The Birthplace of Country Music

Farm and Fun Time on PBS
2020-06-06 19:00 - 20:00, 2020-06-13 19:00 - 20:00, 2020-06-20 19:00 - 20:00, 2020-06-27 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Tune in on Blue Ridge PBS to Watch Farm and Fun Time
Date: Saturdays (Beginning April 4, 2020)
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Tune in to the broadcast television premiere of WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time variety show on Blue Ridge PBS.
Click Here to Watch Online

ABOUT FARM AND FUN TIME
Recorded live before a studio audience in the “acoustically perfect” Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Historic Downtown Bristol, Virginia-Tennessee, Farm and Fun Time brings a high-energy, fun-filled performance that puts a modern spin on classic live radio, featuring contemporary roots music artists & segments that celebrate Appalachian Culture. Host Kris Truelsen and house band Bill and the Belles tie it all together for an entertaining experience you won’t soon forget!
Season One
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 1 (April 4, 2020)

This week’s show features the laid-back, down home sounds of the Barefoot Movement and the Texas-style fiddling and three part harmonies of The Quebe Sisters. Heirloom Recipe presenter Bailey George reveals the truth about Potted Meat, and we visit Ridge and Valley Farm to learn more about sustainable beef farming.
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 2 (April 11, 2020)

This week’s show features the out of this world bluegrass of The Matchsellers, sweet and soulful duets with Chatham Rabbits, and the award winning Becky Buller Band. We also visit TNT Farm & Greenhouse to learn about how farmers prepare for spring planting using Greenhouses.
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 3 (April 18, 2020)

This week’s show features the jug band blues of Birmingham, Alabama’s Steel City Jug Slammers and the mesmerizing sounds of West Virginia’s rising songstress Sierra Ferrell. Heirloom Recipe presenter Toni Doman gives listeners the scoop on her grandma’s cherry pie, and we see what’s the buzz about bee keeping at Sweet Life Farm.
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 4 (April 25, 2020)

This week’s show features the old time infused sounds of Hoot and Holler, along with the great rockin’ jazz and blues-tinged stylings of Davina and the Vagabonds . Heirloom Recipe presenter DonnaMarie Emmert recalls foraging for Morel Mushrooms with her mother, and Tala & Thyme Apothecary’s Taylor Callahan teaches us about foraging for the useful plants hiding in the Appalachian landscape.
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 5 (May 2, 2020)

This week’s show is a Honky Tonk Extravaganza featuring legendary Chuck Meade and The Grassy Knoll Boys and Southwest Virginia’s own, Kelsey Rae! We also visit Beagle Ridge Herb Farm and learn about the soothing properties of Lavender for this month’s farm report.
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 6 (May 9, 2020)

This week’s show features the Western bluegrass sounds of Jeff Scrogins and Colorado and the distinct sylings of North Carolina’s Chatham County Line! Heirloom Recipe presenter Nathan Brand of Johnson City Tennessee’s Timber! restaurant shares his recipe for Smoked Trout Dip, and we learn about apples and more at Buffalo Trail Orchard!
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 7 (May 16, 2020) –

This week’s show features bluegrass music from Nashville Songwriter Irene Kelley and the innovative and influential Lonesome River Band. Heirloom recipe presenter Charles Parker fondly recalls his grandmother’s creamed corn, and we learn about the sustainability of hemp production with Greene Hemp Company.
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 8 (May 23, 2020)

This week’s show features Smithsonian Folkways recording artist Kai Kater and a modern take on old time stringband music from Molsky’s Mountain Drifters. Mohsin and Kaitlin Kazmi discuss the controversial fruit (yes, fruit): Okra, and we learn about the work sheepdogs do at Clover Creek Farm.
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 9 (May 30, 2020)

This week’s show features Kingsport, Tennessee songstress Beth Snapp and Free Dirt Records recording artist Rachel Baiman. Heirloom Recipe presenter Buck Ford recalls his dad, Tennessee Ernie Ford’s favorite recipes, and we visit Campbell Farms to learn about a maple syrup making tradition.
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 10 (June 13, 2020)

This week’s show features high energy string band music from Five Mile Mountain Road and the award-winning, critically acclaimed bluegrass band Blue Highway. We also learn about heritage turkeys at Cave Ridge Farm.
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 11 (June 20, 2020)

This week’s show features an original twist on classic Honky Tonk from Vaden Landers Band, and the guitar wizardry Australia’s own C.W. Stoneking. Storyteller Tony Marr tells a cautionary tale of leftovers gone awry, and we visit A Different Chick Farm to learn about grafting fruit trees,
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 12 (June 27, 2020)

This week’s show features America’s Greatest Show Band, The Kody Norris Show, and guitar pickin’ from the legendary Wayne Henderson and up and coming flatpicker Presley Barker. Rene Rodgers discusses a special piece of Farm and Fun Time History, and we visit Erwin National Fish Hatchery to learn more about raising fish to stock the waterways of Appalachia and beyond.
Farm and Fun Time Season 1, Episode 13 (July 4, 2020)
This week’s show features the rockin’ sounds of Miss Tess and a bluegrass set from the King of Americana, Jim Lauderdale! We also learn about rehabilitating neglected farm animals at Tilted Tavern Animal Sanctuary.

Farm & Fun Time
2020-09-10 19:00 - 21:00
Join us online for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm & Fun Time live variety show featuring music guests 49 Winchester and The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys!
Date: Thursday, September 10, 2020
Time: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch:
Radio Bristol Facebook Live
or
Radio Bristol’s YouTube Channel

About Farm and Fun Time
Farm and Fun Time hearkens back to the days of classic live radio and features today’s top traditional country, bluegrass and old-time artists. We’re proud to bring back this historic program to a new generation of listeners.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and featuring house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a celebration of Appalachian music and culture with various segments jingles and featured artists.
Enjoy the show every second Thursday monthly, live in person at the museum by purchasing a ticket, or listen online at listenradiobristol.org or through our mobile App for iOS and Android.

About 49 Winchester
Alt-country soul from the heart of Appalachia in Russell County, VA. 49 Winchester delivers the poetically straightforward songs of singer/guitarist Isaac Gibson in a soulful electric live show. Rock & roll with roots planted firmly in the traditions of mountain music.

About The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys take pride in being ambassadors of their genre, taking their music from rural bluegrass festivals to rock clubs in Europe. Their goal? To bring bluegrass to places where it’s least expected.

Farm and Fun Time
2020-10-08 19:00 - 20:30
Join us for a special online-only edition of the Farm and Fun Time live variety show featuring live music guests Scott Miller and Redd Volkaert.
Date: Thursday, October 8, 2020

Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Facebook Live
WATCH
ABOUT FARM AND FUN TIME
Farm and Fun Time hearkens back to the days of classic live radio and features today’s top traditional country, bluegrass and old-time artists. We’re proud to bring back this historic WCYB Radio program from the 1940s and 1950s to a new generation of listeners!
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and featuring house band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a celebration of Appalachian music and culture with various segments jingles and featured artists.
Enjoy the show every second Thursday monthly, live in person at the museum by purchasing a ticket, or listen online at listenradiobristol.org or through our mobile App for iOS and Android.
About Scott Miller
“I wanted to call this record Thalia and Melpomene after the Greek muses (the smiley/frowny faces of the theatre) but my manager Kathi Whitley said, ‘You call this record THAT and I quit.’”
So says Scott Miller of his tenth studio record since leaving the V-Roys, the 1990s Knoxville-based thinking-man’s party band. The V-Roys caught the ear of Steve Earle, who signed them to his somewhat ephemeral E-Squared label. Band and label collapsed at about the same time. Miller has survived a health scare, scaled back his erstwhile stoically-crazed lifestyle, hightailed it from the city lights of Knoxville, and taken up the life of a cattleman on his family’s Shenandoah Valley ranch. Somehow amid all that, this record is his tenth release under his own name, or that of his post V-Roys band, the Commonwealth.
After junking that Clash of the Titans title, Miller settled on the name Ladies Auxiliary, thanks to the simple fact that everyone involved, save Miller himself, is, in fact, a lady. The A-list of XX-chromosomers includes Whitley and the entire band: Bryn Davies, Rayna Gellert, Jen Gunderman, Deanie Richardson, and Megan Carchman. The record was also produced (and performed on by) Anne McCue, who brings a smidgen of vintage Django jazz and Charlie Christian swing to the arrangements.
Learn more at TheScottMiller.com.
About Redd Volkaert
Probably best known as the most Roy Nichols-like successor to the great Roy Nichols in Merle Haggard’s famous backup band The Strangers, Canada native Volkaert had no difficulty establishing his place among the country’s top Telecaster guitar slingers, and you’d have no trouble finding plenty of people who consider him the best guitar player in Austin today (now in Galax, Va as of 2019; check out Haggard’s 1999 Live At Billy Bob’s Texas to hear a great example of Volkaert’s work as a Stranger).
However, to call Volkaert a mere Nichols-like Stranger would be selling short his seemingly effortless ability to conjure up at will a vast array of complex guitar styles and techniques in countless genres and subgenres of country, rock, jazz, swing, surf, etc.
Volkaert was a 2004 Grammy nominee for best country instrumental performance and has indeed mastered the many guitar styles in which he plays.
Learn more at ReddVolkaert.com.

Farm & Fun Time
2020-11-19 19:00 - 20:30
Date: November 19, 2020

Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Facebook Live
*Please note this show has been rescheduled from November 12, 2020.
About Farm and Fun Time
Farm and Fun Time hearkens back to the days of classic live radio and features today’s top traditional country, bluegrass and old-time artists. We’re proud to bring back this historic program to a new generation of listeners.
Hosted by Kris Truelsen and featuring host band Bill and the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is a celebration of Appalachian music and culture with various segments jingles and featured artists.
Enjoy the show on WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook Live or listen online at listenradiobristol.org or through our mobile App for iOS and Android.

About Merle Monroe
Pinecastle recording artists Merle Monroe is a band created by musicians Tim Raybon and Daniel Grindstaff. Using their collective experiences as professionals in the music business – Merle Monroe’s sound is vocally driven and has a mix of hard-driving Bill Monroe – style Bluegrass proficiency all the way to a tear at your heartstrings Merle Haggard style ballad. Merle Monroe believes Bluegrass, Gospel and Traditional Country music is America’s music – the stories of the common man and the sounds of the mountains. To learn more about Merle Monroe visit the website.
About The Wildmans
The Wildmans have been wrangling tunes and dialing in their sound at countless fiddler’s conventions and jams for nearly a decade, but some still don’t know their talent. Now the wait is over, it’s time we fill our cups and let them overflow with this self-titled debut of fiddle tunes and sing songs that burn brighter than any accolades, this album draws on the quartet’s deep groove, vocal blend, and instrumental virtuosity, all of which combine to create one of the freshest sounds in American roots music today. The WIldmans are a true family band – that is bound more by spirit than blood – sitting squarely at the crossroads of past and future, and poised for greatness. All you have to do is sit back, press play, and enjoy… that is, if you are ready.” – Nicholas Falk
To learn more about The Wildmans visit the website.

Radio Bristol Premieres: The Kody Norris Show
2021-05-08 19:00 - 20:30
Date: Saturday, May 8, 2021

Time: 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; audience must be seated by 6:50 p.m.)
Location: Birthplace of Country Music Museum Performance Theater and Online

Limited In Person Attendance, following health & safety guidelines mandated by the State of Virginia.

Tickets: $30 + Bristol, Virginia Admissions Tax
In Person Tickets – tickets On Sale on Tuesday, April 27 at 12:00 p.m.

View the Show Online – Ticket required to watch

Radio Bristol focuses on new recordings and projects from nationally recognized artists before a live audience in the Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum.
On Saturday, May 8, Radio Bristol is proud to feature new music from The Kody Norris Show. The show will celebrate the band’s new release “All Suited Up” on rebel records.
About Kody Norris
Call it retro, hillbilly, bluegrass or rockabilly, the group strives for something Kody simply 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 foursome is fronted by Norris on guitar and his fiddling “sweetie,” Mary Rachel Nalley, Josiah Tyree on banjo and Cousin Charlie Lowman on the bass!
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 7 nominations in the 2018 SPBGMA Awards in Nashville.
Playing 90+ dates a year, The Kody Norris Show covers the road from Canada to Mexico, only missing two states to date. They’ve been part of the University of Chicago Folk Festival and have performed at the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center and are part of two weekly programs on the acclaimed RFD-TV’s network, The Cumberland Highlanders Show and The Bluegrass Trail.

Radio Bristol Fund Drive
2021-05-12 - 2021-05-13
Please support WBCM Radio Bristol!
Dates: May 12 – 13, 2021

CLICK HERE TO DONATE
Radio Bristol kicks off its annual Fund Drive on the air and online at ListenRadioBristol.org with a special Farm and Fun Time Noon Show with hosts The Kody Norris show, followed by a music-filled DJ Showcase featuring a lineup of Radio Bristol’s on-air talent – whom just happen to be some of our region’s most amazing musicians! The Fund Drive will continue through May 13 with a big finale – the return of Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time variety show featuring special guests Parker Millsap and Alexa Rose at 7:00 p.m.

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).

Farm and Fun Time Ft. Parker Millsap and Alexa Rose
2021-05-13 19:00 - 20:30
Date: Thursday, May 13, 2021

Doors Open: 6:30 p.m.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Limited In Person Attendance, following health & safety guidelines mandated by the State of Virginia.

Tickets: $35
Click Here to Purchase Tickets

View the show online on Radio Bristol’s Facebook or YouTube channels

Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time hosts Parker Millsap and Alexa Rose on Thursday, May 13, 2021 in the Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. The show will also stream on Radio Bristol’s Facebook page and YouTube Channel.
Farm & Fun Time, the historic Radio Program broadcasting from Downtown Bristol, was a staple to listeners across the Southeast during the 1940s and 1950s on the former WCYB Radio. Radio Bristol breathes new life into the classic program with a fun, energetic show broadcasting live from the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Hosted by Radio Bristol producer and house band-leader Kris Truelsen, Farm & Fun Time is an event the whole family can enjoy live, in the studio or when gathered around their radios.
About Parker Millsap
Parker Millsap is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Purcell, Oklahoma, playing a blend of blues, country, rock, Americana, and folk music. Named one of Americana Music Association’s 2014 Emerging Artists of the Year after the release of his eponymous album, Millsap garnered attention with his song “Truck Stop Gospel”, which has been featured on NPR’s music program The Record. Playing with childhood friend Michael Rose on bass and Daniel Foulks on the fiddle, Millsap’s musical style has drawn comparisons to early Elvis Presley. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, harmonica and banjo. He attributes his musical influence to growing up in a Pentecostal Church and listening to blues with his parents. He has opened for Patty Griffin, Old Crow Medicine Show, Shovels & Rope, Lake Street Dive, John Fullbright, Jason Isbell, and Sarah Jarosz, as well as headlining tours of his own, and counts Elton John as a fan. Millsap’s television appearances include Conan and Austin City Limits.
Click here to learn more about Parker Millsap
About Alexa Rose

Virginia-born singer-songwriter Alexa Rose creates her own style of modern folk. Her distinctive vocal sound has bits of Joni Mitchell, Lucinda Williams, and Gilliam Welch. Her earnest, well-crafted songs explore timeless topics. It is American roots music that blends some of the mountains with modern country and a little rock and roll.

Click Here to Learn More About Alexa Rose

Farm and Fun Time
2021-06-10 19:00 - 21:00
Date: Thursday, June 10, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Performance Theater, Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Limited in-person attendance, following health and safety guidelines.
Tickets: $35
PURCHASE TICKETS

VIEW THE SHOW ONLINE VIA
RADIO BRISTOL’S FACEBOOK & YOUTUBE

Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time hosts Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band and Caleb Caudle on Thursday, June 10, 2021 in the Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. The show will also stream on Radio Bristol’s Facebook page and YouTube Channel.
Farm & Fun Time, the historic radio program broadcasting from Downtown Bristol, was a staple for listeners across the Southeast during the 1940s and 1950s on the former WCYB Radio. Radio Bristol breathes new life into the classic program with a fun, energetic show broadcasting live from the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Hosted by Radio Bristol producer and house band-leader Kris Truelsen, Farm & Fun Time is an event the whole family can enjoy live, in the studio or when gathered around their radios.
ABOUT REV. PEYTON’S BIG DAMN BAND
The new album from Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band was written by candlelight and then recorded using the best technology available in the 1950s.
But listeners won’t find another album as relevant, electrifying and timely as Dance Songs for Hard Times. Released ib Thirty Tigers the album conveys the hopes and fears of pandemic living. Current BMA nominee, Rev. Peyton, is the Big Damn Band’s vocalist and world-class fingerstyle guitarist, he is joined by his wife Breezy Patton on washboard and Max Senteney on drums.
ABOUT CALEB CAUDLE
Caleb Caudle wanted an earthy, funky sound for his new album. He assembled several Grammy-winning musicians to chase it down in the Cash cabin, a small place with a big history.
He emerged from the shadows with Better Hurry Up, his eighth studio album. It’s 11 songs showcase Caudle’s vivid lyrics and foreboding vocals, as well as the work of an A-list cast of musicians. John Jackson of The Jayhawks produced, and guest vocalists include Courtney Marie Andrews, Elizabeth Cook, Gary Louris, and John Paul White.

Farm and Fun Time
2021-07-08 19:00 - 21:00
Date: Thursday, July 8, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Location: Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Tickets: $35
Sorry, tickets for this event are now sold out!
Radio Bristol’s ever-popular Farm and Fun Time live variety show returns in July with musical guests Scythian and Melissa Carper. The show will also stream live on Radio Bristol’s Facebook page and YouTube channel for free!
Farm and Fun Time, the historic radio program broadcasting from Downtown Bristol, was a staple for listeners across the Southeast during the 1940s and 1950s on the former WCYB Radio. Radio Bristol breathes new life into the classic program with a fun, energetic show broadcasting live from the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Hosted by Radio Bristol producer and house band-leader Kris Truelsen, Farm & Fun Time is an event the whole family can enjoy live in the studio or when gathered around their screens or radios.
About Scythian
Washington D.C.-based Scythian (sith-ee-yin) began over 12 years ago as a bunch of college buddies playing Celtic music in the streets and has grown to be a headliner on the U.S. Celtic festival circuit and a leading name among Bluegrass and Americana festivals. Scythian’s brand of high-energy folk music found a resonance that led The Washington Post to state: “Scythian’s enthusiasm is contagious, and shows seem to end with everyone dancing, jumping around or hoisting glasses.” For over 12 years the group has found success as an independent band, playing over 1,300 shows across the United States, Europe, Canada and as far away as Australia.
Founded by brothers Alexander and Danylo Fedoryka, who are first-generation sons of Ukrainian immigrants, Scythian has a passion for the “old time, good time music” of many cultures. The brothers were inspired by a tale told by their 92-year-old grandmother of a roving fiddler who came into her farming village every six months or so. Once he was spotted, messengers were sent to all the outlying fields and mills and worked ceased; everyone gathered in the barn where they danced all night and danced their cares away. This spirit is what has motivated Scythian from its inception and their success as an independent band is due largely to their finding a resonance of soul amongst kindred spirits that span all ages and races.
About Melissa Carper
As a child, Melissa Carper would lay her head underneath the family record player as she listened to Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and other greats from her parents’ collection. After a childhood spent in her family’s country band, Carper attended the University of Nebraska on a music scholarship, spending much of her time in the library devouring every Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole album she could find. Around this time, Carper’s father gifted her a full collection of Jimmie Rodgers’ recordings, which was a pivotal moment in finding her unique style of songcraft.
After two years of college, wanderlust spirited her away in an inherited 1980 Dodge Maxi-Van, to the historic little town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where she saw street performers for the very first time. Busking seemed a very free and appealing endeavor, so Carper diligently learned all the old country songs she loved as a child. As she belted out the lyrics to “Ramblin’ Man” on the Eureka Springs street corners, life began to imitate art; Carper relocated to music hubs like New Orleans, New York City, Austin, and eventually Nashville, oftentimes busking to make ends meet until gigs would come along. In each hub, she immersed herself in the regions’ musical styles and added them to her arsenal of influences.
Along the way, she founded award-winning bands like power trio The Carper Family, the perfect outlet for her unique skills and style. The band brought her original work to life in a simple yet dynamic fashion that also served her inspirations – country, bluegrass, western swing, and old-style jazz, playing festivals and shows across the globe, and on shows like A Prairie Home Companion. Carper also holds a spot in award-winning Arkansas foursome Sad Daddy, and founded roots duo Buffalo Gals with Sad Daddy bandmate Rebecca Patek.

Farm and Fun Time - SOLD OUT!
2021-08-05 19:00 - 21:00
Tickets to be part of the studio audience are now SOLD OUT, but you don’t have to miss the show! Farm and Fun Time will stream live on Radio Bristol’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
DATE: Thursday, August 5, 2021
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Performance Theater, Birthplace of Country Music Museum
WBCM Radio Bristol’s monthly Farm and Fun Time live variety show features musical guests Twisted Pine and Blue Cactus in August! Be part of the studio audience or stream the show live on Radio Bristol’s Facebook page and YouTube channel for free!
Farm and Fun Time, the historic radio program broadcasting from Downtown Bristol, was a staple for listeners across the Southeast during the 1940s and 1950s on the former WCYB Radio. Radio Bristol breathes new life into the classic program with a fun, energetic show broadcasting live from the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Hosted by Radio Bristol producer and house band-leader Kris Truelsen, Farm & Fun Time is an event the whole family can enjoy live in the studio or when gathered around their screens or radios.

Farm and Fun Time ft. The Steel Wheels, Willi Carlisle
2021-10-14 19:00 - 21:00
Be part of the live studio audience for Farm and Fun Time featuring The Steel Wheels and Willi Carlisle!
Date: Thursday, October 14, 2021
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT (studio audience, please 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.
Farm and Fun Time, the historic radio program that broadcast from Downtown Bristol in the 1940s and 1950s, was a staple for listeners across the Southeast on the former WCYB Radio. WBCM Radio Bristol breathes new life into the classic program with a fun, energetic show broadcasting live from the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Hosted by producer Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill & the Belles, Farm and Fun Time is an event the whole family can enjoy live in the studio or from home.
ABOUT THE STEEL WHEELS
The Steel Wheels have long been at home in the creative space between tradition and innovation, informed by the familiar sounds of the Virginia mountains where the band was formed, but always moving forward with insightful lyrics and an evolving sound. Having gained the experience of thousands of shows, festivals and many miles on the road, the stubbornly independent band has formed deep bonds with each other and the audience that sustains them. The band has their own Red Wing Roots Music Festival, a weekend-long celebration of music, community, and the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Hosted by the Steel Wheels every July, the festival provides a space for the band to shine, from their high-energy Saturday night main stage set to their afternoon showcase with young Red Wing Academy students. At Sunday’s gospel hour you are as likely to hear Steel Wheels originals and Warren Zevon covers as you are traditional gospel fare. The weekend is rounded out by the beloved tribute set in which the band collaborates with a cadre of fellow artists to honor an influential figure in American music, with past tributes ranging from Dolly Parton to John Prine.
ABOUT WILLI CARLISLE
Willi Carlisle is, according to The Washington Post, “powerful…both down-home and brainy.” With years of collecting folklore, playing or calling square dances, and working in the avant-garde, Willi Carlisle is a multi-faceted writer, performer, and instrumentalist.
With a style forged in the fire of Ozark old-time music and his ever-growing collection of antique music, Carlisle’s musical stories hoot, stomp, and saunter through joys and troubles uniquely southern and timelessly true. Equally comfortable on banjo, accordion, fiddle, and guitar, Carlisle has earned accolades for his versatility with performances in the UK, Canada, and across the USA, appearing with acts like Dom Flemons, Los Texmaniacs, Cory Branan, and more.
While his big frame and expressive voice draw comparison to old balladeers and bluesmen, Willi sings new songs for the oldest reasons: love, heartache, and joy. People who watch and listen will find that he laughs and sheds a tear onstage almost as often as his audiences do, fire- and-brimstone proof of larger-than-life songs and stories.
​

Farm and Fun Time
2021-11-11 19:00 - 21:00
Date: Thursday, November 11, 2012
Time: 7:00 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 John R. Miller
John R Miller is a true hyphenate artist: singer-songwriter-picker. Every song on his thrilling debut solo album, Depreciated, is lush with intricate wordplay and haunting imagery, as well as being backed by a band that is on fire. One of his biggest long-time fans is roots music favorite Tyler Childers, who says he’s “a well-travelled wordsmith mapping out the world he’s seen, three chords at a time.” Miller is somehow able to transport us to a shadowy honky tonk and get existential all in the same line with his tightly written compositions. Miller’s own guitar-playing is on fine display here along with vocals that evoke the white-waters of the Potomac River rumbling below the high ridges of his native Shenandoah Valley. For more information about the artist, visit his website at jrmillermusic.com.
About Zoe & Cloyd
“A musical collaboration that demands to be heard.” – Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine
Hailing from opposite ends of the Appalachian mountains, Zoe & Cloyd is renowned fiddler and vocalist Natalya Zoe Weinstein and award-winning songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist John Cloyd Miller. Their show is as diverse as their upbringing: coming from a lineage of klezmer and jazz musicians, Natalya trained classically in her home state of Massachusetts before moving south in 2004. John, a twelfth generation North Carolinian and grandson of pioneering bluegrass fiddler, Jim Shumate, is a 1st place winner of the prestigious Chris Austin Songwriting Contest as well as an Artist Fellowship recipient for songwriting from the North Carolina Arts Council. Long-time fixtures of the Asheville, NC music scene, Zoe & Cloyd recently appeared in Season 5 of the nationally syndicated PBS show, David Holt’s State of Music, and their fourth studio album, Rebuild, produced by Jon Weisberger, will be released on Organic Records in the fall of 2021. Zoe & Cloyd are joined by Bennett Sullivan on banjo/guitar and Kevin Kehrberg on bass and are sure to delight audiences of all ages with soaring harmonies and heartfelt songwriting, seamlessly combining original bluegrass, klezmer, old-time and folk with sincerity and zeal. For more information visit their website at zoeandcloyd.com.

Farm and Fun Time
2021-12-09 19:00 - 21:00
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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 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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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.
