Museum Archives - Page 4 of 57 - The Birthplace of Country Music

Berea College Folk-Roots Ensemble perform in Bristol March 22

March 18, 2025

BRISTOL, Tenn.-Va. (March 18, 2025) – The Birthplace of Country Music Museum invites friends and families of all ages to a free concert by the Berea College Folk-Roots Ensemble. The event will be held at 11:30 a.m. ET, March 22 in the performance theater at the museum.

“The Ensemble will be providing a workshop for our JAM Kids earlier that morning and have offered to stay a bit later for a free performance,” said Museum Director Dr. Rene Rodgers. “The group has performed with a number of really amazing acts including The Chieftains, Vince Gill, Guy Davis, and Janis Ian. It will be a wonderful concert for all ages.”

Kentucky’s Berea College Folk-Roots Ensemble plays Appalachian music as its touchstone and branches off into other kinds of roots-based music from there. The Ensemble is one of seven performing instrumental ensembles at the institution.

For more information, visit Events page at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.

Lee Bidgood: Musical Traditions & The Global String Band March 11

March 5, 2025

BRISTOL, Tenn.-Va. (March 5, 2025) – Scholar, performer, and educator Lee Bidgood will introduce a global range of string band sounds and stories during the next Speaker Session at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, slated for March 11 at 7 p.m. ET. The program entitled “Musical Traditions & The Global String Band” is open to the public; there is no cost to attend.

“Common stringed instruments we consider ‘Appalachian’ are used within a variety of genres of music all over the world,” said museum Head Curator Dr. Rene Rodgers. “Lee Bidgood’s presentation offers live examples and other media to explore these global threads and examines how the music and musicians connect us all.”

An early member of Steep Canyon Rangers, Lee Bidgood’s research on Czech bluegrass has been supported by two Fulbright grants and inspired the documentary film “Banjo Romantika” and his book “Czech Bluegrass: Notes From the Heart of Europe.” Bidgood is a professor at East Tennessee State University’s Department of Appalachian Studies where he teaches courses in ethnomusicology and bluegrass, old-time, and roots music studies. He also leads a mandolin orchestra and global string band, and directs the Institute for Appalachian Music and Culture.

Those unable to attend the Speaker Session in person may also enjoy it from home via WBCM Radio Bristol’s YouTube channel. For more information and to RSVP, visit the Events page at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.

“Ellen Elmes, The Art of Music and Mountains”

February 21, 2025

BRISTOL, Tenn.-Va. (Feb. 21, 2025) – On March 8, the work of acclaimed artist and muralist Ellen Elmes will be featured in the latest special exhibit coming to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Historic Downtown Bristol. “Ellen Elmes, The Art of Music & Mountains” will be on display through Sept. 30, 2025. Elmes’ “Tribute to the Stanley Brothers” series, on loan from the Clintwood Community Hall in Clintwood, Va., will be part of the exhibit.

“We are thrilled to work with the Ralph Stanley Museum in Clintwood, who have generously loaned us several objects from their collection,” said museum Head Curator Dr. Rene Rodgers. “The Stanley Brothers remain one of the most influential acts in bluegrass music and play a crucial role in the music history of our region.”

Ellen Elmes with her painting.

Ellen Elmes moved to Appalachia more than fifty years ago, intrigued by the beauty of people and place. She continues to admire the close-knit kinship of families and neighbors, and the reliance of mountaineers on hard work, community, nature, and the grace of God to build a life. Every day she finds wonder in the ethereal beauty of misty mountains, the rhythms of changing seasons, and the expanse of the night sky unobscured by city lights. Many of these elements became the substance of her art.

“Ellen Elmes: The Art of Music and Mountains” features her creativity across a variety of mediums and themes, from traditional instruments, musicians, and songs to the grandiosity and minutiae of nature. The core of this exhibition – a series of acrylic on canvas, large-scale paintings – is an example of a body of work that awakened in the artist a deeper understanding of the roots, stories, and expression embodied in old-time and traditional songs of the mountains.

Free and low-cost complementary programming will be scheduled during the months of the exhibition, supported by the United Foundation. For more information visit BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.

Geoffrey Himes’ “In-Law Country” talk, book signing Feb. 15

January 29, 2025

“BRISTOL, Tenn.-Va. (Jan. 29, 2025) – Esteemed music journalist Geoffrey Himes will discuss and sign copies of his new book “In-Law Country: How Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, and Their Circle Fashioned a New Kind of Country Music, 1968-1985” at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Historic Downtown Bristol on Feb. 15 at 1:30 p.m. EST. There is no cost to attend, but an RSVP is appreciated.

“Geoffrey has covered Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion for a number of national publications over the past several years,” said museum Head Curator Dr. René Rodgers. ” ‘In-Law Country’ analyzes the work of a handful of luminaries who influenced country music in a way that hasn’t been examined in the past. It’s an innovative perspective on how these artists alchemized their sound from the influences of their time, yet with a great reverence for roots music.”

“Geoffrey Himes has won numerous awards for writing about music in the Washington Post, Rolling Stone, New York Times, No Depression, Downbeat, Paste, and many other publications since 1975. His book on Bruce Springsteen, “Born in the U.S.A.,” was published in 2005. Additionally, Himes has written liner notes for albums by Rosanne Cash, Merle Haggard, Marty Stuart, and more.

‘In-Law Country: How Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, and Their Circle Fashioned a New Kind of Country Music: 1968-1985,’ published by the Country Music Hall of Fame, is more than just another pop music book. Author Himes has identified and named a major movement in country music that has been overlooked in the conventional histories of the genre. Those histories may have to be written differently moving forward. This is a brisk story full of humor, contrarian opinions and excerpts from interviews with the principals: Harris, Cash, Rodney Crowell, Ricky Skaggs, Guy Clark, Brian Ahern, Sharon White, Chris Hillman, and many more. But the focus is not on the usual music-book fodder: drugs, divorces, and business disputes. Unlike most music books, this one focuses on music – how the distinct sound of ‘In-Law Country’ grew out of California country-rock, bluegrass, Dylanesque folk music and the Carter-Cash Dynasty and evolved to differentiate itself from its predecessors and to find a large enough audience to top the country charts again and again.”

For more information and to RSVP for the talk and book signing, visit the Events page at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.