News Category: Radio Bristol

“Big Bend Killing: The Appalachian Ballad Tradition”

Bristol, Tenn./Va. (January 4, 2018) – Radio Bristol’s popular Farm and Fun Time live variety show pays tribute to Big Bend Killing: The Appalachian Ballad Tradition, a 32-song album released in 2017 to support the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The program will feature performances by some of the artists who recorded on the album, including Amythyst Kiah, Elizabeth LaPrelle, John Lilly, and Farm and Fun Time house band Bill and the Belles. The ETSU Old Time Ramblers will also perform.

Farm and Fun Time takes place on Thursday, January 10 at 7:00 p.m. EST at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum; doors open at 6:30 p.m. and guests are asked to be seated by 6:50 p.m. There are only a handful of tickets available if you wish to be part of the live studio audience; tickets to this special program are $35 plus tax and fees.

The Appalachian ballad tradition is alive and thriving among a new generation of artists, many of whom learned the songs directly from an oral tradition, either from older singers, from recordings, or both. Big Bend Killing brings these powerful songs to people who may never have had the opportunity to hear them. A wide range of artists were assembled to record the album, including Rosanne Cash, Carter Family descendant Dale Jett ft. Hello Stranger, seventh-generation ballad singer, storyteller, and claw-hammer banjo player Sheila Kay Adams, renowned old-time and bluegrass artist Alice Gerrard, and many more.

Farm and Fun Time features a variety of segments including jingles written and performed by Bill and the Belles, a farm report, an heirloom recipe segment, and nationally touring artists. A revival of the former WCYB radio program that aired from downtown Bristol in the 1940s and 1950s, Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time is original programming the entire family will enjoy.

Radio Bristol can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, online at ListenRadioBristol.org, and through the station’s free mobile app. You may also viewFarm and Fun Time on Radio Bristol’s Facebook Live at Facebook.com/WBCMRadioBristol. To purchase tickets and for more information on concerts and programming, visit our Events page.

Bristol, VA/TN, (March 2, 2018) — The Birthplace of Country Music has the distinct pleasure of working with an array of talented musicians across many genres—and many of those artists have names you’ll never forget. This is especially true for the two groups slated to perform on the March edition of Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time variety show on March 8: Bumper Jacksons and Roochie Toochie & The Ragtime Shepherd Kings—and if the names of these groups are any indication, audiences are in for two tons of fun! The show is now sold out, but everyone is invited to watch the show for free on Radio Bristol’s Facebook Live.

“This will be one of the most entertaining, out of the box Farm and Fun Time’s we’ve ever had, featuring two incredibly creative acts both playing for their first ever show in Bristol,” said the show’s producer and host, Kris Truelsen. “Also, if you’ve never seen a ‘porkestra,’ you are in for a treat!”

The bands

Bumper Jacksons are hot and sweet, painting America’s story from the streets of New Orleans to the hollers of Appalachia. Unafraid to scrap together new sounds from forgotten 78s, the Bumper Jacksons elegantly balance paying homage to tradition while fashioning their own unique and playful style. A brassy, seven-piece ensemble with horns and pedal steel, the group has been honored multiple times as the Mid-Atlantic’s Artist of the Year and Best Traditional Band at the Washington Area Music Awards. Bumper Jacksons bring audiences into the center of the party where everyone’s invited and the dance floor never sleeps!

The mission of Roochie Toochie & the Ragtime Shepherd Kings is to perform the weirdest songs from the early days of Tin Pan Alley on the format on which those songs were first recorded—wax cylinder. The band shares the love of antiquated pop tunes and gives a voice to a bygone era that reflects the attitudes of that time—no matter how silly they may seem. From the zaniest and most obscure songs from the early 20th century, Roochie Toochie & the Ragtime Shepherd Kings record them for new audiences to underscore both the absurdity and the importance of pop music in American history.

Facebook live

Radio Bristol Presents: Farm and Fun Time takes place on Thursday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m. EST at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, doors open at 6:30 p.m. EST. Guests are asked to be seated by 6:50 p.m. Tickets to the show are sold out, but fans are encouraged to watch Farm and Fun Time live via Radio Bristol’s Facebook page.

Farm and Fun Time features a variety of segments including jingles written and performed by house band Bill and the Belles, a farm report, an heirloom recipe segment, and nationally touring artists. A revival of the former WCYB radio program that aired from downtown Bristol in the 1940s and 1950s, Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time is original programming the entire family will enjoy.

Special guests Ralph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain Boys and David Davis & The Warrior River Boys will appear on the show April 12. Click here to purchase tickets.

Sponsored by Eastman Credit Union, Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time radio show is recorded before a live audience and is broadcast live as well as via webcast. Radio Bristol can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, online at ListenRadioBristol.org, and through the station’s free mobile app.

LISTEN LIVE ON THE AIR, ONLINE, OR ON FREE RADIO BRISTOL APP

The Birthplace of Country Music (BCM) has announced that Radio Bristol’s November Farm and Fun Time featuring guest appearances by founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band John McEuen and The Brother Boys is now sold out. Though tickets are no longer available for the Thursday, November 9 event, the show will air live in its entirety on Radio Bristol that evening at 7:00 p.m. EST at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area and online at ListenRadioBristol.org internationally.

“If you missed out on tickets for this program, make sure to get tickets early for December’s Farm and Fun Time Christmas Ball with The Secret Sisters, Jill Andrews, and Bill and the Belles,” said Kris Truelsen, writer and host of Farm and Fun Time. “This show will sell out fast!”

The Farm & Fun Time Christmas Ball takes place Saturday, December 2 at 7:00 p.m. at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Tickets to this event are $30 and on sale now at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.

ABOUT JOHN MCEUEN

For November’s Farm & Fun Time, John McEuen has continually performed since 1964—8,500 concerts and 300 television shows covering more than 3 million miles—with the band and as a solo performer. He has made over 40 albums (6 solo) that have earned four platinum and five gold recognition awards, Grammy nominations, CMA and ACM awards, an Emmy nomination, and IBMA Record of the Year, and he has performed on another 25 albums as a guest artist. McEuen has also produced more than 300 concerts throughout his career—the first in 1965 in Long Beach, California, with Bob Dylan.

His production of Steve Martin: The Crow won a Grammy in 2010 for Best Bluegrass Album. The Music of the Wild West, produced by McEuen, was honored with the Western Heritage Award. A Grammy nomination for String Wizards II preceded the 1994 Uncle Dave Macon Award for his excellence in preservation and performance of historic music. On Sirius/XM’s The Bridge, John’s popular Acoustic Traveler show is now in its eighthyear. McEuen produced and directed the 2006 documentary film The Dillards: A Night in the Ozarks, which captures his early mentors at their best. Perhaps the most significant work in his legacy may be what Rolling Stone called “the most important record to come out of Nashville”—Will the Circle Be Unbroken.

ABOUT THE BROTHER BOYS

Ed Snodderly and Eugene Wolf began their brother-duet as The Brother Boys back in the 1990s, releasing three critically acclaimed recordings: two for Sugar Hill—Plow, produced by Jerry Douglas, and the self-produced Presley’s Grocery—and one for the U.K. label Zu-Zazz Records entitled Mulehead. Years before the term Americana was born, they called their music “New Hillbilly” as a way to distinguish the blending of country, bluegrass, and rockabilly. They were recently featured on the Great Smoky Mountains Association release, On Top Of Old Smoky: New Old-Time Smoky Mountain Music alongside Dolly Parton and others.

Farm and Fun Time is a revival of the former WCYB radio’s Farm and Fun Time, which aired from downtown Bristol in the 1940s and 1950s. It features live cut-ins by house band Bill and the Belles, the group Rolling Stone listed among the “20 Best Things We Saw” at AmericanaFest 2016.

Sponsored by Eastman Credit Union, Farm and Fun Time features live seques written and performed by house band Bill and the Belles and the “Appalachian Sustainable Development Farm Report,” hosted by Corbin Hayslett. The farm report was a popular segment on the WCYB program and appointment radio for regional agriculturists who came in from the fields each day to listen to the latest news on area crops. During a pre-produced vignette that airs during the program, the contemporary “farm report” celebrates farmers in the region who make a positive impact, whether economic, cultural, or through eco-friendly practices.

Farm and Fun Time‘s “Heirloom Recipe” segment gives the community the opportunity to share stories from their southern tables. More storytelling than instruction, these touching oral histories of families coming together around mealtimes and favorite dishes are a treasured reminder of the importance of family and how something as simple as sharing a meal creates memories and brings families together.

Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time radio show is recorded before a live audience and is broadcast live as well as via webcast. Radio Bristol can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, online at ListenRadioBristol.org, and through the station’s free mobile app.

Weekly Radio Program Explores Culture, Music

Radio Bristol is excited to add another quality program to its growing schedule. Ozark Highlands Radio, a weekly show recorded at the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas, has joined Radio Bristol’s weekly programming schedule airing weekly on Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Hosted by musician Dave Smith, Ozark Highlands Radio features archival recordings from native Ozark musicians as well as contemporary roots and old time performers. The program also explores the history, tradition, and current trends in traditional and modern acoustic music.

“Mountain View, Arkansas and Bristol are very similar cities both geographically and musically,” said Daren Dortin, Executive Producer at Ozark Highlands Radio. “Both have rich traditions of music born out of the mountains with ties to early European settlers. The Birthplace of Country Music Museum, like the Ozark Folk Center where Ozark Highlands Radio is recorded and produced, share similar missions not only preserving the cultural traditions of our respective regions but also perpetuating them to current and future generations. All of us here at Ozark Highlands Radio are really proud to have this connection with Bristol and Radio Bristol. We look forward to the prospect of working together more on projects in the future.”

“Carrying Ozark Highlands Radio on Radio Bristol is a welcome addition to our growing catalog of roots programming,” said Kris Truelsen, Radio Bristol producer. “I think listeners will enjoy discovering and drawing connections between the Ozarks and Central Appalachian music and culture. We look forward to the many programming possibilities that lie ahead in working with the Ozark Folk Center and Ozark Highlands Radio!”

Radio Bristol’s daily programming dusts off an array of rare and diverse recordings seldom explored in the soundscape of contemporary radio. From daily shows produced in-house like Over The Waves with Lee Bidgood, Whup The Devil with Roy Andrade, and Farm and Fun Time, to syndicated programming like Sound Sessions from Smithsonian Folkways to WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour, the station specializes in culturally significant programming that carries on the musical influences of the Appalachian region and beyond. For more information on Radio Bristol and it’s programming, or to listen to the station online, visit ListenRadioBristol.org.

Radio Bristol enthusiastically announced the addition of the renowned, internationally syndicated program WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour to its program roster. The hour-long, weekly show airs on Radio Bristol Saturday mornings at 9:00 a.m. Recorded before a live audience, the show’s Americana format presents the very best in grassroots and acoustic music to a global audience. Radio Bristol picks up WoodSongs as it nears the show’s 900th broadcast this July.

“It is impossible to do a radio broadcast about the excitement and beauty of grassroots music and not be part of Radio Bristol’s family,” said WoodSongs host Michael Johnathon. “We are very excited to be part of a true music station, serving their community in passion and spirit. A music station run by excellent musicians makes Radio Bristol one of the most unique and important community stations in America, and I couldn’t be prouder for WoodSongs to be part of the excitement.”

WoodSongs airs on 515 radio stations all over the world and with audiences spanning 173 nations over American Forces Radio Network. The program also broadcasts on television stations across the U.S. and records before a live audience from The Lyric Theatre & Cultural Arts Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

“We are incredibly excited to carry WoodSongs on Radio Bristol,” said Radio Bristol producer Kris Truelsen. “Michael Johnathon and his great team have been integral in building an international audience for American roots music over the years. Their hard work and dedication is inspiring to all of us here at Radio Bristol and we hope our listeners enjoy listening to the program on our station.”

Radio Bristol’s daily programming dusts off an array of rare and diverse recordings seldom explored in the soundscape of contemporary radio. From shows produced in-house like Over The Waves with Lee Bidgood, Whup The Devil with Roy Andrade, and Farm and Fun Time, to syndicated programming like Sound Sessions from Smithsonian Folkways to Across the Blue Ridge with Paul Brown, the station specializes in culturally significant programming that carries on the musical influences of the Appalachian region and beyond. For more information on Radio Bristol and it’s programming, or to listen to the station online, click here.

Starting Wednesday, May 3, 2017 Radio Bristol will begin airing Sound Sessions from Smithsonian Folkways each week on the broadcast station’s WBCM 100.1 FM channel. The channel is available over the air in the Bristol area, online at ListenRadioBristol.org, and through the station’s free multi-channel app. The program will air weekly on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. EST and again on Sundays at 4:00 p.m. EST.

“We are thrilled to add Sound Sessions into the Radio Bristol program schedule,” said Radio Bristol producer Kris Truelsen. “As a Smithsonian affiliate, Radio Bristol is always searching for ways to celebrate our affiliation through programming. Sound Sessions from Smithsonian Folkways could not be a better fit for the station. The program offers a unique perspective contextualizing the history, cultures, and identity that helped to shape American roots music. We look forward to this great partnership with Smithsonian Folkways and seeing how it will grow in the coming years.”

Sound Sessions is described as “an audio journey into the rich, eclectic, and sometimes eccentric Smithsonian Folkways archive. Host Sam Litzinger and curator Jeff Place comb the stacks for music and stories about this historic record label for monthly broadcasts that feature newly digitized audio, including rare outtakes, interviews, and never-before-heard recordings. Programs cover American folk icons, emerging artists who are continuing and transforming musical traditions around the world, and the sounds of our everyday lives, from the natural environment to the office desk. Interviews with Smithsonian Folkways staff and the artists bring a fresh, behind-the-scenes perspective to a record label that preserves a national musical treasure, documents ‘people’s music’ from around the world, and connects people to their own and others’ heritage.”

Radio Bristol broadcasts from the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate, in Historic Downtown Bristol. At 9:30 a.m. on May 3, Kris Truelsen will preview Sound Sessions during an interview with Jeff Place on the station’s weekday morning show On the Sunny Side.

“For years I have always worried that vast quantities of amazing audio exist in the Smithsonian archives that are not being heard,” said Place. “We created Sound Sessions so we could share it with you — old interviews, field recordings, commercial albums, and interviews with some of the amazing musicians who pass through our offices. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.”

Radio Bristol’s daily programming dusts off an array of rare and diverse recordings seldom explored in the soundscape of contemporary radio. From daily shows produced in-house like Over The Waves with Lee Bidgood, Honky Tonk Hit Parade with Bailey George and Farm and Fun Time, to syndicated programming like Across the Blue Ridge with Paul Brown and Born in the Mountain with Ivy Sheppard, the station specializes in programming that carries on the musical influences of the Appalachian region and culture and continues to add more shows to its airwaves. For more information on Radio Bristol and it’s programming, or to listen to the station online, visit ListenRadioBristol.org.

A verse to Ed Snodderly’s song “The Diamond Stream” is permanently etched upon the wall in the Hall of Honor at the Country Music Hall of Fame, yet the legacy of this multi-talented musician, songwriter, playwright, and actor extends far beyond the carefully crafted lyrics in his impressive catalogue. Among Snodderly’s gifts to our region — and beyond — is a small listening room in Johnson City, Tennessee, known as The Down Home. Established in 1976, Snodderly’s esteemed venue has served as a sacred rite of passage for musicians and a trusted source of consistently good live music for audiences who prefer the band to be front and center instead of background noise. The intimate stage has hosted iconic talent such as Townes Van Zandt, Lucinda Williams, Newgrass Revival, and Alison Krauss, to name a few, and it remains one of the most respected venues in our region.

On Friday, May 5, 2017 at 7:00 p.m., Ed Snodderly ventures to Bristol to share his own music — songs from his latest release, Record Shop — in another intimate space: the Performance Theater at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. This concert will air simultaneously on Radio Bristol.

“Radio Bristol Premieres is an avenue for artists to showcase new music and discuss their inspiration for creating it,” said Kris Truelsen, Radio Bristol producer. “Ed Snodderly is one of our region’s most gifted and enduring songwriters. Radio Bristol is honored to host him at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum.”

Snodderly’s songs have been recorded by artists such as Sam Bush, Missy Raines, Jerry Douglas, and John Cowan, and his music continues to draw from the deep well of traditional, Appalachian influences. His thoughtful lyricism and skilled musicianship paint mesmeric landscapes of a distinctly southern panorama. A highly engaging entertainer, Snodderly is a modern classic whose music goes down as smooth as Tennessee Tea.

To be part of the studio audience for Radio Bristol Presents: Ed Snodderly, tickets are available for $20 online at BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org and at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Doors to the show open at 6:30 p.m. Listeners may tune into Radio Bristol at 100.1 FM in the Bristol area, online at ListenRadioBristol.org, or through the station’s free mobile app.

PURCHASE TICKETS

Radio Bristol Premieres brings two acts to the live radio program on Friday, March 17 at Jenni Lyn Gardner and Old Salt Union. Gardner is perhaps best known for her work with the award-winning bluegrass group Della Mae and the ensemble project Proud To Be A Daughter of Bluegrass. Her music offers a current approach to the evolving bluegrass sound, while maintaining a perfect balance of that down home comfort.

Old Salt Union draws influences from Bill Monroe, Sam Bush, and Del McCoury, while also extracting nuances of jazz great Bill Evans and composer Danny Elfman. With in-depth musical compositions, catchy hooks, and a high-energy metaphorical approach to the gut, the band is a front-runner in a whole new generation of string music.

To be part of the studio audience for this Radio Bristol Premieres double bill, Tickets are $20.

Click here for video, tickets, and more.