I recently visited the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Virginia. Bristol is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. In 2008, a gorgeous multi-million dollar complex celebrating the birth of country music is due to open. At this time, the current museum is housed in the Bristol Mall, Exit 1 off I-81. While in the mall, it’s free and open during mall hours -- so convenient!
There is much material about the genre explosion that occurred with the 1927 "Bristol Sessions". The Thomas Edison Corporation, to expand the appeal of their phonographs, paid musicians $75 a song to record, "minus carfare". This is how the Stoneman family, the McReynolds family, the Carter family and Jimmie Rodgers got introduced to the world. A recent train wreck in 1924 made for song fodder in "The Wreck of the Ol’ ‘97". The museum has the original thick records, the contracts, photos and all kinds of good stuff.
As you walk around, the timeline progresses to feature Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers and others who followed in their footsteps. I got to see the high school yearbook for Bristol native, "Tennessee" Ernie Ford.
The museum also highlights the many contributions from African-American bluegrass artists -- something that is woefully absent from CMT, etc. I read interesting information and saw rare photos of musicians such as De Ford Bailey and Arnold Schultz.
They have a fabulous gift shop, with hard-to-find recordings, sheet music, recipe and history books. The museum’s web site, www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org is a tremendous resource for history, music venues and folk fest info. When you’re in the area, I have two terrific dining suggestions for you. The first is the Mountaineer, in Church Hill, Tennessee. They always do a bang-up business, most ‘specially on Sundays. Their "Hillbilly Specials" are all under $6, and those are all "meat and threes." As humble as the Mountaineer is, they still know to put out iced tea spoons. As I was starting on some peach cobbler, who did I see walking in, but Ralph Stanley! His whole band stopped for dinner on their way to a concert at the Ritter Farm in Bean Station, Tennessee. I also saw band mates Jack Cooke and Dewey Brown. I immediately whipped out my cell phone to spread the word to cowboy troubadour Rob McNurlin.
The other dining suggestion is the famous Ridgewood BBQ in Sullivan County, Tennessee. You take the Tennessee Ernie Ford Parkway to U.S. 11 to Route 19 E. Follow the teeny, weeny sign to Ridgewood BBQ. You will see pickup trucks and luxury automobiles from many states. You can get everything there from catfish to Virginia ham, but of course you’ll want barbecue. I started off with their blue cheese dip, served with saltines. Get the small size ($1.50!), which is plenty. It’s slightly spicy and very rich. The bbq beans are sweet but not too goopy. They serve their bbq pork in a nontraditional way: it’s sliced, not pulled. However, you will love it just the same! Ridgewood does not serve dessert, though they’d probably make a killin’ if they did.
Photo courtesy of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce.
Birthplace of Country Music Museum - Tamar Alexia Fleishman
