually…A LOT of fun.
Each summer for the past four years, the Birthplace of Country Music has welcomed aspiring young musicians with an eagerness to learn more about traditional folk instruments and regional music history to our annual Pick Along Summer Camps. This is my third year working as director for these camps, and I am thrilled to share a bit about what we do here in June and July.
Pick Along Summer Camps offer an option of beginner or intermediate instruction on the camper’s instrument of choice: acoustic guitar, banjo, or fiddle. Campers are given a wonderfully engaging introduction to the old-time music that is so closely bound to the history of this region. They play and sing songs that are not only ballads and folk songs passed down through generations, but also many that were a part of the 1927 Bristol Sessions.
We start our beginner weeks by having an “instrument zoo,” where campers are given a brief introduction to each instrument offered for study. They are then assigned to their groups for the week and spend the mornings learning skills in technique, chords, melodies, and group collaboration. In the afternoons, they work with staff from the museum’s radio station, Radio Bristol, in creating their own radio program, which is recorded and played at their final group performance, which is open to their families, BCM staff, and museum visitors.
The week wraps up with performance opportunities, including the most popular one – “busking” at Blackbird Bakery. They perform tunes for all of the visitors grabbing baked goods and doughnuts. We have a great time playing and singing, and we always have requests to play more regularly! And, of course, they get a sweet treat for themselves!
Last summer, in a twist of good fate, Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Timeprogram lined up with the same week as our intermediate camp. The campers created their own Farm and Fun Time Junior program and were asked to perform it during the live broadcast that Thursday evening. You can watch their stellar performance here.
One Friday, during a rare moment of downtime, several of the beginner students asked if they could share songs they had written that week. One of our special guest instructors had asked the students to try their hand at telling a story through song, which proved to be inspiring! To perform this song publicly was optional, so I was impressed with the handful that chose to stand in front of their fellow campers and not only play, but also sing their own words and music.
Many of these students take their excitement and love of music outside of our Pick Along camps with continued private instrument lessons, playing local open mic nights, volunteering for BCM’s Family Fun Days, and attending community jams, including the one held monthly at the museum. Some of our campers have also been invited to play with Tyler Hughes at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion and at the Southwest Virginia Cultural Center & Marketplace (formerly Heartwood) in Abingdon, Virginia (now Southwest Virginia Cultural Center & Marketplace). A handful of return campers have also worked with us as Junior Counselors, assisting instructors and working with beginner camp attendees.
Each week of camp creates its own stories and memories. There are quiet, subtle breakthroughs, and there are the exciting, flashing lights-type of moments. In the process of learning music, one is just as important as the other. I’m very grateful to be a part of this arts education program that sets the stage for big and small victories – and for a lifetime of loving to learn and play music.
It was the last day of our Pick Along Camps, and our final program had just finished. I was walking out of the museum when I spotted one of the campers walking with her family.
“Well, we’re headed to the guitar store now,” the mother called out. “We told her we would look at getting a guitar if she enjoyed playing it at camp. She couldn’t wait, so we are on our way now!”
