Farm and Fun Time
2021-12-09 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | VA
Date: Thursday, December 9, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET (Audience is asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $35
BUY TICKETS
**COVID-19 Policy
Most performers whose livelihoods depend on not contracting Covid-19 will currently not perform indoors, at least not in small venues where the audience is close. Since we want to continue to have Farm and Fun Time in the intimate confines of the Museum Performance Theater for recording for PBS telecast, audience members, staff, musicians, and artists in attendance will be required to show proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours” for entry.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a celebration of Appalachian music and culture with various segments, original jingles, and featured artists and an homage to the classic program of the same name that aired on WCYB radio in the 1940s and 1950s.
Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live from the Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum before a studio audience and can be accessed in its entirety on WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page live. You may also tune in to the program on the air at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area or online at ListenRadioBristol.org.
About Tim O’Brien Band
The Tim O’Brien Band is just as versatile as its leader’s music is diverse. With a large repertoire that ranges from traditional bluegrass grooves through contemporary singer songwriter styles, this Nashville based, five-piece acoustic string band makes it all shine. Long time session and touring stalwarts Mike Bub (bass) and Shad Cobb (fiddle) join mandolinist and singer Jan Fabricius and new member Gaven Largent (dobro and banjo) to provide backing to O’Brien’s vocal, guitar and fiddle.
Born in 1954 in Wheeling WV, O’Brien came on the bluegrass scene with Colorado’s Hot Rize starting in 1978. The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has won Folk and Bluegrass Grammys, and his songs have been covered by New Grass Revival, Kathy Mattea and Garth Brooks. After moving to Nashville in 1996, O’Brien found plenty of work as a studio sideman for folks like Steve Earle, Mark Knopfler and Sturgill Simpson. The International Bluegrass Music Association has twice awarded him with Song of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year prizes.
Bassist Mike Bub, originally from California, is a bluegrass standby, having toured the world with the Del McCoury Band and others. Fiddler Shad Cobb, from Wisconsin, grew up in a musical family and is known for his uniquely improvisational style. Originally from western Kansas, Jan Fabricius plays mandolin and adds beautiful harmony to O’Brien’s lead vocals. Virginian Gaven Largent brings classic dobro and banjo sounds to the band.
The band’s songbook draws from recent Tim O’Brien releases like 2021’s “He Walked On”, but also includes songs from earlier CD’s like the Celtic tinged “The Crossing” and the Dylan covers of “Red On Blonde”, with an occasional Hot Rize song thrown in for good measure.
For more information about the Tim O’Brien Band, visit TimObrien.net.
About The Slocan Ramblers
The Slocan Ramblers (2020 IBMA Momentum Band of the Year Award Winner & 2019 Juno Award Nominee) are Canada’s bluegrass band to watch. Rooted in tradition, fearlessly creative and possessing a bold, dynamic sound, The Slocans have become a leading light of today’s acoustic music scene. With a reputation for energetic live shows, impeccable musicianship and an uncanny ability to convert anyone within earshot into a lifelong fan, The Slocans have been winning over audiences from Merlefest to RockyGrass and everywhere in between.
On their much-anticipated album Queen City Jubilee (2019 Juno Award Nominee for Traditional Roots Album of the Year), The Slocans showcase their unique blend of bluegrass, old-time and folk with deep song-writing, lightning fast instrumentals and sawdust-thick vocals. With their trademark raucous energy, this album presents The Slocan Ramblers at the top of their game – writing and playing tunes to keep you up all night. This is roots music without pretension, music to make you feel something – say hello to your new favourite band.
For more information about The Slocan Ramblers, visit SlocanRamblers.com.

A Radio Bristol Christmas
2021-12-17 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Date: Friday, December 17, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $35 plus tax/fees
BUY TICKETS
**COVID-19 Policy
Most performers whose livelihoods depend on not contracting Covid-19 will currently not perform indoors, at least not in small venues where the audience is close. Since we want to continue to have Farm and Fun Time in the intimate confines of the Museum Performance Theater for recording for PBS telecast, audience members, staff, musicians, and artists in attendance will be required to show proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours” for entry.
Join us for a night of merriment and seasonal delight with a very special Radio Bristol Christmas at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, hosted by Radio Bristol Program Director Kris Trueslen and his house band Bill and the Belles, with special guests The Kody Norris Show and Martha Spencer and Larry Sigmon!
A Radio Bristol Christmas will broadcast live before a studio audience from the Performance Theater at the museum and can be accessed in its entirety on WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page live. You may also tune into the program on the air at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area or online at ListenRadioBristol.org. Be sure and download Radio Bristol’s free mobile app and take us with you wherever you go!
About The Kody Norris Show
Call it retro, hillbilly, bluegrass or rockabilly, The Kody Norris Show strives for something Kody calls “dern good entertainment.” Deeply rooted in North American folk music, Norris has crafted a performance that harkens back and tips a hat to the traditions created by Bill Monroe, Jimmy Martin’s showmanship, The Stanley Brothers’ harmonies, performances of The Grand Ole Opry, and a bit of vaudeville. Top notch picking is center stage, but humor and visual flash are part of the entertaining package. Always clad in colorful, tailored suits adorned with rhinestones, ties, classic hats and ornate boots, the band earns its moniker as a “show.” The brand is traditional, clean cut, acoustic and always entertaining.
The band’s album When I Get The Money Made, was named 2017 Bluegrass Album of the Year by the National Traditional Country Music Association. The Kody Norris Show was honored with seven nominations in the 2018 SPBGMA Awards in Nashville.
About Martha Spencer & Larry Sigmon
Larry Sigmon was born in Callaway, Virginia. His father, Lewis Eldridge Sigmon, was a locally beloved banjo and fiddle player. Larry taught himself harmonica as a child, and then moved to guitar, learning to play by backing up his father. When he took up the banjo at fifteen, it became his main instrument, and he developed a signature hard-driving, rhythmic style. Larry’s first band was the Sugar Hill Ramblers, a six-piece group that performed old time tunes and old country numbers for six years. He went on to play stints with Carl Scott and Richard Bowman until the late 1980s, when he met bassist Barbara Poole at a local fiddlers’ convention.
Larry and Barbara began performing together, winning countless ribbons in banjo, bass, and folk song competitions and playing at festivals, dances, and other concert venues. Their sound was so distinctive with just the banjo, bass, and Larry’s distinct singing, they became known as the “Unique Sound,” and gained a dedicated local following, particularly among flatfoot dancers. Larry and Barbara drew upon a repertoire of old time and bluegrass songs from Charlie Poole to Jimmy Martin and Bill Monroe, making songs their own through Larry’s strong vocals and Barbara’s double-slap bass. Throughout their eighteen-year career, the duo performed at the Carter Family Fold, the Grand Ole Opry, and mountain music festivals throughout the South, becoming one of the most popular bands in the Blue Ridge Mountains until Barbara passed away in 2008 after a long struggle with cancer. Larry had quit performing until old-time musician and advocate Martha Spencer arrived to interview him for her online documentary project, Mountain Music Magazine. Like Larry, Martha was raised in a musical family, the daughter of acclaimed old time musicians Thornton and Emily Spencer and a longtime member of their family group, the Whitetop Mountain Band. During their interview, Martha encouraged Larry to play some tunes, joining him on bass and playing Barbara’s signature spirited double-slap style. The two took to each other immediately, and the “Unique Sound” was reborn.

Farm and Fun Time ft. Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Unspoken Tradition
2022-01-13 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Be part of the studio audience for Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time ft. musical guests Darin & Brooke Aldridge and Unspoken Tradition!
Date: Thursday, January 13, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Audience to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Birthplace of Country Music Museum performance theater
Tickets: $35
CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS
**COVID-19 Policy
Most performers whose livelihoods depend on not contracting Covid-19 will currently not perform indoors, at least not in small venues where the audience is close. Since we want to continue to have Farm and Fun Time in the intimate confines of the Museum Performance Theater for recording for PBS telecast, audience members, staff, musicians, and artists in attendance will be required to show proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours” for entry.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a celebration of Appalachian music and culture with various segments, original jingles, and featured artists and an homage to the classic program of the same name that aired on WCYB radio in the 1940s and 1950s.
Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live from the Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum before a studio audience and can be accessed in its entirety on WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page live. You may also tune in to the program on the air at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area or online at ListenRadioBristol.org.
About Darin & Brooke Aldridge:
Husband and wife duo Darin & Brooke Aldridge draw on the traditions of their native North Carolina, the savvy of a young, gifted band and their own dedication to ingenuity to create the most adventurous album of their career with their latest critically acclaimed release, Inner Journey.
The duo has placed several tracks at the top of the charts on Roots, SiriusXM, bluegrass and gospel charts. They have received multiple nominations from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and Inspirational Country Music (ICM). Their music videos “Wildflower” and “Tennessee Flat Top Box” and most recently “Every Time You Leave” were heavily featured on outlets including CMT, CMT Edge, GAC, Bluegrass Ridge TV and The Bluegrass Situation. TV appearances include PBS, Great American Gospel, The Bluegrass Road, RFD-TV, Blue Highways TV, Songs of the Mountain, Woodsongs, Larry’s Country Diner and Music City Roots.
Both highly acclaimed vocalists in their own right (Brooke is the 4-time reigning IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year), Darin and Brooke combine rich harmonies with impeccable musicianship to create the unmistakable sound that has made them one of the hottest young acts in acoustic music and they’ve surrounded themselves with a band of equally amazing pickers. Darin spent 6 years as a member of the acclaimed County Gentleman and is a highly sought-after multi-instrumentalist. Brooke has been lauded for having one of the most powerful voices in music of any genre. Darin was named the IBMA’s Momentum Mentor of the Year in 2017 for his efforts at teaching and mentoring youth on guitar and mandolin and for giving unselfishly of his time and talents at public events at places like the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, NC.
About Unspoken Tradition:
Unspoken Tradition is about new, original bluegrass. Inspired by their own influences and the roots of traditional and newgrass music, they bring a sound that is both impassioned and nostalgic, hard-driving but sincere. Their 2019 release from Mountain Home Music Company, Myths We Tell Our Young, debuted at #5 on the Billboard Bluegrass charts and has seen 5 top-charting radio singles, including a #1 spot on the Bluegrass Today chart for “Dark Side of the Mountain.”
Their 2021 single releases have all charted in the Bluegrass Today top 20 including “California” #1 “Irons in the Fire” #2 and “Carolina and Tennessee” #4.
Their material is mostly original and reflects the ever-changing culture of western and central North Carolina where they call home. The band has earned a fervent following in the southeast, selling out shows in Asheville, NC as well as the legendary Station Inn in Nashville, TN. They have also performed twice on the coveted Watson (main stage) at MerleFest. With heavy airplay on Sirius XM’s Bluegrass Junction and ever-growing streaming numbers, Unspoken Tradition is a fast-rising voice of a new generation of roots music artists. Their debut recording, Simple Little Town (2013) saw quick success in radio and with tastemakers. Their follow-up release, Miles Between was featured on the nationally syndicated NPR show The World Cafe.

Farm and Fun Time ft. The Legendary Ingramettes, The Local Honeys
2022-02-10 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Be part of the studio audience for Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time ft. musical guests The Legendary Ingramettes and The Local Honeys
Date: Thursday, February 10, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Audience to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Birthplace of Country Music Museum performance theater
Tickets: $35
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS
**COVID-19 Policy
Most performers whose livelihoods depend on not contracting Covid-19 will currently not perform indoors, at least not in small venues where the audience is close. Since we want to continue to have Farm and Fun Time in the intimate confines of the Museum Performance Theater for recording for PBS telecast, audience members, staff, musicians, and artists in attendance will be required to show proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours” for entry.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a celebration of Appalachian music and culture with various segments, original jingles, and featured artists and an homage to the classic program of the same name that aired on WCYB radio in the 1940s and 1950s.
Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live from the Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum before a studio audience and can be accessed in its entirety on WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page live. You may also tune in to the program on the air at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area or online at ListenRadioBristol.org.
About The Legendary Ingramettes
Six decades of music, sixty-five years of song, generations tied together through the force of will of a matriarchy of powerful women. This is the story of African-American gospel quintet The Legendary Ingramettes, founded by Maggie Ingram (who passed away in 2015) as a way to keep her family together through hardship, and taken up by her daughter Almeta Ingram-Miller as a way to continue Maggie’s legacy. Inspired by the black gospel male quartets of the 1940s and 50s, The Legendary Ingramettes bring roof-raising harmonies and explosively powerful vocals, all driven by the voices of women. Based for many years out of Richmond, Virginia, they were led by the indomitable will of the woman they all called “Mama,” but now that Mama is gone, Take A Look In The Book is the group’s first efforts with Almeta at the head. The album showcases Almeta’s bold new vision and towering vocal abilities, drawing songs from new Appalachian sources like Ola Belle Reed and Bill Withers, and reworking family favorites, some of which date back to old spirituals. Produced by state folklorist Jon Lohman as part of the Virginia Folklife Program at Virginia Humanities, Take A Look in the Book was recorded over just three days in Richmond, with most songs being cut in one take to keep the power of the group’s incendiary live performances. A live show from The Legendary Ingramettes is a house-rocking affair, with audiences literally getting whipped to a gospel fervor, and the recording seeks to capture the electrifying nature of the group’s performances.
About The Local Honeys
The Local Honeys are from some of the oldest mountains in the world. They fish because it’s good eating, they tell stories worth telling, and they play old-time music because that’s just music. They are a Kentucky duo, names Montana and Linda Jean, and they’re here to talk about suffering.
These are voices that still call horses home and rain pretty in the hollers, because their roots in American traditional music are authentic. Influences of the old world ballad and natural awe push their music, but their style is distinct and unforgettable. The Local Honeys write music for people who need it. Theirs is the ancient spirit, most at home in the verdure and heartbreaking conceits. At the core of this music, promises renew, and without a filter, rural America survives. But make no mistake, the Local Honeys are here to talk about suffering.
For they will help you get through. It’s what they’ve always done. Their debut album, Little Girls Acting Like Men, propelled them on tours through the United States and Europe with Colter Wall. Soon, they found themselves focal points of traditional music festivals, becoming a headline draw throughout the UK almost instantly.
Since then their specific sound of Appalachian music has grown, along with a fan base of music enthusiasts and proactive culture. A tour with Tyler Childers in early 2020 was followed up by a fun, yet controversial album The Gospel. With two records at their back, The Local Honeys set a standard for the preservation of old-time, hillbilly music, and the contemporary influences that inspire their songwriting. The Local Honeys have true charisma, and on stage, there’s no doubt they are headline artists.
As buzz continues to build for The Local Honeys, despite a pandemic-deadened 2020 tour schedule that included shows at the biggest folk festivals around, they signed with songwriter haven, La Honda Records, home to country & Western heavy hitters Vincent Neil Emerson and Colter Wall. A recent summer show with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts highlighted continued focus and output, including new songs from the two women.
If there’s any doubt, there won’t be for long. When they sing their songs, play their banjo, their fiddle, those guitars and boxes, the rhythms in their toes, you will know The Local Honeys are from Kentucky. Their names are Montana and Linda Jean, and they’re here to talk about suffering. They are here to get you through this.

Farm and Fun Time at Paramount Bristol!
2022-03-10 19:00 - 21:30 | VA
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST (Doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
Location: Paramount Bristol, 518 State Street, Bristol, TN 37620
Tickets: $35 – $82 plus fees and taxes.
BUY TICKETS
Join us for a very special edition of Farm and Fun Time, live from the historic stage at Paramount Bristol – with musical guests The Mavericks and Dallas Wayne with Redd Volkaert, plus host band Bill and the Belles!
Birthplace of Country Music has joined forces with Paramount Bristol to bring the program to the opulent venue quarterly as part of a new initiative to expand WBCM Radio Bristol’s flagship program to wider audiences.
Hosted by Radio Bristol Program Director Kris Truelsen and his band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. The original Farm and Fun Time played a major role in the careers of legendary acts from the Appalachian region including The Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Jim & Jesse McReynolds and many more.
Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, through the station’s online media center at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About The Mavericks
Any band that manages to survive three decades, seeing its core members go from young adults to veteran musicians is bound to have its swings and cycles.
​The Mavericks, the eclectic rock and country group known for crisscrossing musical boundaries with abandon, has gone through three distinct phases since it was founded in Miami in 1989. An initial period of heady success marked by big hits and critical acclaim in the ‘90s. A long hiatus starting 2003 when the musicians each went their own way. And finally, a triumphant reunion in 2012 which held long enough for them to recently celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary.
​Now, The Mavericks are releasing a new album that ushers in the fourth phase of their evolution.
“It’s like we’ve had three different lives,” says Raul Malo, the band’s lead singer and songwriter, “and now this is a whole new beginning. We’re sort of going into uncharted territory. I’m looking forward to it and I’m kind of nervous about it too. It’s certainly a new adventure.”
​On August 21, The Mavericks officially launch that adventure with the debut of their first-ever, all-Spanish album, released on the band’s own Mono Mundo label. Entitled simply En Español, it is produced by Malo and the band’s long-time collaborator Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Prince, Sheryl Crow). The line-up includes Malo’s fellow Miamian and charter bandmember, Paul Deakin on drums and vibraphone, as well as veteran Jerry Dale McFadden, who joined in 1993. Eddie Perez, a Mexican American guitarist from Los Angeles, is the band’s youngest and newest member, becoming a Maverick in 2003.
About Dallas Wayne and Redd Volkaert
Dallas Wayne considers himself lucky to be able to make a living doing something he loves. Some people might say it has more to do with talent than luck. A native of Springfield, Missouri, Dallas is a singer, songwriter, radio DJ, voice-over artist, actor and music producer. He released his most recent album, Songs The Jukebox Taught Me Volume 2, on the Heart of Texas Records label in June 2018. Stay tuned for information about the new album project Coldwater, Tennessee coming soon!
Dallas has performed throughout North America and Europe, releasing 12 albums of his own, and performing on various compilation and band recordings including the honky-tonk supergroups Heybale! and the TwangBangers, as well as a Grammy-nominated bluegrass album.
Dallas can be heard six days a week on SiriusXM Radio: Monday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. Eastern at Willie’s Roadhouse (channel 59), Tuesday through Friday in Outlaw Country (channel 60) from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern at Willie’s Roadhouse.
Redd Volkaert was a successor to Roy Nichols in Merle Haggard’s backing band, and is “among the country’s top Telecaster guitar slingers.” Volkaert won a 2009 Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
While best known as a Fender Telecaster player, with a personal collection that includes a 1953 Fender Telecaster, a 1951 Fender Nocaster, a 1958 Fender Esquire and a 1950s-style Hahn Telecaster Volkaert has lent his name to guitars made by other companies, including Asher.
Volkaert is not only possessed of superhuman chops but is also a master of multiple American music idioms — he can play jazz, country, rock, Western swing, and even note-for-note replicas of Earl Scruggs bluegrass banjo licks.

SOLD OUT! Farm and Fun Time at the Museum
2022-04-14 19:00 - 20:30 | VA
Date: Thursday, April 14, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; audience is asked to be seated in the theater by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Sorry, tickets for this event are now SOLD OUT!
**COVID-19 Policy
Most performers whose livelihoods depend on not contracting Covid-19 will currently not perform indoors, at least not in small venues where the audience is close. Since we want to continue to have Farm and Fun Time in the intimate confines of the Museum Performance Theater for recording for PBS telecast, audience members, staff, musicians, and artists in attendance will be required to show proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours” for entry.
Join us in the intimate performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show with special guests Dale Ann Bradley and Tammy Rogers and Thomm Jutz! Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. The original Farm and Fun Time played a major role in the careers of legendary acts from the Appalachian region including The Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Jim & Jesse McReynolds, and many more.
Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, through the station’s online media center at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Dale Ann Bradley
Dale Ann Bradley has always expressed in her recordings the boundlessness of bluegrass music and its musicians and vocalists by incorporating songs from all styles into her shows and albums. The success of her formula is undeniable, as evidenced by two Grammy nominations, an induction into the Kentucky Hall of Fame, and six IBMA Awards for Best Female Vocalist. ”Bluegrass can go anywhere, do anything, rip your heart out and make you laugh,” she says.
In 2018, Dale Ann was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, joining Bill Monroe, Keith Whitley, Sonny Osborne, and Sam Bush in Kentucky Music Royalty.
In 2019, Dale Ann and all-female group Sister Sadie were nominated for “Best Bluegrass Album for the critically acclaimed Sister Sadie II. 2019 also brought the group’s debut on the legendary Grand Ole Opry, and the IBMA award for “Vocal Group of the Year.” The IBMA recognition marked the first time ever that an all-female group has won in this category.
After a career that has seen collaborations with Vince Gill, Pam Tillis, Dan Tyminski, and Sonny Osborne, Dale Ann is not resting on her laurels. In January of 2020, she was voted SPGBMA’s Female Vocalist of the Year. Oh Darlin’, her first 2020 project- a collaborative album of stripped down duet recordings with Sister Sadie bandmate Tina Adair, produced a chart topping single of the same name.
In 2020, after signing a multi year contract with Pinecastle, she left Sister Sadie to focus on her solo work with her new band MoonRunner, featuring Kim Fox on guitar and background vocals, Matt Leadbetter on dobro, Mike Sumner on banjo, and Ethan Burkhardt on bass. Her first album with the new lineup, Things She Couldn’t Get Over, was released in early 2021, leading up to another win at the IMBA awards for Best Female Vocalist while also picking up Gospel Recording of the Year. For touring and more information visit DaleAnnBradley.com.
About Tammy Rogers and Thomm Jutz
The pair met in 2016 when seated at the same table at a music industry gala, yet their creative paths had run parallel for years. Rogers may be best known as a co-founder and fiddler in the Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band, The SteelDrivers. Meanwhile, Grammy nominated Jutz toured as a guitarist for Mary Gauthier, Nanci Griffith, and David Olney before developing a reputation as one of bluegrass music’s most prolific songwriters. At the end of that industry event, they exchanged phone numbers intending to write together sometime. Five years later, they’re still collaborating on a near-weekly basis. Among a catalog of more than 140 songs, they selected a dozen of the best for Surely Will Be Singing. For touring and more information visit ThommJutz.com.
About Bill & the Belles
Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, TN-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Their delightfully deadpan new album, Happy Again, is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss. Bill and the Belles is Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small. The group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around. Visit the band’s website at BillandtheBelles.com for touring and more information.

Farm and Fun Time at the Museum
2022-05-11 19:00 - 21:30 | VA
Date: Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; audience asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $35
BUY TICKETS
**COVID-19 Policy
Most performers whose livelihoods depend on not contracting Covid-19 will currently not perform indoors, at least not in small venues where the audience is close. Since we want to continue to have Farm and Fun Time in the intimate confines of the Museum Performance Theater for recording for PBS telecast, audience members, staff, musicians, and artists in attendance will be required to show proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours” for entry.
Join us in the intimate performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show with special guests The Crooked Road All-Stars, The Blue Ridge Girls, and The New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters, brought to you in partnership with our friends at The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on PBS stations across the South. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About The Crooked Road All-Stars
The Crooked Road All-Star Band features the combined talents of Junior Sisk, Linda Lay, Sammy Shelor, and Jesse Smathers.
Junior Sisk is widely recognized as one of today’s top bluegrass vocalists and is a constant reminder that traditional bluegrass is still alive and well. A longtime resident of the Virginia Blue Ridge, his bluegrass pedigree runs deep. His 2011 album “Heart of a Song” helped bring the band into the spotlight and eventually was named IBMA Album of the Year in 2012. Its single ‘A Far Cry from Lester and Earl,’ which Sisk co-wrote, became a rallying cry for a resurgence of traditional sounds in bluegrass and received the 2012 Song of the Year Award from the IBMA. Sisk was furthered honored when he was named 2013 IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year, while his band earned the 2014 SPBGMA Bluegrass Band of the Year award. In 2016, “Longneck Blues,” a collaboration with noted singer-songwriter Ronnie Bowman, was named Recorded Event of the Year by the IBMA. Most recently, Sisk received the 2017 Male Vocalist of the Year award from SPBGMA.
Linda Lay grew up in Clayman Valley, a tiny community named after her family outside of Bristol, Tennessee. She grew up surrounded by music in a family that treasured tunes, from old-time and bluegrass to gospel and traditional country. Linda founded and led Appalachian Trail, an innovative bluegrass band that performed for more than 20 years. In Appalachian Trail, Linda truly found her voice, becoming not just the band’s lead singer but one of the most beloved singers in bluegrass.
Sammy Shelor joined Lonesome River Band in 1990 and still performs with them today. As one of the most sought after banjo players in the business, Sammy guests with numerous other artists including recording and performing (The Late Show with David Letterman) with country superstar Alan Jackson (“The Bluegrass Album”), Zac Brown Band, and more. Sammy has received a multitude of awards and recognitions during his impressive career including his induction into the 2009 Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame, 5-time recipient of the IBMA Banjo Player of the Year Award, 2011 winner of the 2nd Annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, and 3-time winner of the SPBGMA Banjo Performer of the Year Award.
Jesse Smathers is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist from Eden, North Carolina. In 2009 he won the guitar championship of the Virginia Folk Music Association. The following year, he began his career as a touring musician with the James King Band playing mandolin and singing tenor and high baritone, and later rejoined the band performing on guitar and vocals. In 2014, Jesse joined Nothin’ Fancy. The same year, he was also inducted as a honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha, a music fraternity, as a Sinfonian, joining such greats as John Phillip Sousa, Count Bassie, Duke Ellington, and Andy Griffith. In 2015, LRB welcomed him to the group and in 2017, Jesse won the IBMA Momentum Award for Vocalist of the Year. Heavily influenced by the music that runs in his family, Jesse has found inspiration and takes pride in his musical family lineage. His grandfather, Harold Smathers, and grand uncle, Luke Smathers, recorded for June Appal and were awarded the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 1993 for their contributions to North Carolina Folk.
About The Blue Ridge Girls
The Blue Ridge Girls, like their name, invoke a picturesque simplicity with their take on traditional mountain music. The trio features Martha Spencer, Jamie Collins, and Brett Morris, and features a variety of old time, bluegrass and country songs, flatfooting to fiddle and banjo tunes, original songwriting, and unique takes on other familiar crowd-pleasers. All three women grew up in musical families and are working to preserve and promote the Blue Ridge’s rich musical heritage. The Blue Ridge Girls traveled to historic Muscle Shoals, Alabama during the summer of 2021 to record their first album, which is expected to be released in 2022.
About The New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters
The New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters have been playing old time mountain music in the Galax, Virginia, area since 1986. Today’s group is named for the original Bogtrotters of the 1920s, the premiere old time band of their era. The present day line up consists of guitarist Dennis Hall, fiddler and vocalist Eddie Bond, his wife Bonnie Bond on bass and vocals, Josh Ellis on banjo, and Caroline Noel Beverley on mandolin. The band has won innumerable old time band contests and often provide the backup music for dance competitions. Along with their seemingly endless string of local gigs, the band’s performances have included the Smithsonian Folk Festival, Chicago Folk Festival, Great Lakes Folk Festival, Montana Folk Festival, the Kennedy Center, and many others. Eddie Bond was recently recognized with the National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor that the United States bestows on traditional artists. He has also won uncountable fiddle contests and twice been named Best All-Around Performer at the Galax Fiddlers Convention—arguably the highest honor in old-time music.
About Bill and the Belles
Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, TN-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Their delightfully deadpan new album, Happy Again, is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss. Bill and the Belles is Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small. The group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around. Visit the band’s website at BillandtheBelles.com for touring and more information.

Farm & Fun Time at the Museum
2022-06-09 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Date: Thursday, June 9, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; audience asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $35
SOLD OUT!!
Join us in the intimate performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show with special guests The Malpass Brothers and The Wildmans!
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina (check local listings). It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About The Malpass Brothers

As young boys, Christopher and Taylor Malpass soaked up the music of their granddad’s phonograph records. Christopher earned his first talent show trophy at age 7, and Taylor was playing mandolin by the time he was 10. Today, they promote the work and music of classic country artists they treasure while creating new music and making their own mark in the lineage of a rich American cultural heritage.
With sincerity, honesty and an utter ease on stage that belies their years, their smooth vocal blend and skillful musicianship layer infectiously into the deep respect they pay to legends who have paved the way. Add the funny, off-the-cuff quips between the two 20-something siblings, and the engaging concert becomes a magnetic time-traveling journey to when a calmer rhythm reigned supreme.
The Malpass Brothers toured with the late Don Helms, former steel guitarist for Hank Williams, have opened for music legend Merle Haggard on multiple tours and appeared on stages from the Shetland Islands to Ryman Auditorium to Merlefest. Gifted musicians and songwriters, the brothers have shared billing with artists including Ray Price, Willie Nelson, Doyle Lawson, Rhonda Vincent, Marty Stuart, Doc Watson and more. The title cut video from their “Memory That Bad” album hit CMT Pure Country’s Top Ten. Their most recent self-titled recording, produced by bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson, was released by Crossroads’ Organic Records in 2015.
About The Wildmans

The Wildmans come from the hills of Floyd, Virginia, in the heart of the Appalachian mountain music tradition. From campsite jamming at festivals and fiddler’s conventions and a college level music education comes the foundation for musical exploration that sets this group apart, taking the audience on a musical journey that reflects the growth and passion of these talented musicians.
The group has appeared on stages large and small, performing in festivals such as Red Wing Roots, Chantilly Farm’s Bluegrass and BBQ festival, Grey Fox Bluegrass, Floyd Fest, and The Steep Canyon Rangers’ Mountain Song Festival. They also regularly represent young talent along the Crooked Road in regional fiddler’s conventions. Having shared the stage with talents such as Bela Fleck, The Steep Canyon Rangers, The Steel Wheels, Danny Knicely, Sammy Shelor, Sierra Hull, Billy Strings, and more., these young musicians are making their way in the American stringband scene.
The trio is comprised of Eli Wildman, first place winner in mandolin at the Galax Old Fiddler’s Convention and Mount Airy Fiddler’s Convention, Aila Wildman, first place winner in Old Time Fiddle and Best All Around Performer at the 83rd annual Galax Old Fiddler’s Convention, and Victor Furado, winner of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and first place Old Time Banjo at Galax Old Fiddler’s Convention.
About Bill & the Belles

Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, TN-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Their delightfully deadpan new album, Happy Again, is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss. Bill and the Belles is Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small. The group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around.

Farm and Fun Time at Paramount Bristol!
2022-07-21 19:00 - 21:30 | Paramount Bristol, 518 State St, Bristol, TN, TN, 37620, United States
Date: Thursday, July 21, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST (Doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
Location: Paramount Bristol, 518 State Street, Bristol, TN 37620
Tickets: $35 – $82 plus fees and taxes.
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Join us for a very special edition of Farm and Fun Time, live from the historic stage at Paramount Bristol – with musical guests Rhonda Vincent and the Rage and Lauren Morrow, plus Roni Stoneman with host band Bill and the Belles – celebrating the 95th anniversary of the 1927 Bristol Sessions.
Birthplace of Country Music has joined forces with Paramount Bristol to bring the program to the opulent venue quarterly as part of a new initiative to expand WBCM Radio Bristol’s flagship program to wider audiences.
Hosted by Radio Bristol Program Director Kris Truelsen and his band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. The original Farm and Fun Time played a major role in the careers of legendary acts from the Appalachian region including The Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Jim & Jesse McReynolds and many more.
Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, through the station’s online media center at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Rhonda Vincent
Rhonda Vincent is a firecracker of talent that powers one of the hottest bands in any genre of music today. From humble beginnings in the tiny town of Greentop, Missouri, Rhonda’s musical heritage traces back 5 generations of the Vincent family. Her dad would pick her up from school each day, and they would sing and play till dinner. After dinner, friends came over, and they would sing and play till bedtime. She began her professional music career singing in her family’s band The Sally Mountain Show. It was an immediate “on the job training,” as they had a TV show, radio show, and made their first recording when Rhonda was 5 years old. She picked up the mandolin at eight, the fiddle at twelve, and learned a valuable life lesson as a teenager performing with her family at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. While they were playing in the pouring rain to empty seats, and what they thought, no one listening — a week later they received a call from Hal Durham, general manager of the Grand Ole Opry at the time, and who just happened to be listening with his family around the corner. Mr. Durham loved what he heard and invited the Vincent family to appear on the Opry.
Rhonda’s life of music evolved into a successful career in bluegrass music; after being discovered by Grand Ole Opry Star “Jim Ed Brown,” and later spending what she calls her musical college years recording for Giant Records; and learning about the music business from Nashville’s best like James Stroud, Jack McFadden, and Stan Barnett.
It was her pivotal bluegrass album “Back Home Again” that transformed Rhonda Vincent into the All American Bluegrass Girl, and crowned the New Queen of Bluegrass by “The Wall Street Journal” in 2000.
A multi-award winner, with a 2017 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, an Entertainer of the Year 2001, Song of the Year 2004, and unprecedented 7 consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association 2000 – 2006 and an 8th win of IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 2015.
Her lifelong dream came true when she was invited to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry on February 28, 2020. Rhonda waited an unprecedented 345 days and was officially inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry on February 6, 2021.
Her powerful vocal style transcends the boundaries of bluegrass music, as evidenced in her collaboration with Dolly Parton on the Elton John / Bernie Taupin Tribute Project “Restoration” 2018.
About Lauren Morrow
After over a decade as the centerpiece of popular Americana band The Whiskey Gentry, Lauren Morrow packed her bags, her dogs, her cats, and husband and moved to Nashville to pursue a career as a solo artist and grow her craft as a songwriter and performer. Within months, she released her first solo EP to widespread critical acclaim and landed on many Best Of year ends lists from Rolling Stone to Garden & Gun, quickly launching her already budding career and sending it into hyperdrive. Over the next year, Morrow filmed an episode for PBS’ Bluegrass Underground and toured the US playing festivals such as Pickathon and Bristol Rhythm & Roots to name a few. Morrow recently wrapped recording her first solo, full-length album at the legendary Nashville studio, Sound Emporium. Mixed by Vance Powell (Chris Stapleton, Jack White, Phish) and Jaquire King (Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, Shania Twain) set to release in 2022, Morrow’s new album showcases her flawless vocals and intricate songwriting, but also her willingness to take risks — an edge that makes her stand out from the Nashville norm. Whether she’s singing an alternative/indie rock banger, a classic-country cooner, or a traditional lovesick ballad, there’s a unique impression she leaves that lingers and is unlike anything you’ve heard before.
About Roni Stoneman
Virtuoso bluegrass banjoist Roni Stoneman is known best for her role on the popular country music variety show Hee Haw. Roni is the second-youngest of Ernest “Pop” Stoneman and wife Hattie’s 23 children. Roni performed with her siblings and parents in The Stoneman Family band and were a popular touring act. The Stonemans performed at the White House, the Smithsonian, and the Grand Ole Opry and hosted their own TV series, Those Stonemans, from 1966 to 1968 and won the Country Music Association’s (CMA) for Vocal Group of the Year in 1967.

Radio Bristol's Farm and Fun Time
2022-08-11 19:00 - 20:30 | VA
Date: Thursday, August 11, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; audience asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $35
BUY TICKETS HERE
Join us in the intimate performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show with special guests Fireside Collective, Larry Bellorin and Joe Troop.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on PBS stations across the South. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.

About Fireside Collective
A quintet who cheerfully disregard every kind of one-dimensional label that might be attached to their music, Fireside Collective has been on a roll since emerging seven years ago from the fertile roots music scene of Asheville, North Carolina. In quick order, the progressive bluegrass group released its debut album, won the 2016 Band Contest at MerleFest, earned an International Bluegrass Music Association Momentum Band of the Year nomination and embarked on an ambitious touring schedule that’s earned an enthusiastic reception from traditional bluegrass to wide-ranging, eclectic music festival audiences alike.
​Blending the characteristic interplay of bluegrass instrumentation and harmonies with strong original material and exuberant energy, Fireside Collective has drawn on folk, blues, funk and a wide variety of bluegrass sounds to create a distinctive body of work that’s all their own.

About Larry Bellorin and Joe Troop
Larry Bellorín & Joe Troop were destined to make music together. Larry hails from Monagas, Venezuela and is a legend of Llanera music. Joe is from North Carolina and is a GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and oldtime musician. Larry was forced into exile and is an asylum seeker in North Carolina. Joe, after a decade in South America, got stranded back in his stomping grounds in the pandemic. Larry works construction to make ends meet. Joe’s acclaimed “latingrass” band Che Apalache was forced into hiatus, and he shifted into action working with asylum seeking migrants.
Currently based in the Triangle of North Carolina, both men are versatile multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters on a mission to show that music has no borders. As a duo they perform a fusion of Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music on harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, guitar, maracas and whatever else they decide to throw in the van. The program they offer features a distinct blend of their musical inheritances and traditions as well as storytelling about the ways that music and social movements coalesce.

About Bill and the Belles
Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, TN-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Their delightfully deadpan new album, Happy Again, is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss. Bill and the Belles is Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small. The group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around. Visit the band’s website at BillandtheBelles.com for touring and more information.

Radio Bristol's Farm and Fun Time at Bristol Rhythm
2022-09-10 19:30 - 21:30 | VA
Ticket holders to the annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival will have the opportunity to be part of the “studio” audience for Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show at Paramount Bristol, featuring special guests Del McCoury Band, Willie Watson, and the Green Grass Cloggers, with host Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles!
Date: September 10, 2022
Time: 7:30 p.m. EDT
Location: Paramount Bristol (518 State Street)
Cost: Free to Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival ticket holders
Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time is a reimagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. The show broadcasts live before a studio audience and is recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. Farm and Fun Time can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Del McCoury Band
Even among the pantheon of music’s finest artists, Del McCoury stands alone. From the nascent sound of bluegrass that charmed hardscrabble hillbilly honkytonks, rural schoolhouse stages, and the crowning glory of the Grand Ole Opry to the present-day culture-buzz of viral videos and digital streams, Del is the living link. On primetime and late-night television talk shows, there is Del. From headlining sold-out concerts to music festivals of all genres, including one carrying his namesake, there is Del. Where audiences number in the tens of thousands, and admirers as diverse as country-rock icon Steve Earle and jamband royalty Phish count as two among hundreds, there is Del.
About Willie Watson
For nearly two decades, Willie Watson has made modern folk music rooted in older traditions. He’s a folksinger in the classic sense: a singer, storyteller, and traveler, with a catalog of songs that bridge the gap between the past and present. On Folksinger Vol. 2, he acts as a modern interpreter of older songs, passing along his own version of the music that came long before him.
About Green Grass Cloggers
With feet flying and dresses swishing, the Green Grass Cloggers have been a force in traditional dance for over 50 years. Formed in 1971, they are a high-energy percussive dance team based in North Carolina that has preserved and added to traditional steps and routines reflecting those of folk tradition. Through national and international travel, they have captivated audiences at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Philadelphia Folk Festival and countless other venues. In 2014, the group was inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame and America’s Clogging Hall of Fame.
About Bill and the Belles
With their enchanting debut album, “Dreamsongs, Etc.,” Bill and the Belles have captured the freewheeling, lighthearted approach to music that has endeared them to listeners of every generation. With a spirited sound that falls somewhere between old-time country and vaudeville, the group puts its own spin on a golden era of music, specifically the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.

Radio Bristol's Farm and Fun Time
2022-10-13 19:00 - 20:30 | VA
Date: Thursday, October 13, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; audience asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $35
SOLD OUT!
Join us in the intimate performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show with special guests Sunny Sweeney and Ferd.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on PBS stations across the South. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.

About Sunny Sweeney
Sunny Sweeney, a genre-bending, songwriting spitfire who has spent equal time in the rich musical traditions of Texas and Tennessee, returns with Married Alone, the celebrated singer-songwriter’s fifth studio album and the follow-up to 2017’s critically acclaimed Trophy. Co-produced by beloved Texas musician and larger-than-life personality Paul Cauthen and the Texas Gentlemen’s multi-hyphenate Beau Bedford, Married Alone is Sweeney’s finest work yet, bringing together confessional songwriting, image-rich narratives and no shortage of sonic surprises for a loosely conceptual album about loss and healing.

About FERD
Ferd is a man and a band creating a fresh and vibrant interpretation of American music. Ferd is set to release their first album, Feelin’ Like the Wind, in 2022. The album is a musical journey into the toils of joy we all find while stumbling our way to forgiveness.
Ferd Moyse the man was raised in the Mississippi Delta. Born in the land of the Blues, he was exposed to music from the beginning. Sometimes his parents might take him to parties where the likes of Sam Chatman may have been playing, but when he was old enough to be left alone, his job was staying home flipping cassette tapes for his father’s weekly ritual of recording a Mississippi Public Radio show called, “Grass Roots.” The 3-hour show was young Ferd’s introduction into bluegrass and old time music.
At the same time, music was all over the Delta and he would see things from Son Thomas playing at his church or John Hartford at an old high school auditorium. Ferd began playing guitar at an early age and began performing with various blues bands around Mississippi. A chance encounter with a Doc and Merle Watson CD turned his attention to acoustic music and into Appalachia. He moved to western North Carolina and crossed paths with the fiddle, eventually becoming fiddler and singer with the Virginia based Hackensaw Boys.The band was turning heads making original music with a punk-rock spirit. With the Hackensaw Boys, Ferd traveled nationally and internationally playing every festival and club stage they could find, creating an unpretentious version of our folk music. They eventually released albums for Netwerk and Free Dirt Record labels and even working with grammy-winning producer Larry Campbell. Ferd is also know all over by his work with the New York based bard, Morgan O’kane. Together, Ferd and O’kane have traveled extensively busking and playing stages from Brazil to Belfast.

About Bill and the Belles
Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, TN-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Their delightfully deadpan new album, Happy Again, is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss. Bill and the Belles is Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small. The group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around. Visit the band’s website at BillandtheBelles.com for touring and more information.

Farm and Fun Time: Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast, Adam Bolt
2022-11-10 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Date: Thursday, November 10, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST (Guests are asked to be seated in the performance theater by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $40
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Join us in the intimate performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show with special guests Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast and Adam Bolt.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on PBS stations across the South. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast

Known for her soaring vocal performances, Caitlin Krisko and The Broadcast is a powerhouse soul rock band hailing from Asheville, North Carolina. Established in 2021, Krisko’s electrified and unforgettable performances led to her working with members of Tedeschi Trucks Band and David Bowie’s Blackstar Band on the band’s newest studio album Lost My Sight. Krisko captivates her audiences, bringing the perfect blend of power and vulnerability throughout her shows. With a mix of soul rock arrangements with dashes of blues and pop, Caitlin Krisko and The Broadcast has shared stages with Mavis Staples, the late Charles Bradley, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Marcus King, The String Cheese Incident, Bettye Layette, and Gregg Allman’s Buffalo Mountain Jam among others.
About Adam Bolt

Adam Bolt is an award winning Songwriter, and self-proclaimed troubadour of Abingdon. Adam says his songs are Cynical, Sensationalized, and Seasoned in the key of Country. His detailed observations of the natural world are hidden throughout his music. By day, Adam is a grape farmer in which mundane labor allows for a void in his brain to think about things. These things turn into songs and then the songs are garnished with stories. He is a student of Todd Snider, Tom T. Hall, Roger Miller, and John Prine, and many more.
About Bill and the Belles

Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, TN-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Their delightfully deadpan new album, Happy Again, is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss. Bill and the Belles is Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small. The group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around.

A BCM Christmas with Riders in the Sky
2022-12-02 18:00 - 21:00 | VA
Tickets now on sale to the public!
Date: Friday, December 2, 2022
Time 6:00 p.m. EST
Location: Performance Theater, Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $100
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Join us for a very special BCM Christmas special with Riders in the Sky, which includes dinner and a cash bar, hosted by WBCM Radio Bristol.
Click here to learn more about the benefits of becoming a member of our 1927 Society so that you may receive exclusive, first-access to concert tickets and more.
About Riders in the Sky

40 years ago there were no laptops, no cellular phones, no Google, no downloads, no Skype, no Tweets, no Apple, no Microsoft, no texting, no electric cars, no Uber. A different world. But there were three young men with drive and wit who wanted to keep a special music alive. They believed in preserving the heritage of Western Music and presenting it to a new generation. They believed in entertaining, and they did so… entertaining themselves as well as the audience! And they believed in creating original Western Music to continue the tradition, not just seal it in amber as a museum piece.
The quartet has slowed up very little and the numbers begin to add up: an astonishing 7,200+ appearances, 35 years on the Grand Ole Opry, 40 records albums (well, now CDs,) and tours of all 50 states and all over the world.
Honors accumulated as well. In addition to the two GRAMMY Awards, Riders received numerous awards from the Western Music Association, including the highest: membership in the Western Music Hall of Fame; numerous Wrangler awards from the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum; awards from the Academy of Western Artists; enshrinement in the Walkway of Western Stars, and more. What began as a celebration of classic Western Music and an evening of hilarity has become a career, and that career has become a legend, one which, 40 years on, shows no signs of stopping or even slowing down much.
Ranger Doug, Too Slim, Woody Paul and Joey the Cowpolka King… 44 years on, “The Cowboy Way.”

Farm and Fun Time featuring Darrell Scott, John Long
2022-12-08 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Be part of the live studio audience for WBCM Radio Bristol’s variety show hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles.
Date: Thursday, December 8, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST (Doors open at 6:30 p.m., audience is asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Performance Theater, Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $40
BUY TICKETS
Join us in the intimate performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show with special guests Darrell Scott and John Long.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Darrell Scott

Darrell Scott “mines and cultivates the everyday moment, taking the rote, menial, mundane, and allowing it to be surreal, ever poignant, and candidly honest, lilting, blooming, and resonating. The words he fosters allow us to make sense of the world, what is at stake here, and our place in it. And ultimately, Darrell knows the sole truth of life is that love is all that matters, that we don’t always get it right, but that’s the instinctive and requisite circuitous allure of things, why we forever chase it, and why it is held sacred.
2017 and 2018 Darrell opened for and performing with the Zac Brown Band, these days find him roaming his Tennessee wilderness acreage hiking along the small river, playing music, or sharing each day with the woman he loves, also an artist in her own right. He often leads songwriting workshops to help people tell their own truths with their stories, and is as busy as always writing, producing, performing, and just plain fully immersing himself at the hips in life.
​If one really opens their eyes and sees how incomparably varied in surreal depth and breadth the musical territory he is both delving into and setting the high water mark with, it leaves the rest in a bewildered wash of gravel road dust and fading taillights. For good luck finding that two-legged soul who walks around among us who can keep up with him─ain’t gonna happen.”
~ Nathaniel Riverhorse Nakadate
About John Long

Delta blues man John Long is a native of St. Louis, but his love of the blues took hold in Chicago. He moved to Denver in the mid-1970s and soon became known as “Colorado’s own Bluesman,” and has had the opportunity to open shows for many and varied names in the blues, and also folk music artists, many of whom he also got the chance to play with. A few of these included, along with Homesick, Muddy Waters, John Hammond, B.B. King, Snooky Pryor, John Lee Hooker, the Fabulous Thunderbirds (Stevie Ray & brother Jimmy), Odetta, Big Mama Thornton, George Thorogood, Phoebe Snow, Steve Goodman, John Prine, and Big Walter Horton. Long has played internationally, in Europe, Canada, Austria and Germany, as well as coast to coast in the United States.
About Bill and the Belles

Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, TN-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Their delightfully deadpan new album, Happy Again, is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss. Bill and the Belles is Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small. The group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around.

Farm and Fun Time featuring The Deslondes, Erika Lewis
2023-01-12 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Be part of the live studio audience for WBCM Radio Bristol’s variety show hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles.
Date: January 12, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST (Doors open at 6:30 p.m., audience is asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Performance Theater, Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $40
BUY TICKETS
Join us in the intimate performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show with special guests The Deslondes and Erika Lewis.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About The Deslondes

The Deslondes revealed their self-titled debut to widespread tastemaker applause during 2015. However, they really hit their stride on “Hurry Home” in 2017. Right out of the gate, Noisey proclaimed, “The Deslondes have found a comfortable sound to create art in, and it serves them well,” while Rolling Stone noted, “The Deslondes’ take on country relies on gritty, grimy mix of early rock ‘n’ roll and lo-fi R&B.” In addition to praise from American Songwriter, Paste, The Boot, and more, the record closed out on the year on Uncut‘s “Favorite Albums of 2017.” The band’s latest record, “other side,” might just be its brightest yet.

About Erika Lewis

Known for her lengthy tenure touring and busking with beloved New Orleans jazz band Tuba Skinny, prolific songwriter and singer Erika Lewis has been churning out American originals all her own for the past several years. From classic country to cosmic Americana to dreamy indie folk, Lewis continues to dip her toes more deeply into an every expanding pool of roots music styles. Her new record, “A Walk Around the Sun,” was produced by John James Tourville of The Deslondes and is a testament to Lewis’ songwriting prowess and exceptional vocal ability.

About Bill and the Belles

Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, TN-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Their delightfully deadpan new album, Happy Again, is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss. Bill and the Belles is Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small. The group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around.

SOLD OUT! Farm and Fun Time featuring Town Mountain, Anya Hinkle Trio
2023-02-09 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Sorry, tickets are sold out! Be sure and join us on WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page to view online for free!
Date: Thursday, February 9, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST (Doors open at 6:30 p.m., audience is asked to please be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Birthplace of Country Music Museum Performance Theater
Tickets: SOLD OUT!
Join us in the intimate performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show with special guests Town Mountain and Anya Hinkle Trio.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Town Mountain

Hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, Town Mountain is the sum of all its vast and intricate influences — this bastion of alt-country rebellion and honky-tonk attitude pushed through the hardscrabble Southern Appalachian lens of its origin.
“For us, it’s all about the interaction between the audience and the band — doing whatever we can onstage to facilitate that two-way street of energy and emotion,” says mandolinist Phil Barker. “Whether it’s a danceable groove or a particular lyric in a song, we’re projecting what we’re going through in our daily lives, and we feel that other people can attest to that, as well — it’s all about making that connection.”
About Anya Hinkle Trio

With vivid storytelling, vibrant musicianship and arresting honesty, Anya Hinkle and her band explore the beauty of song craft through the lens of the Appalachian string band tradition. Originally from the mountains of Virginia, Anya’s music is steeped in the tones of folk and bluegrass and seasoned by travels across the world. A founding member of Asheville-based bands Dehlia Low (Rebel Records) and Tellico (Organic Records), Anya released the first full-length album under her own name, “Eden And Her Borderlands,” in July 2021 on Organic Records. Hinkle won the MerleFest Chris Austin Songwriting Competition in 2019 for her song “Ballad of Zona Abston” and was runner-up in the International Acoustic Music Awards in 2022 for her song “Hills of Swannanoa.”
Anya tours regionally and nationally in the U.S. as well as Japan and Europe. The Trio includes dobro master Billy Cardine and Mary Lucey on bass and vocals.
Billy Cardine has been recognized as a slide guitar pioneer, taking the dobro with him into unchartered genres. Dobro master Jerry Douglas calls him “…an amazing Dobro player…He is fluent in everything that I do and…everybody that has come before. I couldn’t…pick a better example of where the Dobro is now or what the possibilities are with the instrument.” Billy has performed original compositions at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and The Grand Ole Opry. His albums have been awarded Indie Acoustic Music Project’s Roots Album of the Year and Chicago Tribune’s Bluegrass record of the year. His memorable compositions and emotive playing have been featured on Television productions such as The History Channel’s “Our Generation”, BBC World’s “Destination Music”, and PBS’ “RoadTrip Nation”. An internationally featured artist, he tours and teaches in India, Japan, Europe and Canada.
Mary Lucey is a talented vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and performer. She played bass for the The Biscuit Burners, as well as for the all female group, Uncle Earl. Mary has played venues such as The Kennedy Center, Ryman Auditorium and festivals such as Bonnaroo, Merlefest and Rockygrass. Her music has been featured on Mountain Stage and Woodsong’s Radio Hour.
About Bill and the Belles

Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, TN-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Their delightfully deadpan new album, Happy Again, is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss. Bill and the Belles is Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small. The group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around.

Farm and Fun Time featuring Sam Bush, Annabelle's Curse at the Paramount
2023-03-16 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Join the audience for a live broadcast of WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time variety show, featuring special guests Sam Bush and Annabelle’s Curse and hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, on the stage of the historic Paramount!
Date: Thursday, March 16, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST (Doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
Location: Paramount Bristol (518 State Street, Bristol, TN)
Tickets: $43.02 – $85.13
BUY TICKETS
Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Sam Bush

There was only one prize-winning teenager carrying stones big enough to say thanks, but no thanks to Roy Acuff. Only one son of Kentucky finding a light of inspiration from Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys and catching a fire from Bob Marley and The Wailers. Only one progressive hippie allying with like-minded conspirators, rolling out the New Grass revolution, and then leaving the genre’s torch-bearing band behind as it reached its commercial peak.
There is only one consensus pick of peers and predecessors, of the traditionalists, the rebels, and the next gen devotees. Music’s ultimate inside outsider. Or is it outside insider? There is only one Sam Bush.
He’s released seven albums and a live DVD over the past two decades. In 2009, the Americana Music Association awarded Bush the Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist. Punch Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, and Greensky Bluegrass are just a few present-day bluegrass vanguards among so many musicians he’s influenced. His performances are annual highlights of the festival circuit, with Bush’s joyous perennial appearances at the town’s famed bluegrass fest earning him the title, “King of Telluride.”
“With this band I have now I am free to try anything. Looking back at the last 50 years of playing newgrass, with the elements of jazz improvisation and rock-&-roll, jamming, playing with New Grass Revival, Leon, and Emmylou; it’s a culmination of all of that,” says Bush. “I can unapologetically stand onstage and feel I’m representing those songs well.”
About Annabelle’s Curse

“This five-piece alternative folk band from Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia doesn’t seem to be cursed as much as blessed with talent.” – Huffington Post
“Annabelle’s Curse are one of several folk-rock bands that have gone out on a limb to give the classic American genre an engaging revitalization…”
– PopMatters
Farm and Fun Time is made possible by Eastman Credit Union, Toyota of Bristol and Virginia Tourism.

Radio Bristol Fund Drive
2023-04-11 - 2023-04-12 | VA
Please support WBCM Radio Bristol!
Dates: April 11-12, 2023

CLICK HERE TO DONATE
Radio Bristol is proud to lift the voices of our region and offer a multifaceted platform to an internationally spanning and ever-growing audience. As a community station your support is a crucial part of the continued success of this important project. Though our on air fund drive starts April 11th you can donate today and become an active member of the Radio Bristol community.
Consider becoming a sustaining member by donating at the “Radio Bristol Record Breaker” level. By donating just $25 a month or a one time donation of $300 you will receive the following:
– Limited edition T- shirt designed by celebrated regional artist Harry Slater
– Radio Bristol hat
– Limited edition Radio Bristol mug
-One year membership in the 1927 Society including:

Unlimited entry into the Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Name listed in donor display at BCMM and on website
Receive quarterly newsletters on all things BCM
6 Museum passes to share with friends
A Smithsonian membership Opportunity to purchase Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion passes at lowest available price
Donate at: shorturl.at/dqEKP

Radio Bristol is listener supported and your donations help provide funds for staff and programming. Listeners can pledge online during the fund drive by dialing 1-833-I-LUV-Bristol (1-833-458-8274).

Radio Bristol Songwriter Showcase
2023-04-11 13:00 - 16:00 | VA
Kicking off our annual Fund Drive with Radio Bristol DJs in concert!
Date: Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Location: Performance Theater, Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Free event!
CLICK HERE TO DONATE
Join us in celebration of all things Radio Bristol! We have curated a special performance highlighting some of your favorite Radio Bristol DJ and local songwriters during this variety show! Our Radio Bristol Songwriter Showcase coincides with our upcoming Radio Bristol fund drive.
The program will be free and open to the public; donations are encouraged in support of our unique community radio station!
Performers include:
Alli Epperson
Dallas Wayne
Momma Molasses
Chance Lawson
Lightnin’ Charlie
Adam Bolt
Harrison Hunt
Virginia West
Marshall Ballew
JP Parsons
Bill Smith
Jared Bentley
Hosted by Kris Truelsen

Farm and Fun Time featuring Joslyn & The Sweet Compression, Time Sawyer at the Museum
2023-04-12 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Join us in the intimate performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show with special guests Joslyn & The Sweet Compression and Time Sawyer.
Date: Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET (Doors open at 6:30 p.m., audience is asked to please be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Birthplace of Country Music Museum Performance Theater
Tickets: $40
BUY TICKETS
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Joslyn & The Sweet Compression

After cultivating her dynamic voice and performance skills in backup roles and stage plays, Joslyn Hampton teamed with her stepfather, Marty Charters (a touring guitarist and songwriter who has shared the stage with legends such as Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, and Van Morrison), to compose a captivating set of tunes and assemble an ace band. Joslyn & The Sweet Compression (Robert Frahm – guitar, Smith Donaldson – bass, Rashawn Fleming – drums, Trevin Little – saxophone, and Isaac Stephens – trumpet) combine to deliver a hook-filled mix of funk and soul on their self-titled debut album, released in 2019. A headlining favorite at regional clubs and music festivals, they are poised to engage fans across the country with widespread touring in 2023.
About Time Sawyer

Time Sawyer’s name reflects the pull between the past and the future. The character Tom Sawyer evokes the rural background and love of home that the band shares. Time is a muse for songwriting; it’s the thread that runs through life, bringing new experiences and giving us a sense of urgency, while still connecting us with our past.
The folk-rock band has performed on the stages of some of the Southeast’s most iconic festivals, including Merlefest, Floydfest, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion, Albino Skunk Music Festival, and Carolina in the Fall. They’ve shared bills with American Aquarium, John Craigie, Hiss Golden Messenger, Langhorne Slim, John Moreland, Steep Canyon Rangers, The Wood Brothers, Susto, and many more.
About Bill and the Belles

Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, Tennessee-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Their delightfully deadpan new album, Happy Again, is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss. Bill and the Belles is Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small. The group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around.
Farm and Fun Time is made possible by our generous sponsors Eastman Credit Union, Toyota of Bristol and Virginia Tourism.

Farm and Fun Time featuring Jesse Daniel, Compton and Newberry
2023-05-11 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Date: Thursday, May 11, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET (Doors open at 6:30 p.m., guests are asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Performance Theater, Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $40
BUY TICKETS
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Jesse Daniel

It’s no secret that Jesse Daniel puts on one heck of a live show. With his top notch band, he’s been touring the country for years and earning fans the old fashioned way – with honest songs played well. The California native is blazing the trail for a new wave of traditional artists, bringing his hardcore country music to stages all of the country. There are many making traditional country music in modern times, but there is no one making it like Daniel. His sound is uniquely his own, while rooted in the tradition of his Bakersfield heroes including Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Daniel and his band has toured or shared stages with Colter Wall, Tyler Childers, Sierra Ferrell, Charley Crockett, American Aquarium, Turnpike Troubadors, Shane Smith, Mike and the Moonpies, Raul Malo, and many others.
About Compton and Newberry
Mike Compton and Joe Newberry, masters of old-time mandolin and banjo/guitar, dig deep into early country music and blues. Their duet-singing, two-man string band ranges between traditional songs, instrumentals, ‘mother’ ballads and original tunes. It’s not about the number of notes with Compton and Newberry, but telling the truth and respecting the song.
Mike Compton is a Grammy award winner, IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year nominee, a steady sideman for John Hartford from 1994 until Hartford’s death in 2001, and mandolinist for the Nashville Bluegrass Band. Mike is inarguably the world expert on Bill Monroe-style bluegrass mandolin, and is also steeped in old-time fiddle tunes, early string band music and Delta blues.
Known far and wide for his powerful banjo playing, Joe Newberry is a prizewinning guitarist, songwriter, and singer to boot. In addition to his work with Mike, Joe plays with fiddler and step-dancer April Verch. He was a frequent guest on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, and was a featured singer on the Transatlantic Sessions. He won the songwriting prize for “Gospel Recorded Performance” at the 2012 IBMA Awards for his song, Singing As We Rise, and was co-writer, with Eric Gibson, of the 2013 IBMA Song of the Year for They Called It Music.
About Bill and the Belles

Farm and Fun Time house band Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, Tennessee-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Featuring Farm and Fun Time program host Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small, the group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around.
Farm and Fun Time is made possible by our generous sponsors Eastman Credit Union, Toyota of Bristol and Virginia Tourism Corporation.

Farm and Fun Time On the Road to ROMP!
2023-06-24 13:00 - 15:00 | VA
Date: Saturday, June 24, 2023
Time: 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. CT / 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. ET
Location: Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum during ROMP Fest in Owensboro, KY
BUY TICKETS TO ROMP
WBCM Radio Bristol‘s Farm and Fun Time, presented by the Birthplace of Country Music (BCM), is taking its live variety show on the road to ROMP Fest in Owensboro, Kentucky, broadcasting from the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum with special guests Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band and The McCrary Sisters. The special two-hour program is free to attend exclusively for ROMP Festival ticket holders. The event is part of a strategic partnership between the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and BCM.
Hosted by Radio Bristol Program Director Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a reimagining of the popular program that aired on WCYB Radio in the 1940s and 1950s. A celebration of Appalachian music and culture, the show gave The Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Jim & Jesse McReynolds, and many more, a big boost to their careers.
The Farm and Fun Time live taping at ROMP will stream simultaneously on WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page and via the station’s free mobile app. The show is also recorded for television syndication on recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina.
About Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band:

The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band consists of outstanding musicians with over 100 years of combined recording and performance experience. Joining guitarist Peter Rowan are Chris Henry (mandolin and vocals), Max Wareham (banjo and vocals), Julian Pinelli (fiddle) and Eric Thorin (bass). The ensemble has graced the stages of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Grey Fox, Merlefest, Rothbury Australia’s National Folk Festival, and numerous other festivals domestically and abroad, entertaining audiences with original and traditional songs executed in vibrant harmony.
About The McCrary Sisters:
The McCrary Sisters sing gospel that melds traditional with contemporary and incorporates their influences of classic soul, Americana, blues, rock, and R&B music. Central to their work and any show is their boundless joy in singing, and a desire to spread hope, love, healing – and dancing.
Daughters of the late Rev. Samuel McCrary – a founding member of the legendary gospel quartet The Fairfield Four – Ann, Regina, Alfreda, and Deborah grew up in Nashville surrounded by music, artists, community and faith. The daughters were raised in harmony, singing at home and at their father’s church. In their formative years, the sisters have many accomplishments – individually and together – sharing in their family legacy performing with artists including Bob Dylan, Elvis, Isaac Hayes and Stevie Wonder.

Farm and Fun Time featuring S.G. Goodman, Viv & Riley
2023-08-10 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Date: Thursday, August 10, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET (Doors open at 6:30 p.m., guests are asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Performance Theater, Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $40
BUY TICKETS
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About S.G. Goodman

“No one escapes the marks left behind when it comes to love or the absence of it,” says singer-songwriter S.G. Goodman, describing the inspiration behind her sophomore album Teeth Marks. “Not only are we the ones who bear its indentations, but we’re also the ones responsible for placing them on ourselves and others.”
When the Kentucky native released her debut album, Old Time Feeling, she was rightly coined an “untamed rock n roll truth-teller” by Rolling Stone. The roots-inflected rock n’ roll record saw Goodman lending her gritty, haunting vocals to narrate the dual perspectives of her upbringing as the daughter of a crop farmer, and a queer woman coming out in a rural town.
Now with Teeth Marks, co-produced by Drew Vandenberg (Faye Webster, Drive-By Truckers, Of Montreal) in Athens, Georgia, she picks up the threads of Old Time Feeling. But where her critically acclaimed, Jim James-produced debut zeroed in on the South, reframing misconceptions in slough water-soaked tones, her latest album pulses with downtown Velvet Underground electricity, shifting its focus inward – though never losing Goodman’s searing and universal point of view. Teeth Marks is what you might get if Flannery O’Connor and Lou Reed went on a road trip.
Drawing influences from the aforementioned Velvets, as well as Pavement, Karen Dalton, and Chad VanGaalen, Goodman brings 11 powerful vignettes to life, with a sound that ventures deeper into indie rock and punk territory than she ever has before. Though Teeth Marks is a love album, Goodman doesn’t aim her focus on romantic relationships alone. Instead, she analyzes the way love between communities, families, and even one’s self can be influenced by trauma that lingers in the body. Teeth Marks is about what love actually is, love’s psychological and physical imprint, its light, and its darkness. It’s a record about the love we have or don’t have for each other, and perhaps, more significantly, the love we have or don’t have for ourselves.
About Viv & Riley

A bittersweet nostalgia lies at the heart of Imaginary People, the new album from Viv & Riley, coming September 15, 2023 on Free Dirt Records. Over ten tracks, the pair applies an indie roots sheen to newly composed pop gems. Rooted originally in the folk tradition, the pair reframe the production into experimental territory, crafting songs that speak to finding a path forward into adulthood in an uncertain world. Gifted songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno’s first album under the name Viv & Riley is a subtle masterpiece of thought and reflection. The album brings a reflectiveness to summertime jams that speak of uninhibited joy and creative camaraderie. Coming on the heels of their acclaimed earlier albums that showed preternaturally talented songwriting from such young artists, now the songs have caught up with their lives. Now in their mid-20s, the two are building a life together, creating a supportive community, and looking back on everything they’ve been through. Based out of Durham, North Carolina, they’ve tapped into the area’s eclectic and collaborative music scene, recruiting Alex Bingham of Hiss Golden Messenger to produce the album. Bingham brings a sunny, lush sound to Viv & Riley’s music, moving beyond their earlier country roots and toward a layered sound and sonic experimentation. The songwriting has evolved as well, from the world-weary, stripped-down country songs they’re known for to indie songwriting at turns sweetly sad and gently sardonic. Ultimately, Imaginary People is about carrying and honoring our pasts, about letting that inform our new steps forward. No matter how much we might cling to where we are, sometimes we need to uproot and take a leap of faith, to open ourselves up to new experiences and ideas in order to grow and blossom.
About Bill and the Belles

Farm and Fun Time house band Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, Tennessee-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Featuring Farm and Fun Time program host Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small, the group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around.
Farm and Fun Time is made possible by our generous sponsors Eastman Credit Union, Toyota of Bristol and Virginia Tourism Corporation.

NEW DATE! Farm and Fun Time featuring Rodney Crowell, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley at the Paramount
2023-10-19 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
The July 13, 2023 broadcast of WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time variety show, featuring special guests Rodney Crowell and Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, has been re-scheduled due to unforeseen circumstances. If you purchased tickets to the show, you may still use them on the re-scheduled date of October 19. If you wish to receive a refund, please call the Paramount Bristol box office at 423-274-8920.
Date: Thursday, October 19, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST (Doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
Location: Paramount Bristol (518 State Street, Bristol, TN)
Tickets: $43.02 – $85.13
BUY TICKETS
Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell is the songwriter’s songwriter and an icon among giants. Native Texan, Crowell is a multi-Grammy Award-winning troubadour with fifteen number one hits. Over the course of his career, Crowell has gracefully blended his own mainstream success as an artist with a prolific catalog of songs cut by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Keith Urban and more, making him a master among his peers.
With more than 40 years of American roots music under his belt, Crowell has also been cited as the architect of Americana music, extending his genre reach, but owing to the distinctly universal, literary quality of his writing, he has also penned beloved songs for artists as diverse as Bob Seger, Etta James, the Grateful Dead, John Denver, Jimmy Buffett and countless others.
Crowell came up in Nashville’s songwriting heyday alongside Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, and Steve Earle and has continued that legacy of camaraderie and kinship with his peers well into the iconic era of his career. As many say – “your favorite song was probably written by Rodney Crowell.”
About Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley

Take a 15-time IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Dobro Player of the Year and a Tennessee-born guitar prodigy called “Nashville’s hottest young player” by Acoustic Guitar magazine, and you have Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, a GRAMMY®-nominated powerhouse acoustic duo that has electrified the acoustic music scene around the world. Acoustic Guitar describes their sound as “steel-string bluegrass with all the intensity of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Known for their white-hot picking and world class musicianship as six-string virtuosos, as well as their soulful stone country vocals, Ickes and Hensley cleverly and uniquely meld bluegrass, country, blues, rock, jamgrass, and string band music of all kinds to create a signature blend of music that defies restrictions of genre (as heard on their new record, Living In A Song, released on February 10, 2023). With Living In A Song, Ickes and Hensley made a conscious effort to spotlight their songwriting chops by collaborating with and paying homage to some of Nashville’s finest songwriters. They made a conscious decision to lean the music in a classic country direction, with some elements of Americana and bluegrass thrown in for good measure.
As a duo, Ickes and Hensley have shared the stage or collaborated with Tommy Emmanuel, Taj Mahal, Vince Gill, David Grisman, Jorma Kaukonen, Hot Tuna, Marty Stuart, and Steve Wariner, among many others.
Farm and Fun Time is made possible by Eastman Credit Union, Toyota of Bristol and Virginia Tourism.

Farm and Fun Time featuring Boy Golden, The Resonant Rogues
2023-11-09 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Date: Thursday, November 9, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET (Doors open at 6:30 p.m., guests are asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Performance Theater, Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $40
BUY TICKETS
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Boy Golden

Everything becomes fluid when you can pass through time and space like a ghost, a story, a melody. Boy Golden manifests all three on For Jimmy.
When listening to his music, it feels easy to dissolve into the ether. Everything flows. From classic country to psych-folk, Alternative to roadhouse pop to Appalachian bluegrass, Boy Golden’s music is easy, breezy, warm and gritty. And don’t it just feel good to listen to it.
Since releasing his debut album, Church of Better Daze, in 2021, he’s played every summer festival on your list, produced albums with friends, released a dozen videos, curated and directed an art show and music video for “KD & Lunchmeat”, the Seth-Rogenesque hit single that charted to #1 on Alternative Radio, and toured more than 60 venues across North America with The Sheepdogs.
About The Resonant Rogues

Rooted in the mountains of Western North Carolina, The Resonant Rogues are fronted by songwriting duo Sparrow and Keith Josiah Smith, who share a passion for movement and sound. Before meeting, falling in love, and forming the band in 2013, both traveled extensively throughout the U.S.- Keith by hopping freight trains, Sparrow with a circus troupe. In addition to their holler homestead, New Orleans and Nashville are their other musical homes, and the influences of both can be felt on The Resonant Rogues self-titled fourth album. The sounds of Appalachian old-time, classic country, and vintage soul all make appearances in this stunner of an album.
About Bill and the Belles

Farm and Fun Time house band Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, Tennessee-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Featuring Farm and Fun Time program host Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small, the group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around.
Farm and Fun Time is made possible by our generous sponsors Eastman Credit Union, Toyota of Bristol and Virginia Tourism Corporation.

Farm and Fun Time featuring Bobby Rush, Cole Ritter & The Night Owls
2023-12-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Birthplace of Country Music Museum, 101 Country Music Way, Bristol, VA, 24201, United States
Date: Thursday, December 14, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET (Doors open at 6:30 p.m., guests are asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Performance Theater, Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $40
BUY TICKETS
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
About Bobby Rush

During his renowned stage show Bobby Rush frequently jumps high into the air, arms spread and legs tucked, only to land gracefully and return without a hitch to his dazzling routine. It’s a move you might expect at a contemporary R&B show, but it’s downright shocking when you realize that Rush is in his late 80s.
Rush’s busy schedule includes headlining European festivals with his band and solo programs at venues including Jazz at Lincoln Center, and he just recorded an album of brand new material, All My Love For You, coming out via his own label Deep Rush Records in collaboration with Nashville-based Thirty Tigers. Over the last several years he’s won a second Grammy, re-recorded his 1971 hit Chicken Heads together with his old friend Buddy Guy and young blues star Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and written a critically acclaimed autobiography, I Ain’t Studdin’ You: My American Blues Story.
That story began in rural Homer/Haynesville, Louisiana, where Rush—born Emmett Ellis, Jr.—grew up on his family’s farm picking cotton, tending to mules and chickens, and living in a home without electricity nor indoor plumbing. He left behind farm work to perform on the road with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, and as “Bobby Rush”—a name he took on out of respect to his father, a minister—he toured the jukes and clubs of Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi before settling in Chicago in the 1950s. Through singles on labels including Chess, ABC and Philadelphia International and relentless touring Rush established an unparalleled reputation as an entertainer, which later led to him being crowned by Rolling Stone magazine as King of the Chitlin’ Circuit, the network of African American clubs that arose during the segregation era.
Based in Jackson, Mississippi since the early ‘80s, Rush began “crossing over” to new audiences several decades ago, featured in the Martin Scorsese-produced documentary The Road to Memphis, appearing alongside Terrence Howard, Snoop Dogg and Mavis Staples in the documentary Take Me to the River, and performing on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon along with Dan Aykroyd. And the eternally youthful Rush was even able to play himself in the 1970s in Netflix’s 2019 hit biopic Dolemite is My Name in a scene with Eddie Murphy. And the recognition keeps coming. In addition to his two Grammy wins (and six nominations), he’s in the Blues Hall of Fame, has won 16 Blues Music Awards (among 56 nominations), and there’s currently a musical in development called Slippin’ Through The Cracks with sights on Broadway, recently co-written by Rush and playwright Stephen Lloyd Helper, who co-wrote the 7x Tony-nominated musical Smokey Joe’s Café celebrating the songs of Lieber and Stoller.
About Cole Ritter & The Night Owls

Founded in 2019, Cole Ritter and The Night Owls have since been pioneering new sonic spaces and finding their very own home-grown sound that is completely new, yet nostalgic. This award-winning band is helmed by ColeRitter, a Nashville Native who has devoted his life to music. Cole Ritter and The Night Owls were chosen as the winner of Belmont’s University’s “Country Showcase” in 2020. Ritter’s songwriting draws inspiration from many genres including country, rock, folk, and the blues.
The Allstar backing band, The Night Owls, features a lineup of some of Nashville’s best and brightest up-and-coming instrumentalists and musicians. The Night Owls are made up of Alex Barcic on Pedal Steel Guitar, Tom Davis on Upright Bass, Christian Starrett on Guitar, and Matt Martirano on drums. Cole Ritter and The Night Owls are quickly rising and can’t wait to share their music with the world!

About Bill and the Belles

Farm and Fun Time house band Bill and the Belles is a Johnson City, Tennessee-based band known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Featuring Farm and Fun Time program host Kris Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan VanSuetendael, and bassist Andrew Small, the group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk, and anyone who’s been to one of their shows can attest that you leave feeling lighter and refreshed. This is a band that revels in the in-between: deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting. A timeless place where Jimmie Rodgers and Phil Spector can overlap, and a driving fiddle and banjo tune makes way for a sentimental parlor song. And while Bill and the Belles’ latest chapter offers a bigger, moodier, and more decade-ambiguous sound, they maintain their status as the most refreshing stringband around.
Farm and Fun Time is made possible by our generous sponsors Eastman Credit Union, Toyota of Bristol and Virginia Tourism Corporation.

CANCELLED: Farm and Fun Time featuring Laurie Lewis, Shay Martin Lovette
2024-01-11 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Due to circumstances beyond our control, our scheduled Farm and Fun Time with Laurie Lewis and Shay Martin Lovette has been cancelled. Current ticket holders have the option of receiving a refund for their tickets or a roll them over for tickets to our March 14 Farm and Fun Time, artists soon to be announced. The event will be held at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum.
Please fill out the electronic form below by January 9. If you do not choose the refund option by that date, your tickets will automatically roll over to the March 14 date.
CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE A REFUND OR ROLLOVER TICKETS
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and his Farm and Fun Time House Band, the program is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.

Farm and Fun Time featuring St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Sugadaisy at the Paramount
2024-02-20 19:00 - 21:00 | Paramount Bristol, 518 State St, Bristol, TN, TN, 37620, United States
Join us for a live broadcast of WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time variety show, featuring special guests St. Paul & The Broken Bones and Sugadaisy, on the stage of the historic Paramount Bristol!
Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST (Doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
Location: Paramount Bristol (518 State Street, Bristol, TN)
BUY TICKETS
Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
Farm and Fun Time is made possible by Eastman Credit Union, Toyota of Bristol, and Virginia Tourism Corporation.
About St. Paul & The Broken Bones

Founded in Birmingham, Alabama in 2011, St. Paul & the Broken Bones consists of Paul Janeway (vocals), Jesse Phillips (bass), Browan Lollar (guitar), Kevin Leon (drums), Al Gamble (keyboards), Allen Branstetter (trumpet), Chad Fisher (trombone), and Amari Ansari (saxophone). The eight-piece ensemble burst into the world with their 2014 debut Half the City, establishing a sound that quickly became a calling card and landing the band a slew of major festivals including Lollapalooza, Coachella and Glastonbury. Critical praise from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, SPIN and NPR followed, leading to shared stages with some of the world’s biggest artists—Elton John and The Rolling Stones among them—and launching an impressive run of headlining tours behind what Esquire touted as a “potent live show that knocks audiences on their ass.”
The group has continued to expand their sound with every record, branching out well beyond old-school soul into sleek summertime funk and classic disco on albums like 2018’s Young Sick Camellia. Their forthcoming LP, Angels In Science Fiction, stretches their limbs further afield, building on the shadowy psychedelia and intricate, experimental R&B of 2022’s The Alien Coast.
About Sugadaisy

Established in 2017 in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and currently headquartered in Nashville, Sugadaisy has been making waves in the music scene, captivating audiences with their dynamic performances and electrifying sound. Successfully navigating the highly competitive music industry, the band has secured a distinct position through their unique blend of rock and pop influences.
The hallmark of Sugadaisy’s music lies in powerful vocals, fierce guitar riffs, and infectious melodies that linger in the mind long after the music has faded. Setting themselves apart from their peers, Sugadaisy seamlessly amalgamates various genres, creating a sound that is unmistakably theirs – a blend of familiarity and innovation.
Sugadaisy’s unwavering commitment to their art and genuine passion for music resonate in every note they produce. Their compelling live shows and captivating compositions have cultivated a devoted fan base, and their music continues to resonate with listeners globally.

Farm and Fun Time featuring East Nash Grass, Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves
2024-03-14 19:00 - 21:00 | VA
Join us for a live broadcast of WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time variety show, featuring special guests East Nash Grass plus Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves in the performance theater at the museum!
Date: Thursday, March 14, 2024
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; guests are asked to be seated by 6:55 p.m.)
Location: Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $40+ Bristol, VA admission tax/ticket agent fee
BUY TICKETS
Farm and Fun Time is a re-imagining of the classic WCYB Radio program of the same name that aired in the 1940s and 1950s. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time broadcasts live before a studio audience and recorded for television syndication on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. It can be accessed on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, or online at ListenRadioBristol.org and on Radio Bristol’s free mobile app. Viewers may also tune in to watch through Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.
Farm and Fun Time is made possible by Eastman Credit Union, Toyota of Bristol, and Virginia Tourism Corporation.
About East Nash Grass

Bluegrass music may be one of America’s “traditional” styles, but at its heart it has always been wild and spontaneous. The style demands every ounce of facility and intent that each performer can muster— it fires on all cylinders or none at all. Few bands do it as well as East Nash Grass. An ensemble of standout players from a city known for the quality of its musicians, East Nash Grass came by its name and reputation honestly, honing their performance chops night after night on a tiny stage on Music City’s east side. Even now having played many of the biggest stages in bluegrass, East Nash Grass can still be found every Monday night performing in that same east side bar. Dedication to a group’s roots and a commitment to hard work are earmarks of great Nashville bands of all kinds, and East Nash Grass exemplifies what it means to be a bluegrass band from Nashville. For more information, visit the band’s website at EastNashGrass.com.
About Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves

For master musicians Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, traditional banjo and fiddle music is a way to interpret our uncertain times, to draw artistic inspiration and power from the sources of meaning in their lives. History, family, literature, live performance, and environmental instability all manifest in the sounds, feelings, and sensations that permeate their music. Their 2022 sophomore album, Hurricane Clarice is a direct infusion of centuries of matrilineal folk wisdom, a fiery breath of apocalyptic energy. The duo creates a sound that is adventurous, masterful, and original, as they expand on the eccentricities of old songs, while never losing sight of what makes them endure. For more information, visit their website at AllisonandTatiana.com.
