Birthplace of Country Music

Nashville is country music's capital, but Bristol is the birthplace. It was on Bristol's State Street in August of 1927 that record producer and talent scout Ralph Peer made the very first country music recordings with The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Stoneman, and others, for the Victor Talking Machine Company. The recordings, known as 'The Bristol Sessions', are recognized internationally as 'The Big Bang of Country Music.' What Peer was doing back then, collecting songs to be sold commercially, is literally the basis of the country music recording industry we know today.

The Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, based in Bristol, TN/VA, is dedicated to calling attention to the crucial role played by artists from East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and the southern Appalachian region in country, bluegrass, and other musical avenues which have been nurtured by this region. Attending not only to the past, BCMA has developed programs which address this musical heritage in the present and promote its continuation into the future.

"BCMA presents many country and bluegrass concerts and lectures, and it uses the website to publicize not only those but also other relevant area events. For example, when this reviewer visited, the site provided access to streaming audio from Vince Gill's 2011 BCMA-initiated performance on National Public Radio's Mountain Stage, which was taped in Bristol's Paramount Theater. The site also provides information on numerous local jam sessions not affiliated with BCMA. The site's organization is intuitive, and visitors will have no trouble finding what interests them. The strong focus on local events makes it most useful to local fans; however, the information about BCMA and general country and bluegrass news also makes it useful for aficionados and researchers far and wide. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels. ACRL Choice, Feb 2012. -- D. Arnold, University of North Texas