Though BCM is in perpetual motion, we are grateful for a bit of calm in the months after a busy Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. The 2022 event was a very good festival year by all accounts – we celebrated the 95th anniversary of the 1927 Bristol Sessions, attendance was up, and the lineup was just stellar. We’re so appreciative to everyone who made the trip to State Street to be with us; we hope you had as great a time as we did and that your experience was both meaningful and memorable!
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion 2022 and crowds on State Street. (L to R) Photo credit Johnson City Aerial Photography, Earl Neikirk, and Johnson City Aerial Photography.
As we have moved through fall – my favorite season of all – with its glorious red, gold, and amber colors of the changing trees, the crisp morning air, and vibrant, floating leaves that blanket everything below, it’s time to prepare for another busy holiday season and all its traditions. It’s also great time to reflect on all the things that went right in our collective lives this year and give thanks.
Images of music fans at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion 2022. (Clockwise L to R) Photos by Earl Neikirk, Cora Wagoner, and Earl Neikirk.
There are a few things I love most about music, including
1) How it brings people from all walks of life together in a way nothing else can
2) How favorite songs can lift our spirits and validate our emotions
3) How – faster than a heartbeat – a familiar song can nostalgically take you back to a time and place in your life of great significance.
The holidays can often be a source of anxiety for many of us for any number of reasons, and though I’m not a doctor, I’d like to prescribe something for you that may help soothe your soul and take the temperature down when things get a little overwhelming: Good music. You can take as much as you want and though symptoms may vary, the right combination of lyrics and melodies can change hearts and heal old wounds.
As a small gesture of gratitude to our festival goers and the amazing musicians we’ve hosted on our stages over the years, and in an effort to transmit cosmic gratitude and positive energy through the transformative power of music this Thanksgiving season, we’ve curated the Spotify playlist below of Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion artists – packed with sentimentality and feel-good tunes that are guaranteed to set the mood for an amazing holiday season. Thank you, friends, and may your blessings be bountiful.
*NOTE: Early bird weekend passes to Bristol Rhythm 2023 go on sale Black Friday for $100. Discount is good through Cyber Monday. Purchase online at BristolRhythm.com.
As communications manager for the Birthplace of Country Music, the biggest part of my job is to promote BCM, get media to cover our events and create content connected to our mission. I spend my days writing press releases, pitching story ideas to media outlets, and writing content for things like this blog, our newsletters and website, and social media. Twice a year, in August and September, I get the opportunity to publish my own stories in Voice Magazine for Women to highlight acts that will be performing at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion – that’s kinda-sorta how I wound up spending Sunday at Bristol Rhythm 2022 with Rosanne Cash.
This year marked the 95th anniversary of the 1927 Bristol Sessions. In order to help BCM capitalize on this important milestone in our region’s music history, we contracted two amazing publicists to help us bring more media attention to the 95th and the festival: Cindy Dupree, a seasoned pro who served as the PR director and public information officer for the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development for more than 12 years, and Danielle Dror, a firecracker publicist from Asheville with her own PR firm, Victory Lap Media. As a team, we attracted dozens of international, national, regional and local outlets to Bristol and the festival, several of which had never previously attended the event. I must note that Cindy and Danielle’s experience and expertise in the field was essential in getting some incredible coverage, and I am blessed to have these fine ladies as friends and colleagues. With their help, we were able to facilitate dozens of interviews and generate an impressive number of great stories in the media.
Having Rosanne Cash headlining Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion on the 95th anniversary of the 1927 Bristol Sessions was also a huge deal, given her familial connection to Bristol through her dad and stepmom, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Hers is a living history that opens a new perspective into the past. To say we were stoked about her visit is an understatement. Serendipitously, a special exhibit honoring Johnny Cash, “1968: A Folsom Redemption,” was on display at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum during Bristol Rhythm, and we were confident that it was something Rosanne would want to see.
I reached out to Rosanne’s longtime manager, Danny Kahn, to invite her on a tour of the museum and special exhibit while she was in Bristol and asked if she’d be interested in holding a small press event. I also asked for an interview to talk about her history with the Carter Family and Southwest Virginia that would be published in the September issue of Voice Magazine. Fortunately for us, Rosanne recognized the importance of her visit to Bristol and agreed to most of our requests, including the interview for Voice that you can read here.
Though I have been privileged to meet many amazing acts, it’s pretty unusual for me to have much contact with big name, headlining artists at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. Other BCM team members usually work through artists’ tour managers to meet their needs. Unless I’m arranging interviews for them or just happen to be at their stage at the right time, I’m generally just a spectator like everyone else. In this instance, because my team and I were organizing the press event and I already had somewhat of a rapport with Danny, it just made sense for me to be the point person for Rosanne.
Rosanne was performing on Sunday, closing out Bristol Rhythm on its third and final day. Though her schedule was too busy to take in the entire museum, she did have a brief window of time to tour the special exhibit and speak to the media. Our team worked out a logistics plan for the press event at the museum, and we alerted attending journalists that there would be an opportunity for interviews. Here’s what the itinerary looked like:
Found on my phone: A crumpled itinerary for Rosanne’s visit to the festival. Photo credit: Charlene Tipton Baker
10 a.m.: Rosanne and her team’s flight lands in Knoxville
12:30 p.m.: Rosanne arrives in Bristol
3:25 p.m.: Meet Rosanne in lobby at hotel
3:30 p.m.: Special exhibit tour
3:50 p.m.: Press event at museum
4:00 p.m.: Return Rosanne to hotel
4:45 p.m.: Pick up Rosanne from hotel lobby, take her to stage
5:15 p.m.: Rosanne’s performance
6:35 p.m.: Take Rosanne back to hotel
When you factor in how long it takes to get from point A to point B, you can see the itinerary is packed pretty tight. Not only did we want Rosanne and her team to have a good experience in Bristol, it was also important for the press event to be of value to our journalists. Many of them were there specifically to get an interview with her. Everything needed to be perfectly organized to stay on time.
BCM arranged for two drivers to pick up Rosanne, her team, and her band from the airport in rented SUVs. BCM booked a suite next door to the museum at The Bristol Hotel for Rosanne so she would be close by. Our drivers communicated to us that her flight had arrived on time, so we all breathed a sigh of relief. To remain on schedule, every detail had to be mapped out perfectly.
Delivering a welcome gift to Rosanne’s suite at The Bristol Hotel.Photo credit: Danielle Dror.
We put together a gift bag full of Bristol goodies from The Museum Store to have waiting in Rosanne’s hotel room before she arrived. Afterward we did a walkthrough of the press event with BCM staff to make sure our logistics were on point. When it was time, I met Leah Ross, BCM’s executive director of advancement, in the lobby of the hotel to greet Rosanne and her manager. We were only waiting a few minutes when Rosanne and Danny Kahn stepped off the elevator.
Rosanne Cash is a lovely lady with smiling eyes – and tiny! Maybe 5′ 2″ or 5′ 3″. My impression of her is that she is friendly, composed, and a bit reserved. She had that “look” I’ve seen on faces of other touring artists just arriving at the festival for the first time – it’s kind of like they’re trying to get their sea legs back after being on the road for a while. When I recognize “the look,” I am quick to reassure them of what’s coming next, answer questions, and generally try to make them feel at home. I gave the spiel to Danny Kahn – running through the logistics of how we’d be getting them to and from the museum, what would happen once we got there, and how we’d get them back to the hotel and to the stage. I sensed some relief before I guided them out the back of the hotel to my golf cart. I’ll add that Danny was great to work with. He has managed Rosanne for about 25 years and is very friendly, organized and hands-on. Every artist should be so lucky as to have a Danny Kahn on their team.
(Clockwise L to R) One of my infamous festival selfies with Rosanne, Danny Kahn, and Leah Ross. Please ignore the Port-O-Potty. Photo credit Charlene Tipton Baker.
Dr. Rene Rodgers, head curator at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, was waiting for us at the back door. I made the introductions and, to save time, Rene immediately started talking about the special exhibit as we walked through the museum’s loading dock and into the back entrance of the special exhibit. I didn’t linger at this point, instead choosing to meet Cindy and Danielle who were waiting to let the media inside. At this time they were all gathered in the atrium of the museum. Our plan was to allow Rosanne a few minutes to browse the exhibit with Rene and then quietly open the door for the media about halfway through so they could set up any cameras and microphones.
Rosanne and her husband, John Leventhal, admiring one of the photos in the special exhibit “1968: A Folsom Redemption.” Photo credit: Charlene Tipton Baker
Rosanne was genuinely engaged in the exhibit, and it was truly special to see her stop and admire certain photographs of her dad and ask questions. At some point Rosanne’s husband, John Leventhal, joined us in the gallery. Rosanne lingered at several photos, sometimes pointing things out to John and Danny, and commented on the ones she liked the most. Her smile spoke volumes as she moved from photograph to photograph and I believe she was sincerely moved by the experience.
Rosanne lingering a bit at this photo of her late father, Johnny Cash. The photo was taken at his concert at Folsom Prison in 1951. Photo credit: Ashli Linkous
After a few minutes, we quietly allowed the media to enter the room. When she had worked her way through the exhibit to the front of the gallery, we had a chair set up at the end of the room so she could sit and take questions, and she answered every single one. My friend Joe Dashiell, a veteran reporter at WDBJ-7 TV in Roanoke, had driven down for the event that day and captured this wonderful story.
International, national, and regional media in attendance at the presser for Rosanne Cash. Photo credit: Charlene Tipton Baker
Tom Wilmer, host of NPR’s “Journeys of Discovery” podcast, and Justin Goldman, Deputy Editor of Hemispheres, United Airlines’ onboard magazine, had previously requested one-on-one interviews with Rosanne following the press event. After we cleared the room, they stayed behind to speak with her. Neither of their interviews have posted yet, but if you follow us on social media they will be shared there once they’re online.
Side note: This was Tom Wilmer’s second visit to Bristol. He had visited the museum once when we first opened and I did an interview with him then. Cindy Dupree worked diligently to get him back to Bristol for the festival this year, and he collected a ton of interviews over the course of the three-day event. Click here to listen to his first story, “Bristol, VA-TN – resonating with America’s musical soul for a Century.” Click here to listen to his second story with Jack King, fourth generation owner of L. C. King Manufacturing Co., founded in Downtown Bristol in 1913 and the unofficial outfitter of musicians passing through town. You’ll hear a brief promo for NPR by Rosanne, recorded by Tom during his interview, at the end of the podcast.
Rosanne pointing out one of her favorite photos of her dad. Photo credit: Ashli Linkous
Once her interviews were over, I rushed Rosanne back to her hotel on via trusty golf cart so she could freshen up before her set. I waited in the lobby until it was time to take her to the State Street Stage. Before long, she reemerged from the elevator, having changed into a simple black suit and contrasting red blouse – very reminiscent of her legendary father.
The golf cart ride gave me the opportunity to tell her a little more about the festival, since she wouldn’t have time to take it all in. I remember telling her that she would be standing in both states on the State Street Stage and she found that amusing, as most artists do. Many don’t realize until they arrive in Bristol what that looks like, and it’s so cool when they make that discovery.
Molly Tuttle and Rosanne Cash meet for the first time at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. Great moment! Photo credit: Charlene Tipton Baker
Once backstage, I noticed Molly Tuttle standing in the wings. She had just finished her own set, and I could tell she really wanted to talk to Rosanne. Though Molly has performed at Bristol Rhythm several times, I’d never had the opportunity to meet her…but I am a big fan! Ironically, she was wearing a Molly Tuttle t-shirt and I couldn’t help but comment on it. I pulled her over to Rosanne and asked if they’d ever met. Immediately Rosanne says, “No, but I LOVE you!” Molly’s face lit up. I walked away so they could chat privately; it made me happy to have initiated the exchange. It’s moments like these I cherish most at the festival – people connecting. They will always remember when they met for the first time in Bristol. Priceless!
A fun backstage moment with Danielle Dror and Jim Lauderdale. Two of my favorite humans! Photo credit: Jon Houser
At that point I needed to break away to help Danielle with a task, my memory is a little fuzzy on what we were doing, but we left on a golf cart to do…something? On our way back we spotted Jim Lauderdale walking a block over on Shelby Street. He was on his way to see Rosanne. Of course we stopped and offered him a ride.
A little backstory: My relationship with Jim Lauderdale is now very informal. He is an old friend of the festival and has been so gracious and kind to us over the years. He has also gone above and beyond to promote Bristol on our behalf. Not only is he an immensely talented artist, he is a wonderful human and I genuinely love him. He is also super-accessible at the festival. He walks around from stage to stage as a fan…just amazing. Jim and Rosanne have been friends for decades – Jim actually introduced her to John Leventhal when she was still married to Rodney Crowell. She talks about the encounter in this interview with The Bitter Southerner, in case you’re interested. There are so many connections to Jim Lauderdale, I often joke that he’s the Kevin Bacon of country music!
When we made it back to the State Street Stage, Jim in tow, quite a crowd had formed. Rosanne’s was the final set of the festival, so throngs of people were making their way to see her perform. BCM had arranged for Bristol’s Mountain Empire Children’s Choral Academy‘s (MECCA) Highlands Youth Ensemble students to perform a tribute to Johnny Cash just prior to Rosanne’s set. They delivered a terrific performance to classics like “Ring of Fire” and “I Walk the Line” – just precious!
MECCA’s Highlands Youth Ensemble waiting to go on stage. Photo by Charlene Tipton Baker.
When it was time for Rosanne to take the stage, all of State Street erupted in thunderous applause. She began her set with “A Feather’s Not a Bird” and “The Sunken Lands” from her album The River & The Thread, then “The Only Thing Worth Fighting For” from She Remembers Everything. A little later in her set, she stopped to speak.
Rosanne Cash addressing her audience from the State Street Stage at the 21st annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, 2022, on the 95th anniversary of the 1927 Bristol Sessions. Photo credit: Billie Wheeler.
“I owe the Carter Family a tremendous debt because all of those Carter women…the first things I learned on guitar were those Carter Family songs,” Rosanne said from the stage. Then she broke into the Carter Family classic “Bury Me Beneath the Weeping Willow” from the 1927 Bristol Sessions.
Bristol Rhythm moments like these are simply iconic. Though I believe the majority of people who come to the festival know our history, it is likely that there are some who do not and just come to enjoy great music. Whenever an artist pays reverence to the 1927 Bristol Sessions from our stages, it’s a teaching moment. For Bristolians, in particular, it reinforces the work we are doing at BCM and reenergizes that sense of community pride for our music heritage. This declaration by Rosanne Cash – coupled with that song – festival GOLD. Check out Rosanne’s entire Bristol Rhythm 2022 set list here.
Rosanne Cash with MECCA’s Highlands Youth Ensemble at Bristol Rhythm 2022. Photo courtesy: Mountain Empire Children’s Choral Academy
Rosanne had asked the Highlands Youth Choir kids to come back and join her on stage for one final number, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” a song that always brings tears to my eyes especially when it’s performed at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. Luckily, someone in the audience captured the performance on video and posted it to YouTube, so you can see it here. Seeing the kids grooving with Rosanne during the performance was unforgettable and heartwarming.
A quick selfie of Rosanne as we passed the Bristol Sign as we whizzed past on a golf cart. I purposefully cut myself out of the photo. Photo credit: Charlene Tipton Baker
After her set Rosanne spoke to a few fans and signed autographs, then I took her and John back to the hotel. Rosanne asked for a glass of wine to be sent up to her room and I jokingly said, “I’ll hook you up.” Amused, she shot me the side-eye and a sly smile before going up to her room. I immediately approached the hotel desk manager and asked them to send up a whole bottle!
About 15 minutes later Danny Kahn called my cell. He was still with the band at the State Street Stage loading up gear, but needed guidance getting his SUV over to the hotel. The barricades make it difficult to get around easily, but there is a route for emergency vehicles. I met up with him and he followed me in my golf cart to the back entrance.
Figuring my job for the day was done, I headed to Lumac Rooftop Bar above the Bristol Hotel for a much-needed cocktail with Cindy and Danielle. Just as I emerged from the elevator and into the bar, the bottom let out on a giant rain storm that had been threatening to burst all day. The hotel boasts 360 views of the entire city, but visibility at that moment was zero! It was coming down hard as bar patrons fled from the rooftop patio, soaked to the bone. Thank little baby Jesus the festival had ended at that point, but I instantly worried about everyone who was left out there trying to tear down their tents in the storm. The bartender handed me a martini and no sooner than I took the first sip, my phone rang.
“Rosanne is wondering around the lobby of the hotel and doesn’t know where to go. Will you help?” asked Danny Kahn. He was still outside the hotel, no doubt getting soaked. Without hesitation, I quickly got back on the elevator and headed downstairs. When the elevator doors opened, Rosanne was standing on the other side at our usual pick-up spot, looking beautiful and relaxed in an oversized, white sweatshirt and black leggings. It was then that I realized I was still holding my drink.
“I’m having a drink too,” I said, a little embarrassed, then set it down on a little table outside the hotel conference room. She gave me that gorgeous mega-watt smile and I guided her to the back exit. When we opened the door, we saw that Rosanne’s tour manager had backed the SUV into the little covered porch to try and stay dry as he loaded up suitcases. Rosanne got into the SUV and I ran over to the driver’s side to give Danny directions to the interstate. A minute or two later, they were driving away, headed back to Knoxville to spend the night so they could catch an early morning flight.
Reflecting on a fabulous festival with my favorite libation, a dirty Bombay Sapphire martini with extra olives.
In solitude, I lingered under the porch in the back of the hotel to watch the rain for a little while and finished my martini, reflecting on that historic day in Bristol’s history and silently mourning the passing of another great festival. Each year I marvel at how truly precious all those little moments are that make up Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion weekend – and how they always seem to come and go so quickly.
Voice Magazine for Women, a free, monthly publication distributed regionally in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia to 650 locations, partners with the Birthplace of Country Music to promote our annual music festival, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. In August and September of each year, Voice generously allows us free rein to produce cover stories for the magazine highlighting upcoming acts performing at the event. With their permission, we have duplicated the cover article for this month – we hope you enjoy it! To read this month’s issue in its entirety, click here.
Voice Magazine for Women Rosanne Cash: Americana’s Renaissance Woman A Q&A on Family Ties to Southwest Virginia, Her First Trip to Bristol, and Fun Stuff You Didn’t Know and Would Likely Never Ask
By Guest Contributor Charlene Tipton Baker
Photo Credits: Michael Lavine
Rosanne Cash is one of the most revered artists in Americana music. At 67, she has an amazing career as a multi-GRAMMY Award-winning songwriter and performer. A born writer, Cash was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015 and is a bestselling author and poet. Her fiction and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Oxford-American, among others, and she is frequently invited to teach classes in English and Songwriting at various colleges. Additionally, Cash is an advocate for creators’ rights and children’s causes, including education and gun violence prevention.
This September, Rosanne Cash headlines Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion on the 95th Anniversary of the legendary 1927 Bristol Sessions recordings. Rosanne’s familial connection to our region’s music heritage makes her visit extra special; she is the eldest daughter of country music legend Johnny Cash and his first wife Vivian. She also enjoyed a close, loving relationship with Johnny’s second wife, June Carter Cash. June is the daughter of Mother Maybelle Carter of the Carter Family, the “First Family of Country Music.” The 1927 Bristol Sessions included the very first recordings of The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, the “Father of Country Music,” and catapulted country music into the mainstream.
Ralph Peer recorded the 1927 Bristol Sessions in the Taylor-Christian Hat & Glove Company building on the Tennessee side of State Street. The building was long gone by the summer of 1971 when Johnny and June traveled to Bristol, alongside Maybelle Carter, Sara Carter Bayes, and other members of the Carter clan, to dedicate a monument to the 1927 Bristol Sessions at the site where they took place. Ralph Peer II (son of Ralph Peer) and members of Jimmie Rodgers’ family were also present. Thousands of people from the community gathered for the occasion. On that day, Johnny expressed to them how he would love to see a museum dedicated to the music history that had been made in Bristol.
Decades later in 2001, the annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival was established to honor the legacy of those seminal recordings. The Birthplace of Country Music Museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, opened its doors to the public in August 2014. One year later, WBCM Radio Bristol went live on the air, broadcasting from the museum.
I relayed the story above to Rosanne’s manager, Danny Kahn, along with a request for this interview and extended an invitation for the artist to tour the museum while she is in town for the festival. He quickly replied, “Rosanne realizes how significant her visit to Bristol is. She has never been. She wants to do as much as possible regarding your requests.” From everything I had read, I was not at all surprised by her generosity.
So much has been written about Rosanne Cash and by her, so in this interview I chose to focus on her ties to our region’s music heritage, while adding a few trivial zingers à la Bop and Tiger Beat to satisfy my inner, pre-teen geek. Rosanne: if you are reading this, my apologies for that – but thank you for kindly playing along! I’m so grateful for the opportunity to make this connection for my hometown, and excited for you to experience Bristol and the festival. I hope you love them both as much as I do.
Below are my questions answered by the artist via e-mail:
This will be your first time performing at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion and your first time visiting the museum. Knowing that your dad’s dream of having a museum dedicated to the legacy of the 1927 Bristol Sessions is now a reality, what are your thoughts?
He was right. I’m grateful that he spoke those words that day, and that a ripple of enthusiasm went out and planted the seed to create the museum, although, honestly, it seems like it was destined! Such a historic moment and location in the cultural makeup of our country deserves to be forever immortalized. I’m thrilled to be going to perform in Bristol and see the museum for the very first time. I’ve actually sent people there, but never been myself!
When tourists come to visit the museum in Bristol, we make it a point to encourage them to visit the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, VA. We consider it hallowed ground, and it is poignant that your dad’s final performance was there. In the beautiful eulogy you wrote for June Carter Cash after her death in 2003, you mention that Johnny hosted a “grandkids weekend” for June on her birthday one year someplace in Virginia on the Holston River. Do you have any more memories of visiting there growing up?
In 2001, we visited the Maybelle and Ezra Carter house in Maces Springs, where June grew up, and which she and my dad owned in their later years. We went canoeing on the Holston River and had a celebration for June’s birthday on the property. All the children and grandchildren had to give her something that was not a physical gift— a song, a story, a wish of some kind. I remember I sang “The Winding Stream.” We visited A. P.’s grave and sang together on the porch. It was a wonderful weekend. When I was young, I remember going with Dad and June to visit some of her kin in the Valley and eating the best biscuits I’ve ever had.
This year is the 95th Anniversary of the 1927 Bristol Sessions, which many consider to be the most influential country music recordings in history. The themes in those old songs are universally timeless. Given your family ties, it makes sense that the music of the Carter Family would impact your own music, and in the past, you have cited them as an influence. Can you point to a particular Carter song – or songs – that most resonate with you?
Helen Carter spent a lot of time with me, teaching me the Carter Family canon, when I was 18 and 19 years old. It was an invaluable education. I loved “Black Jack David,” “Hello Stranger,” “I Never Will Marry,” “Sinking in the Lonesome Sea,” “Banks of the Ohio,” “Bury Me Beneath the Weeping Willow”— all classic and essential songs— but most of all, I loved “The Winding Stream.” I recorded that, and I also recorded “Bury Me Beneath the Weeping Willow” on my album “The List.” I still perform that song in concert and will be singing it with added poignancy in Bristol!
I once ran across an old video of a Carl Perkins concert from the 1980s.The Stray Cats were his backing band, and there you were – along with Eric Clapton, Dave Edmunds and George Harrison and Ringo Starr. You were the only woman on that stage, and you absolutely rocked “What Kinda Girl.” You have collaborated with so many amazing artists over the course of your career. What is it like to meet your heroes and to be respected as a peer among them?
As a pre-teen and teen Beatles obsessive, absolutely in love with and deeply affected by the Beatles, I couldn’t, in my wildest dreams, imagine being on a show with George Harrison, or becoming friends with Elton John, and singing for him at his birthday party, or so many other instances where I met the heroes of my youth, or a contemporary artist who inspires me. At some point, as a musician, after 40 plus years, you seem to run across everyone who is out there doing the same thing as you, like a person in a multi-national corporation who meets her colleagues in other branches of the company. 😉
You have been a big advocate for change on many issues, including artists’ rights to get paid fairly for the use of their music by tech companies like Spotify and Apple Music. You serve on the board of Content Creators Coalition, an artist-run nonprofit advocacy group for musicians. You have testified before the House Judiciary Committee in defense of artists rights on behalf of the Americana Association, as your dad had done in 1997 in support of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. With so many artists, artists unions, and political leaders pushing to enact reform, do you see change coming any time soon? Does more need to happen?
The Content Creators Coalition dissolved and morphed into the Artist Rights Alliance, on whose board I serve. Change comes, change is slow. I realize I’m working in a garden I may never see bloom, but we do have some small successes piled up lately, and intellectual property rights’ issues seem to have bipartisan support in Congress, which is hopeful.
The pandemic and the political climate in the U.S. for the past several years has forced many of us to re-evaluate our lives and careers. Artists were forced to get creative to keep their audiences engaged and are only just starting to recover from months of not touring. What effect has the pandemic had on you personally and as an artist?
I wrote—both songs and essays— and I enjoyed being at home. I realize I’m very privileged to be able to say that. I thought a lot about what I want to do in the next phase of my life—less touring, more strategic, important events, more writing, more staying put. I got Covid on the road, and it’s become an occupational hazard for touring musicians. It’s not just that, however— it’s that the lifestyle is not sustainable for me. I love the audience so much, and the community and connection, but the other 22 hours of the day are hard!
I follow you on Twitter and you are brilliant at it. You have an amazing sense of humor; your barbs are witty and razor sharp. It takes skill to effectively diss in a concise and timely manner and you nail it. When are you going to take the plunge to Tik Tok? You don’t have an account, but you are definitely in that space – people from all walks of life are dancing and singing to “Seven Year Ache” and “Tennessee Flat Top Box.” It’s a beautiful thing. Search your hashtag and give me your thoughts. I’ll wait…
Oh wow. My daughters send me Tik Toks all the time, and I enjoy them, but… it will be a learning curve for me, and also… how much time does one give to social media before it starts taking back from you…??
Because I rarely get the opportunity to fully embarrass myself in front of my heroes, I’m gonna go ahead and ask the hard-hitting questions nobody but me really cares about:
You’re alone in the house and it is on fire. You can only grab one thing before fleeing. What do you take?
Irreplaceable photos of my kids that aren’t digitized and family scrapbooks. It would be hard to leave behind my guitars and diamond earrings, but….
If you could have one superpower (that you don’t currently possess), what would it be?
Heal the trauma of every child in the world. (Then… play guitar like my husband.)
What is your recurring dream?
Giant waves are coming toward me.
What book are you reading right now?
“One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
What music is in your current rotation?
Wilco, the Avett Brothers, and Annie Lennox
What do you always keep in your purse?
A guitar pick, lipstick, and Pepcid.
What is your least favorite household chore? Favorite?
Emptying the dishwasher is my least favorite. I love sweeping and cleaning out drawers.
What is your favorite movie?
Hmmm… probably “All About Eve.”
Are you a cat person or a dog person?
I have a cat I love, but I like dogs better, generally.
Do you believe in ghosts? Aliens?
The jury is still out. Ghosts…not traditional-type ghosts, but energy that survives, and the resonance of people and places that survive death or destruction. I believe that because energy doesn’t die. Aliens…? It’s a statistical impossibility that we are alone in the universe, but I have no idea what form that takes.
Marvel or D.C. Comics?
Ooh. I don’t know. Not my area.
Toilet paper rolled out or under?
No opinion on that.
What is your spirit animal?
The ocean.
Favorite toy as a kid.
Chatty Cathy doll
You really are a Renaissance woman. You continue to accomplish so much and seem to have a deep well of creative reserves. What’s next for Rosanne Cash?
I’m the lyricist on a new musical called “Norma Rae,” based on the bio of the real woman who became Norma Rae in the film starring Sally Field. We are staging a workshop with full cast in September, and I’m excited. I love working collaboratively like this.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration! I really appreciate this opportunity!
See you in Bristol!
I highly recommend reading Rosanne Cash’s memoir, “Composed,” and “Bodies of Water,” a collection of short fiction stories. Catch her performance on the State Street Stage on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 5:15 p.m. EDT during Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. The Stage is located right beside the monument to the 1927 Bristol Sessions on the “Tennessee side” of State Street. Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion is scheduled for September 9-11, 2022, on State Street in Historic Downtown Bristol. Visit BristolRhythm.com for lineup and ticket information.
Being a music aficionado isn’t a requirement to work at the Birthplace of Country Music, but most of us are really big fans. It isn’t uncommon for new hires to get quizzed on their favorite artists and what they enjoy listening to outside the office, so for this edition of the BCM Blog we made the quiz an assignment for the “new girl” in our Marketing Department. Below is Marketing Coordinator Ashli Linkous’ Top 5 must-sees at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion in 2022:
Howdy! I guess I better introduce myself. I’m Ashli Linkous (odd spelling, I know). I first came to the Birthplace of Country Music as a King University student volunteer in 2021, where I helped monitor social media engagements during festival weekend. In January of this year, I started a Marketing internship, diving deep into the inner workings of all things BCM and Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. Now, newly minted as Marketing Coordinator here at BCM (woohoo!), I am SO excited to be back for a second festival, this time managing the festival socials, creating content, photographing artists, and running around like a crazy person! With the festival just days away, I thought I would share the bands I’m most excited to see at this year’s festival.
Straight from the Russell County line! Our local boys!
Hailing from the nearby mountain town of Castlewood, Virginia, 49 Winchester is a year-after-year festival favorite. They’ve been playing here in Bristol for quite some time, and they are achieving mega success with their recent album “Fortune Favors The Bold,” their fourth studio album overall and debut with label New West Records.
Coming straight off of their debut at The Grand Ole Opry, 49 Winchester will make a momentous homecoming at #BristolRhythm2022. They finished up a summer stint with country rock group Whiskey Myers a couple weeks ago, and the momentum they are gaining is only going to continue to pick up. Current members consist of Isaac Gibson (lead singer/guitar), Chase Chafin (bass), Bus Shelton (guitar), Noah Patrick (pedal steel), Tim Hall (piano, organ, keys) and former Folk Soul Revival drummer Justin Louthian. Past festival goers may remember them playing some of the smaller stages through the years, but in 2022 they are coming to you from the State Street Stage right before Saturday’s headliner Del McCoury Band. They are currently the most scheduled band on our festival app, so you better see them now– they’re on track to major stardom.
Personal favorites are “Annabel,” “Hays, Kansas” and “Damn Darlin.”
This April marked the highly anticipated release of west coast bluegrass queen Molly Tuttle’s “Crooked Tree” album, co-produced by Jerry Douglas (also on this year’s festival lineup) and featured some big name collaborations with heavy hitters like Billy Strings on “Dooley’s Farm” and Old Crow Medicine Show appearing on “Big Backyard.” Bluegrass fans will remember Tuttle dominating the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards in both 2017 and 2018, winning ‘Guitar Player of the Year’ back-to-back as well as ‘Collaborative Recording of the Year’ in 2018. She is he first woman to win the IBMA in that category.
Her live band currently consists of Dominick Leslie (mandolin), Kyle Tuttle (banjo), Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (fiddle), and Shelby Means (bass). She was last with us in Bristol back in 2018, so make sure to see her while she’s in town. Molly and her band are set to play State Street Stage on Sunday just before Rosanne Cash!
Personal favorites include the cowgirl ballad “Side Saddle,” as well as “Dooley’s Farm,” an updated story about good ole moonshiner Dooley, and “Castilleja,” an outlaw drama turned song.
After an early deal with Interscope and a nearly fatal car accident in the 90’s, Fantastic Negrito came back from a music hiatus in 2014 with a self-titled EP. In 2016, he released “The Last Days of Oakland” under Blackball Universe, a multimedia collective he co-founded with Malcom Spellman. Now holding three GRAMMY awards (Best Contemporary Blues Album 2017, 2019, 2021), Fantastic Negrito is looking to 4-peat with his new album “White Jesus Black Problems,” which he calls “an exhilarating ode to the power of family and the enduring resilience of our shared humanity.”
Fantastic Negrito makes his Bristol Rhythm debut this year and is sure to be a hit with blues, R&B, soul, and folk lovers alike. You can catch his set on Friday, September 9th from 10:00-11:30 PM at the Cumberland Square Park stage.
Personal favorites are “An Honest Man” and “Oh Betty.”
A little bit gypsy, a little bit country. A sprinkle of folk, a dollop of Americana.
Sierra Ferrell got her start busking on street corners around the country. By 2018, she signed with Rounder Records for a three album deal and had a live performance of “In Dreams” go viral on GemsOnVHS . Her first singles came with the release of “Jeremiah” and “Why’d Ya Do It” in 2020, and her first album “Long Time Coming” hit the shelves in August 2021 just before her appearance at the 20th annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion.
Since last year, she has gained a boatload of new fans (rightfully so) and she just recently had her song “In Dreams” go viral on TikTok. We are thrilled that she’s returning to Bristol for a second year in a row; she’ll be at the Country Mural Stage on Saturday and if there’s only one person you should plan to see at this year’s festival it should 100% be Sierra Ferrell.
Sierra is one of my all-time favorite artists, with my favorite songs from her being the emotional track “Made Like That” as well as “Why’d Ya Do It” and “Bells of Every Chapel.” She’s also got the best covers of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “Jingle Bell Rock” that I’ve heard from a modern artist. She may not pull them out at the festival, but maybe if we chant loud enough she’ll give us some Christmas in September!
Earning the stamp of approval from chart-topper and Bristol Rhythm/Radio Bristol Sessions alumni Tyler Childers, John R. Miller is an artist that should be on your radar.
Miller grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of West Virginia and has lesser known releases going all the way back to 2014. Another Rounder Records artist, his debut solo album, “Depreciated,” came out in July 2021. His lyrics alone could be published as a poetry book, but his voice and instrumentals make it that much more impactful.
Having Rosanne Cash headlining Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion on the 95th anniversary of the 1927 Bristol Sessions was also a huge deal, given her familial connection to Bristol through her dad and stepmom, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Hers is a living history that opens a new perspective into the past. To say we were stoked about her visit is an understatement. Serendipitously, a special exhibit honoring Johnny Cash, “
What is your recurring dream?
Straight from the Russell County line! Our local boys!
Oh I’d rather be a crooked tree.
Call it a comeback.
A little bit gypsy, a little bit country. A sprinkle of folk, a dollop of Americana.
On the come up.