Blackberry Smoke
*** Several musical groups scheduled to perform at Bristol Rhythm & RootsReunion have pulled out of the event because of Covid-19 concerns.
As of the printing of this magazine, Jason Isbell and the 400, Yola, Morgan Wade, Ian Noe, and Annabelle’s Curse have chosen not to attend.
Tanya Tucker has rescheduled to 2022. She is unable to travel by plane because of an injury.
New acts includeJohn Anderson, Cory Wong, A Thousand Horses and John R. Miller.
The CruzContreras & Friends concert has been moved to the Jim Lauderdale Stage at The Sessions Hotel.
Check www.bristolrhythm.com for updates as events unfold. The festivalis not requiring vaccinations or a negative test. They are recommendingvaccinations and providing masks at the festival gates and hand sanitizing and hand washing stations throughout the festival. ***
Presented by the Birthplace of Country Music, also the parent nonprofit of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum and WBCM Radio Bristol, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion returns Sept. 10-12 in historic downtown Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia after COVID-19 forced the organization to take a gap year in 2020.
“Everyone at BCM is thrilled to be in the final stages of planning for what promises to be a memorable Reunion,” said BCM Executive Director Leah Ross. “Very soon, we will be dancing together again on State Street to some great live music — and for that, we are truly grateful.”
Bristol Rhythm is a celebration of the legendary 1927 Bristol Sessions recordings, an event in music history that has become known as the “big bang” of country music. The sessions included the first recordings of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, and brought country music to the mainstream. The Bristol Sessions continue to make a lasting impact on the music of today, and Bristol is designated by Congress as the birthplace of country music.
In October 2001, the first Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion was held on State Street (where Tennessee and Virginia meet) with a few thousand people in attendance. The festival has grown to receive more than 45,000 visitors from all over the world. Today, as Bristol Rhythm celebrates 20 years, downtown Bristol is a vibrant and revitalized music destination that features beautiful boutique hotels, breweries, restaurants, galleries, shops and high-end loft spaces. The festival’s growth and the opening of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum have played a major role in the development of this historic downtown.
“Since we’ve reclaimed and embraced our rich music history and culture, we have grown and thrived,” Ross says. “BCM and the festival are proud to have played a role in the revitalization of our great cities, and it’s part of our mission to continue to be an economic driver for our community.”
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion 2021 boasts amazing talent for its 20th anniversary festival: Tanya Tucker, Blackberry Smoke, Dr. Dog, The SteelDrivers, Rhonda Vincent, and Hayes Carll lead the stellar lineup of approximately 100 acts. Other notable performances by The Steel Woods, Son Little, Lonesome River Band, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Amythyst Kiah, Ian Noe, Town Mountain, Katie Pruitt, Jim Lauderdale and Illiterate Light are also part of the milestone event.
In addition to the artists’ schedule, a special kick-off concert featuring Cruz Contreras & Friends is held Thursday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. in the museum’s Performance Theater. Tickets to this concert are sold separately.
Bristol Rhythm hits the ground running with Friday night performances by Tanya Tucker, The SteelDrivers, and Hayes Carll. Amythyst Kiah and 49 Winchester are also on deck. Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show, hosted by Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, returns to the stage at the historic Paramount with special guests Madison Cunningham, Sierra Ferrell and Nora Brown. Music begins Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. Single-day tickets for Friday are $50 plus tax/fees.
Saturday at Bristol Rhythm is jam-packed with artists starting at noon and playing into the midnight hour. Blackberry Smoke, Dr. Dog, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Town Mountain, The Steel Woods, Ian Noe, and Illiterate Light are all slated to perform on that day, interspersed with American Aquarium, The New Respects, Folk Soul Revival and Andrew Scotchie & the River Rats, among many others. A special tribute to John Prine is also planned for that evening on the Near Moore Stage, featuring members of Sol Driven Train, Big Daddy Love and Yarn. Single-day tickets for Saturday are $70 plus tax/fees.
The Bristol Rhythm weekend ends on high note Sunday with performances by Rhonda Vincent, Charley Crockett, Son Little, Early James and Scythian. Single-day tickets for Sunday are $60 plus tax/fees.
The festival’s annual commemorative poster artwork was designed by artist Matt Bridges. A native of Hereford, England, Bridges has worked in 3D design for the past two decades. After meeting his wife, who is from Chattanooga, the couple settled in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and later moved to Clarksville. Bridges has worked on a number of long-term contracts as a freelancer with companies such as Gulf Oil and Hertz, but it was his work designing a 3D guitar prototype for a luthier in California that led the High Road Agency to recommend the artist to BCM for this project. Bridges and his wife are currently looking to relocate back to the region.
“It was an honor to be able to use my 20 years of design experience in creating the 20th anniversary commemorative poster for Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion,” said Bridges. “The festival is a beloved tradition for my family here in East Tennessee.”
This year’s poster and a special 20th anniversary poster depicting images of poster artwork from the past 10 years are available for sale. They may be purchased at The Museum Store at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum and online at Bristol Rhythm.com.
In support of the festival’s Green Team initiative, the annual Festival Guide booklet will be replaced with a printed pocket schedule and map that will be distributed in the Bristol Herald Courier and the Washington County News prior to the festival. The schedule and map will also be distributed at festival gates.
“We felt our resources are best put to use by producing a quality mobile app where changes can be updated at a moment’s notice and without waste,” stated Ross. “We are encouraging everyone to download the festival app for the latest schedule changes and updates before they get to the festival.”
The festival mobile app can be downloaded at BristolRhythm.com.
In keeping with health and safety guidelines provided by the state of Tennessee and the Commonwealth of Virginia, visitors at the festival will not be required to wear masks or show proof of vaccination status upon entry at Bristol Rhythm.
“The decision will be left up to the individual and what they feel most comfortable doing,” said Ross. “We trust that anyone who is feeling under the weather or showing symptoms of COVID-19 will stay home and get the rest they need to stay healthy and not put others at risk.”
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion also brings back its 10K Run-5K Run/Walk, Children’s Day and Yoga in the Park activities for its 20th anniversary. The Bristol Sessions Super Raffle winners are announced on the Sunday of the event at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum from 12-4 p.m. For raffle prize information and to purchase raffle tickets, visit BristolSessionsSuperRaffle.org.
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion festivalgoers are encouraged to take some time during the event to tour the interactive Birthplace of Country Music Museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, to learn more about the story of the 1927 Bristol Sessions and the region’s rich music culture. The museum is located within the festival footprint. The special exhibit Our Living Past: Platinum Portraits of Southern Music Makers, on loan from the Music Maker Relief Foundation, is on display. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on the Road Artmobile - a traveling exhibit and education studio - is open to Bristol Rhythm attendees free of charge Friday, Sept. 10 from 1- 7 p.m., Saturday Sept. 11 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday Sept. 12 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be closed Saturday and Sunday for lunch from 1- 2 p.m.
For artist schedules, festival wristbands, parking and shuttle passes, or to shop for festival merchandise and find other festival information, visit BristolRhythm.com.
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