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Picture of the day -
August 26, 2006
The Mountain Music Museum
Click photo to enlarge
For centuries, the hills and "hollers" of the middle Appalachian
Mountain region have rang out with Old-Time and
Bluegrass Music and
the Irish and African rhythms that helped shape them. Appalachian
music is even older than our country itself, yet even today its
beautiful melodies and energetic sounds can be heard all across the
region and around the world.
Much of the history and heritage of the Mountain Music that we love so much is firmly
rooted right here in
Bristol, TN-VA and the mountains surrounding
it. A century ago, times were hard and entertainment options were
few, so many families would sing and play music as a form of family
entertainment. Sometimes it would just be a banjo or
fiddle with the family members singing along while other times it would be several instruments playing in
harmony. Children learned to sing and "pick" at a very early age,
and many of them became quite good at it. Word of the region's
unique music soon spread far and wide.
In 1927, Ralph Peer of the Victor Talking Machine Company
(later RCA) came to Bristol on a mission to record some of the
wonderful music that the Appalachian Mountains were so famous for.
He set up a makeshift studio in a downtown Bristol building and
spent the next two weeks recording The Carter Family, Jimmie
Rodgers, and the Stonemans. That event is now known as the "Big
Bang of Country Music" and is widely regarded as the beginning of
Country Music as we know it today. In fact, Congress has officially
designated Bristol "The Birthplace of Country Music".
The Mountain Music Museum in the Bristol Mall showcases hundreds of
precious artifacts from the Birthplace Of Country Music region's
proud musical history. There are photos and biographies of musical
giants like
The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Tennessee Ernie Ford,
Johnny and June Carter Cash and many, many more. There are also
quite a few vintage musical instruments that were used to make the
wonderful Mountain Music that we love so much. You can even pick up
the perfect gift for the music lover in your family in the Mountain
Music Museum Gift Shop!
The Mountain Music Museum is located on the lower level of the
Bristol Mall (just off exit 1 of I-81). It is operated by the
Appalachian Cultural Music Association and underwritten by
Bryant Label
Company.
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