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Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion

City: Bristol, TN
Region: East Tennessee
Subregion: Northeast

Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion isn’t just a music festival. It’s an infectious, three-day music experience, bursting with creative passion, electricity, and soul. Every third weekend in September, State Street in historic Downtown Bristol, TN/VA is amped to the beat of Appalachia’s past, present, and future. It digs down deep into the roots of traditional Appalachian sound and lifts its branches to new heights–and it all happens in the heart of The Birthplace of Country Music. It is, and isn’t, your Daddy’s country music. It’s hardly strictly bluegrass. It’s not a rock show, but it totally does. And if you’ve never been, you’ll never know how much.

Nashville may be country music’s capitol, but Bristol is the birthplace. It was on State Street in 1927 that 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.

The first festival took place in October of 2001 with just a couple thousand people in attendance. By its 10th anniversary in 2010, 45,000 people from 8 foreign countries and 34 states descended upon Downtown Bristol to celebrate the music.

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