News Category: Radio Bristol

Bristol, Tenn.-Va. (April 20, 2023) – Classic country king Jesse Daniel meets the dynamic bluegrass duo of Compton and Newberry on the next edition of WBCM Radio Bristol‘s Farm and Fun Time at 7 p.m. ET, May 11, in the performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Historic Downtown Bristol, Va.-Tenn. Hosted by Radio Bristol Program Director Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, the evening promises to be a toe tappin’, knee-slappin’ hootenanny of a good time!

“I’m a big fan of Jesse’s music and his live show is not to be missed,” said Truelsen. “He’s currently packing much larger theaters out west with his rockin’ country show. This is one of those ‘don’t miss’ experiences you’ll be bragging about for years to come. Compton and Newberry will bring their unique old-timey flavor – it’s a real treat to have them on the same bill at Farm and Fun Time.”

Saving Country Music heralds Jesse Daniel as “One of the best live experiences in independent music.” He has been touring the country for years with his top notch band and earning fans the old fashioned way – with honest songs played well. The California native is blazing the trail for a new wave of traditional artists, bringing his hard core country music to stages all over the U.S. There are many making traditional country music in modern times, but no one is making it like Daniel. His sound uniquely his own, while rooted in the tradition of his Bakersfield heroes like Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Over the past few years, Daniel and his band have toured and shared stages with artists Colter Wall, Tyler Childers, Sierra Ferrell, Charley Crocket, and American Aquarium, to name a few.

Mike Compton and Joe Newberry, masters of old-time mandolin and banjo/guitar, dig deep into early country music and blues. Their duet-singing, two-man string band ranges between traditional songs, instrumentals, ‘mother’ ballads and original tunes. It’s not about the number of notes with Compton and Newberry, but telling the truth and respecting the song.

Compton is a GRAMMY Award-winner, IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year nominee, and mandolinist for the Nashville Bluegrass Band. The musician was also a steady sideman for John Hartford from 1994 until his death in 2001. Newberry is known far and wide for his powerful banjo playing but is also a prize-winning guitarist, songwriter and singer. In addition to his work with Compton, Newberry plays with fiddler and step-dancer April Verch. He has been a frequent guest on A Prairie Home Companion and was a featured singer on the “Transatlantic Sessions.” He won a songwriting prize for Gospel Recorded Performance at the IBMA’s with the tune “Singing As We Rise” and was co-writer for the song “They Called It Music” with Eric Gibson, which earned the IBMA Song of the Year.

Farm and Fun Time host band Bill and the Belles is based in Johnson City, Tenn. The band tours internationally and is known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Rolling Stone referred to the band as “…committed to helping early country music remain appreciated – not just replicated.”

Tickets to Farm and Fun Time are $40 and may be purchased online through the Events page at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org. The program may also be accessed in its entirety live through WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page, on the air at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, online at ListenRadioBristol.org or via the station’s free mobile app.

Farm and Fun Time is recorded before a live audience and syndicated for television on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina.

Bristol, Tenn.-Va. (April 4, 2023) – WBCM Radio Bristol constellates the funky, neo-soul of Joslyn & The Sweet Compression with Time Sawyer‘s rootsy, folk-rock for a kinetic edition of Farm and Fun Time. The wholesome, live variety show will broadcast and tape live for television at 7 p.m. ET, April 12, in the performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum.

“While we continue to honor the history of Farm and Fun Time, we want the show to reflect the diverse evolution of roots music and just how far it has come,” said show host and Radio Bristol Program Director Kris Truelsen. “There really is no limit to the great music that’s out there – we’re here for it all!”

After cultivating her dynamic voice and performance skills in backup roles and stage plays, Joslyn Hampton teamed with her stepfather, Marty Charters (a touring guitarist and songwriter who has shared the stage with legends such as Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, and Van Morrison), to compose a captivating set of tunes and assemble an ace band. Joslyn & The Sweet Compression (Robert Frahm – guitar, Smith Donaldson – bass, Rashawn Fleming – drums, Trevin Little – saxophone, and Isaac Stephens – trumpet) combine to deliver a hook-filled mix of funk and soul on their self-titled debut album, released in 2019. A headlining favorite at regional clubs and music festivals – including Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion in 2022 – the band is poised to engage fans across the country with widespread touring in 2023.

Time Sawyer’s name reflects the pull between the past and the future. The character Tom Sawyer evokes the rural background and love of home the band shares. Time is a muse for songwriting; it’s the thread that runs through life, bringing new experiences and giving a sense of urgency, while still connecting us with our past. The band has performed on stages of the Southeast’s most iconic festivals, including Merlefest, Floydfest, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, and more. Time Sawyer has also shared bills with Hiss Golden Messenger, Steep Canyon Rangers and The Wood Brothers.

Farm and Fun Time host band Bill and the Belles is based in Johnson City, Tenn. The band tours internationally and is known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Rolling Stone referred to the band as “…committed to helping early country music remain appreciated – not just replicated.”

Farm and Fun Time is recorded before a live audience and syndicated for television on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. Tickets to the show range from $43.02 – $85.13 and may be purchased by visiting the Events page at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.

Farm and Fun Time may also be accessed in its entirety live through WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page, on the air at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, online at ListenRadioBristol.org or via the station’s free mobile app.

Bristol, Tenn.-Va. (Jan. 30, 2023) – Legendary newgrass phenom Sam Bush headlines WBCM Radio Bristol‘s Farm and Fun Time live variety show, along with Bristol’s very own alt-folk sensation Annabelle’s Curse, at 7 p.m. EST, March 16, live from the historic stage at Paramount Bristol. Hosted by Radio Bristol’s Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles, this is a Farm and Fun Time not to be missed. Tickets are on sale now to the public at the Paramount box office and online.

“With the combination of trailblazer Sam Bush and the vitality of Annabelle’s Curse, we’ve curated what promises to be a fantastic, high-energy show,” said Truelsen. “Dancing in the aisles is not only encouraged, it’s expected!”

There was only one prize-winning teenager carrying stones big enough to say thanks, but no thanks, to Roy Acuff. Only one son of Kentucky finding a light of inspiration from Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys and catching fire from Bob Marley and The Wailers. Only one progressive hippie allying with like-minded conspirators, rolling out the newgrass revolution, and then leaving the genre’s torch-bearing band behind as it reached its commercial peak.

There is only one consensus pick of peers and predecessors, of the traditionalists, the rebels, and the next gen devotees. Music’s ultimate inside outsider. Or is it outside insider? There is only one Sam Bush.

Bush has released seven albums and a live DVD over the past two decades, and in 2009 the Americana Music Association awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist. Punch Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, and Greensky Bluegrass are just a few present-day bluegrass vanguards among so many musicians he’s influenced. His performances are annual highlights of the festival circuit, with Bush’s joyous perennial appearances at the town’s famed bluegrass fest earning him the title “King of Telluride.”

Electrified Appalachian folk-rock band Annabelle’s Curse has gathered quite a following in the mid-Atlantic region and beyond with a reputation for captivating audiences with its dynamic and energetic performances. Formed more than a decade ago, the band is a staple at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion and one of our region’s must-see acts. A review published in Huffington Post read: “This five-piece alternative folk band from Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia doesn’t seem to be cursed as much as blessed with talent.”

Farm and Fun Time host band Bill and the Belles is based in Johnson City, Tenn. The band tours internationally and is known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Rolling Stone referred to the band as “…committed to helping early country music remain appreciated – not just replicated.”

Farm and Fun Time is recorded before a live audience and syndicated for television on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. Tickets to the show range from $43.02 – $85.13 and may be purchased by visiting the Paramount’s website at ParamountBristol.org or by visiting the Paramount box office.

Farm and Fun Time may also be accessed in its entirety live through WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page, on the air at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, online at ListenRadioBristol.org or via the station’s free mobile app.

Bristol, Tenn.-Va. (Nov. 21, 2022) – The public is invited to a very special BCM Christmas with one of America’s most beloved and longest-running classic country and western acts, Riders in the Sky. Hosted by WBCM Radio Bristol, the event takes place at 6 p.m. EST, Dec. 2, at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. The festive evening includes a sit-down dinner and cash bar prior to the concert.

“Radio Bristol is proud to bring Riders in the Sky to the museum for this very special holiday celebration,” said WBCM Program Director and host Kris Truelsen. “The evening will be filled with lots of laughs and the very best in classic western music.”

For more than 40 years, Riders in the Sky have carried on the tradition of western music with an astonishing 7,200+ appearances, 35 years on the Grand Ole Opry, 40 albums, and tours in each of the 50 states in the U.S. and all over the world.

In addition to two GRAMMY Awards, Riders has received numerous awards from the Western Music Association, including the highest: membership in the Western Music Hall of Fame; numerous Wrangler awards from the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum; awards from the Academy of Western Artists; enshrinement in the Walkway of Western Stars, and more. What began as a celebration of classic western music and an evening of hilarity has become a career, and that career has become legend. After more than 40 years, the band shows no signs of slowing down.

Tickets to A BCM Christmas with Riders in the Sky are $100 and on sale now. Visit the Events page at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org. to purchase.

Bristol, Tenn.-Va. (Oct. 27, 2022) – Asheville-based, soul-driven rock outfit Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast and Adam Bolt, an award-winning singer-songwriter based in Abingdon, will perform on WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time live variety show at 7 p.m. EST, Nov. 10, in the performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum.

“Caitlin Krisko is a killer vocalist in the vein of Joss Stone, Grace Potter and Susan Tedeschi, and Adam Bolt is one of our region’s most gifted and provocative songwriters,” said Farm and Fun Time host and station Program Director Kris Truelsen, “Both acts exemplify the very best of our region’s soundtrack across a spectrum of genres. We’re really looking forward to bringing these acts together on one stage.”

Caitlin Krisko and The Broadcast’s electrified and unforgettable performances led them to working with members of Tedeschi Trucks Band and David Bowie’s Blackstar Band on their latest studio album “Lost My Sight.” Krisko captivates her audiences, bringing the perfect blend of power and vulnerability to her performances. An alchemy of soul and rock arrangements with dashes of blues and pop, the band has shared stages with Mavis Staples, the late Charles Bradley, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Marcus King, The String Cheese Incident, Bettye Lavette, and Gregg Allman’s Buffalo Mountain Jam, among others.

Adam Bolt is an award-winning songwriter and self-proclaimed troubadour of Abingdon, Va. who says his songs are “cynical, sensationalized, and seasoned in the key of country.” His detailed observations of the natural world are hidden throughout his music. By day, Adam is a grape farmer in which mundane labor allows for a void in his brain to think about things. These things turn into songs and then the songs are garnished with stories. Bolt is a student of Todd Snider, Tom T. Hall, Roger Miller, and John Prine, among others.

Tying the evening of music together is Farm and Fun Time host band Bill and the Belles, who weave introductions, music segues, original sponsor messages and homespun humor throughout the program. Based in Johnson City, Tenn., the band tours internationally and is known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Rolling Stone referred to the band as “…committed to helping early country music remain appreciated – not just replicated.”

Farm and Fun Time is recorded before a live audience and syndicated for television on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. Tickets to the show are $35 and may be purchased by visiting the Events page at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.

Farm and Fun Time may also be accessed in its entirety live through WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page, on the air at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, online at ListenRadioBristol.org or via the station’s free mobile app.

Bristol, Tenn.-Va. (August 8, 2022) – There are still a few tickets remaining for WBCM Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time variety show this Thursday, Aug. 11, featuring headliner Fireside Collective, a progressive bluegrass outfit from Asheville, North Carolina, and Larry Bellorín & Joe Troop, a Venezuelan-Appalachian duo also based in the Tar Heel state. The live taping of the show will take place in the performance theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum at 7 p.m.

Fireside Collective is celebrating the release of the band’s fourth studio album, “Across the Divide,” on the heels of its 2022 New Artist of the Year nomination from the International Bluegrass Music Association. In a recent No Depression review of the record, journalist Nancy Posey writes: “…Fireside Collective has achieved a balance between a traditional and progressive bluegrass sound and, lyrically, between relationships of trust and permanence and disconnected one-night stands.”

Larry Bellorín is a legend of Llanera music. Joe Troop is a GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and old-time musician. Bellorín was forced into exile and is an asylum seeker in North Carolina. Troop, after a decade in South America, got stranded back in his stomping grounds of North Carolina during the pandemic. His acclaimed “latingrass” band Che Apalache was forced into hiatus, and he shifted into action working with asylum seeking immigrants. Destined to play music together, the versatile, multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters came together and now perform a fusion of Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music on harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, and whatever else they throw in the van.

Farm and Fun Time is hosted by Radio Bristol Program Director Kris Truelsen and his house band Bill and the Belles. In addition to performing upbeat, musical segues and peppy sponsorship jingles during the program, the group is known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities.

Farm and Fun Time is recorded before a live audience and syndicated for television on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. Tickets to the show are $35 and may be purchased by visiting the Events page at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.

Farm and Fun Time can also be accessed in its entirety through WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page, on the air at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, online at ListenRadioBristol.org or via the station’s free mobile app.

Bristol, Tenn.-Va. (June 28, 2022) – The 95th Anniversary of the 1927 Bristol Sessions will be celebrated with a night of music featuring Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Lauren Morrow, Roni Stoneman and host band Bill and the Belles at 7 p.m. EDT, July 21. The event is a special live taping of WBCM Radio Bristol’s “Farm and Fun Time” variety show at Historic Downtown Bristol’s Paramount Theater.

From July 25 to August 5 in 1927, Ralph Peer recorded 76 songs by 19 acts for the Victor Talking Machine Company. Those sides included the first recordings of the Carter Family, the “First Family of Country Music,” and Jimmie Rodgers, the “Father of Country Music,” and catapulted early country music into the mainstream.

“This is a very special edition of ‘Farm and Fun Time ‘ as we honor Peer and the 1927 Bristol Sessions,” said Radio Bristol Program Director Kris Truelsen. “We are very excited to have a great lineup of artists that includes Rhonda, Lauren and special guest Roni Stoneman, a direct descendent of one of the original performers on the Sessions; she is the daughter of Ernest “Pop” Stoneman who encouraged Peer to travel to Bristol to record. This is going to be a very special show.”

Headlining the event is the reigning “Queen of Bluegrass” Rhonda Vincent and her band The Rage. This multi-talented, multi-award-winning artist has earned an unprecedented seven consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) from 2000-2006 and an eighth in 2015. In 2021 Rhonda was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.

Lauren Morrow is the former frontwoman for The Whiskey Gentry. Her first solo EP achieved widespread acclaim, including “Best of” lists in Rolling Stone and Garden & Gun. Lauren recently wrapped up recording her first solo, full-length album at Nashville’s Sound Emporium.

Virtuoso bluegrass banjoist Roni Stoneman is the second-youngest of Ernest “Pop” Stoneman and wife Hattie’s 23 children and is known for her role on the popular variety show “Hee Haw.” She performed with her siblings and parents in The Stoneman Family band, including shows at the White House, the Smithsonian, and the Grand Ole Opry.

Host band Bill and the Belles is known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Composed of Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan Van Suetendael, and bassist Andrew Small, the band’s latest album Happy Again is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss.

Presented by the nonprofit Birthplace of Country Music organization, “Farm and Fun Time” is a revival of the classic program that aired on WCYB radio in the 1940s and 1950s and was fundamental in the career development of bluegrass acts such as Flatt and Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, and Jim and Jesse McReynolds.

“Farm and Fun Time” broadcasts live before a studio audience and can be accessed in its entirety at WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook, on the air at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, online at ListenRadioBristol.org or via the free mobile app. The show is syndicated on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina.

Tickets for “Farm and Fun Time” are on sale now for $35-$82 at the Paramount box office located at 518 State Street, Bristol, Tennessee and online at ParamountBristol.org.

Bristol, Tenn.-Va. (April 5, 2022) – Kentucky Music Hall of Fame inductee and six-time IBMA Best Female Vocalist Dale Ann Bradley will headline WBCM Radio Bristol‘s “Farm and Fun Time” variety show on April 14 at 7:00 p.m. EDT, supported by Tammy Rogers and Thomm Jutz. Rogers may be best known as co-founder and fiddler for GRAMMY Award-winning bluegrass act The SteelDrivers. The program will broadcast live from the intimate performance theater inside the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Historic Downtown Bristol, Virginia-Tennessee.

“We’re excited to host some of the most gifted songwriters from the bluegrass world this month for ‘Farm and Fun Time,'” said host and Radio Bristol program director Kris Truelsen. “Dale Ann Bradley is nothing short of bluegrass royalty and has paved the way for so many musicians in bluegrass music. Sharing the bill with GRAMMY-nominated Thomm Juttz and GRAMMY Award winner Tammy Rogers, who just released a fantastic duo album. Add Bill and the Belles into the mix and you’ve got the ingredients for an unparalleled live performance!”

Dale Ann Bradley joined Bill Monroe, Keith Whitley, Sonny Osborne and Sam Bush in the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2018. The following year Bradley, as a member of the all-female group Sister Sadie, won the IBMA’s Vocal Group of the Year – the first time an all-female group has ever earned this distinction. Over the course of her career Bradley has collaborated with the likes of Vince Gill, Pam Tillis, and Dan Tyminski. She was also voted SPGBMA’s Female Vocalist of the Year in 2020. Her 2021 release “Things She Couldn’t Get Over,” earned Bradley the IBMA for Best Female Vocalist in addition to Gospel Recording of the Year.

Tammy Rogers and Thomm Jutz met in 2016 when seated at the same table at a music industry gala, yet their creative paths had run parallel for years. GRAMMY-nominated Jutz toured as a guitarist for Mary Gauthier, Nanci Griffith, and David Olney before developing a reputation as one of bluegrass music’s most prolific songwriters. Among a catalog of more than 140 songs, the duo selected a dozen of their best for the album “Surely Will Be Singing.”

Based in Johnson City, Tennessee, Bill and the Belles is known for combining a stringband format with their signature harmonies, candid songwriting, and pop sensibilities. Composed of Truelsen on guitar, fiddler Kalia Yeagle, banjo/banjo-uke player Aidan Van Suetendael, and bassist Andrew Small, the group has a knack for saying sad things with a bit of an ironic smirk and revels in the in-between. Deeply engaged with the stringband tradition and eager to stretch those influences to a contemporary setting, the band’s latest album “Happy Again” is full of life, humor, and tongue-in-cheek explorations of love and loss.

Presented by the nonprofit Birthplace of Country Music organization, “Farm and Fun Time” is a revival of the classic program that aired on WCYB radio in the 1940s and 1950s and was fundamental in the career development of bluegrass acts such as Flatt and Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, and Jim and Jesse McReynolds.

“Farm and Fun Time” broadcasts live before a studio audience and can be accessed in its entirety on WBCM Radio Bristol’s Facebook page live. You may also tune in to the program on the air at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, through the station’s free mobile app or online at ListenRadioBristol.org.

“Farm and Fun Time” is syndicated on Blue Ridge PBS, East Tennessee PBS, and PBS North Carolina. Viewers in these markets should check local listings for program scheduling.

Tickets for “Farm and Fun Time” are $35, on sale now via the Events page a BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.