Just in time for "spooky season," join us for our October Speaker Sessions with Cam Collins, co-creator of the Old Gods of Appalachia, an eldritch horror fiction podcast set in an Alternate Appalachia.
Join us for a "Songwriter in the Round" evening at the museum on Thursday, October 17, 7:00 p.m. featuring three songwriter-musician acts from the Bristol area and the surrounding region: Linda and David Lay, Sandy Shortridge, and Rafe Van Hoy.
Join us on Tuesday, November 12 for our Speaker Sessions with artist and bootmaker Lisa Sorrell as she explores "From the Saddle to the Stage: Country Music and the Evolution of Cowboy Boots."
Due to unforeseen circumstances, this Speaker Session has been cancelled. We hope to reschedule the date sometime in the new year. Our apologies for any inconvenience.
Join us on via Zoom on Tuesday, January 21 for our Speaker Session with musician and luthier Dena Ross Jennings as she shares how she creates community through music.
The Fulbright Canada Student Award scholar uncovers the impact of external forces on the preservation and transformation of local music traditions.
Musical traditions based on groups of stringed instruments are common around the world – how are these bands different and similar to each other, and how do they help us all connect to each other and the environments where we find ourselves? With this Speaker Sessions presentation, Lee Bidgood will introduce a global range of string band sounds and stories, with media and live examples.
Join us on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 for our Speaker Session with Mary Munsey. For the last year, Mary Munsey’s motto has been: “If your song is well written it should paint a picture in the listener’s mind. If not, keep working on it.” And with that motto, she decided to see if some of her songs fit this tall requirement by working with several area artists to explore their interpretation of her songs in a visual format.
Join us on Tuesday, May 13 for a Speaker Session with Erika Barker and Julia Underkoffler: Country Music, Comedy, and the Small Screen. After World War II, television grew at an exponential rate. From the 1940s through the 1960s, advanced technology, greater disposable income, and the increase in the number of stations helped television to become the era’s primary mass medium. Television allowed country music to reach a wide audience, and popular shows such as I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show had regular segments featuring country musicians.
Join us on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 for our virtual Speaker Session with Charles Hughes. No two kinds of music have a closer and more complex relationship than country and blues. With this Speaker Session, historian and author Charles L. Hughes will discuss the historical relationship between the two genres. Hughes will consider their shared roots, their continuing overlaps, and what the relationship between them tells us about the larger history of the United States.
