The primary marketing piece for any music festival or event is the commemorative poster. Companies like Nashville’s Hatch Show Print, Knoxville’s Status Serigraph, and Asheville’s Subject Matter Studio have built their businesses – and stellar reputations – creating distinct artistic visions of their clients’ brands. For music fans, posters are a sentimental reminder of a good time and great music; they are also an essential collector’s item.
Since the inaugural festival in October 2001, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion has commissioned a variety of local and regional artists to create designs that we feel capture the essence of the event. A few of our most popular are now out of print, though they occasionally pop up on ebay for purchase at a higher price than they originally sold.
If you have been collecting Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion posters since the beginning – that’s 17 posters and counting this year – you might find that wall space has become an issue. To help with that challenge, and for those who want to collect on a smaller scale, we started producing a collection of festival poster note cards. The note cards are small, frame-worthy, and run through the 16th annual event so you can display them without taking up a lot of space. And, of course, they are great cards to send to friends and family to encourage them to come to the festival!
For those of you who collect and frame, we recommend having your favorite posters professionally framed using museum quality glass to keep the colors vibrant. Can’t decide on a favorite? Have a frame shop cut a piece of museum quality glass to fit a store-bought frame so you can change posters out on a whim. If sticker shock is an issue, think of it as an investment. We have no plans to reissue out-of-print posters so they retain value and, with care, the glass is something you’ll have forever even if you switch out frames.
We’ve pulled together all the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion festival poster designs we’ve collected over the years (with those that are no longer in print indicated) below so you have the chance to see each and every design. Hats off to all the wonderful artists for their inspired visions of our event – they showcase a variety of styles and themes from funky graphic music-related designs and historic references to playful story art and striking hand-pressed prints.
These three posters use a combination of historic images of Bristol, drawings of old and new musicians, and other photographs and artwork. 2001 poster: Concept, design, and photography by Malcolm J. Wilson and Jennifer Wilson (out of print); 2002 poster: Concept, art direction, and design by Katherine DeVault, vintage Bristol photographs by Bristol Historical Association, and photograph of the 1926 Martin 00-45 12-fret guitar courtesy of Gruhn Guitars Inc. (out of print); 2005 poster: Original art by Willard Gayheart, and graphic design by Saundra Reynolds.
The 2003, 2008, and 2009 posters used graphics focused on instruments within their design. 2003 poster: Original painting by Malcolm J. Wilson, and design by Jennifer & Malcolm J. Wilson (out of print); 2008 and 2009 posters: Graphic design by Chad Carpenter.
The posters created for the 2004, 2007, and 2012 festivals were also very graphic design-based and went for a more “decorative” look and feel. 2004 poster: Design by Katherine DeVault; 2007 poster: Original art by April Street; 2012 poster: Graphic design by Bobby Starnes.
Local artist Charles Vess – an internationally acclaimed fantasy and comic illustrator – has created original artwork for three of our festival posters: 2006, 2010, and 2015. The artwork for each poster is filled with detail and energy, and they reflect Vess’s graphic style and the use of nature as a major theme in his art. Vess’s posters always prove hugely popular with festival-goers and collectors – the 2006 and 2010 posters are both out of print.
The artwork for the 2011 and 2016 posters was also created by two local and regional artists: P. Buckley Moss and Leigh Ann Agee. Moss – a well-known artist whose wonderful renditions of rural life, especially in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, are highly collectible – has created other pieces of art for the Birthplace of Country Music, including a commemorative poster for the museum’s opening in 2014. Her festival poster from 2011 is out of print; the graphic design for this poster was done by Charlene Tipton Baker. Muralist and artist Agee, originally from Bristol, based the 2016 poster on her popular Moon Bound Girl artworks. The graphic design for Agee’s poster was done by Hannah Devaney Holmes.
Three of the most recent posters – for 2013, 2014, and 2017 – reflect a wonderful vintage style and are all individually hand-pressed on manila paper. Instruments are central to the designs of each of these posters, and the 2014 poster takes inspiration from the roots in Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. 2013 and 2017 posters: Graphic design by Justin Helton, Status Serigraph (2013 is out of print); 2014 poster: Graphic design by Drew Findley, Subject Matter Studio (out of print).
Charlene Tipton Baker is a Marketing Specialist at the Birthplace of Country Music. Please note that some posters are not sold in our online store, but you can call our office at 423-573-1927 to see if they are available.
Over the course of my work at the Birthplace of Country Music, and in particular with Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, I have heard variations of the same sentiment over and over from people who haven’t been to the festival (yet!): “But I don’t like country (and/or bluegrass) music.”
Well, me neither.
Rockin’ my Unknown Hinson tee pre-show, 2015. Photo courtesy of Charlene Baker
At least, I didn’t think I did.
Now before y’all come at me with virtual pitchforks, I have a confession to make: Country and bluegrass music was an acquired taste for me. Basically, it’s not my go-to music choice – other than some old outlaw stuff, Dolly, and a few others, it’s not something I listen to all the time. However, I have gained a huge appreciation for it that I probably didn’t have when I was younger—thanks to Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion.
So when you say you don’t like country music, I feel you. I really, really feel you.
I’m glad I’m getting this off my chest. I think, because of my job here at the Birthplace of Country Music (BCM), there may be an impression that I’m only into certain types of music, and that I focus on moody, cerebral singer/songwriters, obscure festival bands, or socially relevant and “important” musicians. Sure, I like some of that, but I’m not some Barry Judd character sitting around the indie record store salivating over a rare Ginbae vinyl import, regurgitating liner notes and judging some poor schlep for requesting a copy of The Best of Nickelback Volume I. I’m really not that cool – or mean.
I proudly pledge my allegiance to old-school R&B, funk, and disco because, in my heart, I want to be Donna Summer when I grow up. And Chrissie Hynde. And Ann Wilson. I will straight up rock out to Black Flag or Journey with equal, fist-pumping enthusiasm. I sometimes cook while listening to Benny Goodman because my grandmother loved big band, and it reminds me of her. Plus – and don’t Barry Judd-ge me – I have a deep respect for Hanson because they have written their own songs and played their own instruments since they were babies.
And you know what? I’m unashamed. I love music that gets me out of my seat and makes me want to sing at the top of my lungs, and I don’t need categories or cool factor to dictate to me whether or not I should like something.
So there, I admit it. I work at BCM, and I am a music dork. BOOM.
Me and fellow open-minded music lovers/local musicians Chris Slaughter and Jonathan Crain checking out Steve Earle & The Dukes at the festival in 2015. Photo courtesy of Charlene Baker
With that said, I love Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. It is an epic, foot-stompin’, whoopin’ and hollerin’, fist-pumpin’ music festival that rockers, punks, hipsters, bluegrass lovers, and country fans can rock out to together. I personally guarantee you will find something there that will move you and several new artists that you will love. In fact, the festival introduced me to some amazing traditional acts that I likely wouldn’t have discovered otherwise: The Del McCoury Band, Billy Strings, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Dale Watson are just a few examples. And you know why I fell in love with them? The musicianship, plain and simple. When you see a master picker working those strings live and in person, it changes you.
Music doesn’t have to be pigeonholed and wrapped up in a tidy, genre-specific bow for it to make you happy. And I love to see people happy. That’s another reason I love Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion so much. Everyone there is so happy.
So, for all of you who have told me you don’t like country music and that’s why you don’t come to Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, I have a little gift. I have compiled for you a Spotify playlist of my favorite, rockin’ bands that have played the festival in the past to show you what you’ve missed. Click here and enjoy!
And book that ticket to Bristol Rhythm ’17 – trust me, you don’t want to miss out for one more year.
A diverse mix of fans rock out to Cutthroat Shamrock at Bristol Rhythm. Photo courtesy Aimee McNeill www.aimeemcneil.com.
Charlene Tipton Baker is a Marketing Specialist at the Birthplace of Country Music.
In the Technicolor rearview mirror of my childhood, Bristol circa 1970s, I fondly recall shopping downtown on State Street almost exclusively. There was Christy’s Shoes where I’d pine for the shiny black patent leather Mary Janes with ribbons, begging my mother to buy them. “Not today,” she’d say, “you need shoes for school.” She’d select a sensible pair and then I’d be fitted by an actual salesperson who would measure my feet with a Brannock Device before disappearing into the back of the store to find my size. Upon return, a shoehorn was used to gently glide the deeply scorned option over my heels – and I’d inwardly swear that when I grew up, I’d own every pair of shiny shoes in that store.
Sometimes we’d go to Ball Brothers Furniture where a friendly salesman would hand you a small glass bottle of Coca-Cola when you walked in the door. In retrospect it seems risky to hand a kid a pop in a showroom filled with gorgeous furniture, but on a hot day I’d gulp down the whole thing before taking more than two steps. The belching that ensued would embarrass my mother and leave my little brother and I in a heaping pile of giggles that generally followed us throughout the store.
After shopping, we’d usually end up getting hot dogs and root beer floats at Bunting’s Drug Store or stop by the lunch counter at…was it H. P. King’s? The place had banquettes, turquoise counter tops, and black silhouettes of people hung high up on the walls. It’s all a little hazy now, but I do know that – at some point – it all ended. Seemingly overnight, we just stopped going downtown.
Bunting’s Drug Store in the 1970s, a wonderland of lotions, potions, and root beer floats. Reproduced with permission from the Bristol Historical Association
By the 1980s, mall culture had swept the nation – as did crispy hairstyles. Some say it was the lowest point in fashion history, yet the rise of the “mall claw” wasn’t our nation’s greatest tragedy. The real casualty was Downtown, USA. As the trend toward shopping malls, big box stores, and retail chains became more valued than mom-and-pop businesses, downtowns everywhere literally crumbled before our eyes. The emergence of Reaganomics, BMWs, and giant shoulder pads ushered in yuppies with new money that seemingly held little regard for anything of historic value. Behemoth shopping malls became the air-conditioned havens of leisure for shoppers and loiterers alike – and the place for teenagers to ward off boredom. I would spend many a weekend sipping Orange Julius, noshing Italian Village pizza, and playing Pac Man at The Gold Mine in The Bristol Mall – and not one salesperson ever fitted my shoes again.
I wasn’t properly reintroduced to downtown until my 20s. Back then State Street mainly consisted of abandoned buildings, antique stores, the newly renovated Paramount Center for the Arts, the library, and a cute little eatery called K. P. Duty. Then there was a teeny little dive bar on 7th Street that offered live music.
Modernization and “improvement” meant that many of Bristol’s downtown historic buildings – and the once-vibrant businesses housed in them – disappeared or were left empty in the 1970s and 1980s. Reproduced with permission from the Bristol Historical Association
Let me preface to say I’m the daughter of a musician, so it was only natural that I would gravitate toward our local music scene. Many thanks to Fred Bartlett for opening The Offshore Café and for being among the first to invest in live music downtown. With a wide range of local and regional talent playing across genres, The Offshore opened up a whole new world to me and many others. I saw a ton of great bands in that tiny little place: Brian & The Nightmares, Punchin’ Judy, Trailer Park Picassos, the Wandering Zulu Brothers, Thin Line, Janie Gray, Würm, Redstone, H. B. Beverly, Blue Mother Tupelo, Lightnin’ Charlie, The Goody’s – the list is long and distinguished. By the time I was performing there in my own band, The Offshore had changed hands several times but still offered a variety of live music.
Fast-forward several years and I was working at WCYB TV, the NBC/Fox/CW affiliate in Bristol. One of my jobs was producing promotional spots for nonprofits as part of the station’s public service. During that time, I worked a variety of regional events and with several nonprofits including the former Birthplace of Country Music Alliance and the Paramount. This is what led me to Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion in 2002. The cities of Bristol turned over organization of the event after the first two festivals; I soon became a board member and continued to volunteer until the opportunity to become an employee presented itself in 2010.
To this day I credit the explosive growth of Bristol’s musical awakening to the people I met on the board of Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion and to the folks from the former Birthplace of Country Music Alliance. Though separate at the time, they started that train steamrolling down the track, and I am so grateful to them for their vision and for preserving Bristol’s music history.
Coincidentally, both cities of Bristol were working to increase investment interest and foot traffic downtown. We were fortunate to have members from both city councils on the festival board, and the vision they had for downtown has truly come to fruition.
Then there is Believe in Bristol, our small Main Street organization that works to improve downtown in other ways. They bring groups and businesses together, help with beautification projects, and continue to help make Bristol an even better place to live. Together, we have become a force. It truly takes a village, people!
Today, the Birthplace of Country Music (the “Alliance” was dropped during the 2012 merger with Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion) is the parent organization for the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, and Radio Bristol. Visitors from all over the world have been to visit our festival and our museum, and those who have yet to visit can listen to the music of our region via our radio station online and on its app. This has been made possible because of the love and support of this community. I am blessed to have been a tiny cog in the wheel of this fine, music-making machine.
Today I am really proud to take my daughter Callie downtown for nearly every event imaginable. We do the Caterpillar Crawl, Pumpkin Palooza, Border Bash, the Downtown Open House, and Full Moon Jams. She loves Mountain Empire Comics and Top Hat Magic the most, takes the occasional art class at A Work of Art Gallery, and has been enrolled at Bristol Ballet since she was three years old.
We could have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert at any number of fancy or casual places on and around State Street and still have the occasional hot dog and root beer float if we want. And yes, there’s shoe shopping downtown, and yes, Callie gets the shiny ones!
Bristol is proof that great things happen when we work together. Bristol, though crossing the boundary of two states, truly shares one state of mind.
Charlene Tipton Baker is a Marketing Specialist at the Birthplace of Country Music.
How does my band get booked for Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion?
This has to be one of the most popular questions I get when someone learns I’m on the music committee for the festival.
For the answer, let me pull you up a seat to the table and offer you a biscuit, because that’s the payment the nine members of the committee get for thousands of hours of listening to music, negotiating with agents, and handling special requests from bands during the festival. I’m not complaining. It’s a great biscuit.
The individuals sitting around that table all have day jobs that pay the bills for our musical addictions. We’ve got a teacher, a lawyer, public relations experts, radio personalities, contractors, and more. Most of this group has been together for the better part of a decade – so we know each other’s likes and dislikes. I know when a band I’m pitching is going to make one-person nod in approval, and I know when I’m going to get pelted with jokes about the band being “just another guy with a guitar.” (Thanks, Randy.)
Let me be clear: the meetings may happen over biscuits on scheduled Saturdays but the conversations never seem to stop. It’s hard to recall the last time I didn’t have a Facebook message, email, or phone call from a band or someone connected to the festival.
But let’s head back to the table, where I bet you’re ready to dive into the main course: the headliners. It’s a big part of the festival – they are at the top of the poster after all! And they are the ones that we are continually asked to divulge by friends and family before the official reveal.
Finding those special two or three bands for the top of the poster is an intricate process. Lots of potential headliners get volleyed about during our discussions, and many factors, like budget and availability, come into play. It’s not easy to land those special artists that our fans want to see, and every year my heart breaks over the band that got away. Everything has to fall into place to make one of these big bookings happen, and we are always grateful when the stars align and allow us to bring artists like Emmylou Harris, Robert Randolph, Buddy Guy, Bela Fleck, Steve Earle, and Lucinda Williams to the festival.
The cost of music shocks many people, and some of the bands we would love to have would take our entire budget. Amazing, Top 40, or even huge Americana acts and stadium bands deserve everything they’ve earned, and so we seek out those artists while they are on the way up. We’ve done this with bands like Old Crow Medicine Show, The Avett Brothers, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and St. Paul & The Broken Bones, to name a few. It’s finding the next Avett Brothers or the next Carolina Chocolate Drops that keeps many of us going.
I love going to shows or down internet rabbit holes in the search for new music. I can easily get lost in websites like Pandora, YouTube, and Spotify with no real idea where the journey started.
I also just love to ask questions. Who should I be listening to? What bands are other bands listening to? If you asked me which artist I’m most excited to see at the festival in 2017, the answer would be an up-and-coming singer-songwriter sent via Facebook Messenger by a friend. (Thanks, Greg.)
The reality of it all is that there is so much that goes into building a festival roster. I could go on and on about radius issues, backlines (I actively avoid stages where I know my help might be needed in carrying a piano), transportation, and about a dozen other things it takes to get a musician from a pitch at the table to performing on one of our 20 stages.
Yet what I think you most need to know is that we all take this very seriously. There is no glory. There is no plaque that comes with discovering that artist that breaks out each year at the festival.
We do this because we love Bristol. We do this because of our history.
We work hard to plan the musical soundtrack to the annual celebration of our roots, and we are always amazed and grateful that you all show up to see it. That’s the jelly on a fine buttermilk biscuit.
Brent Treash is this year’s Festival Chair and serves on the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Music Committee. May 4 is the “big reveal” of the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion headliners, all the acts, and the festival poster so check out www.bristolrhythm.com to find out more!
