Bristol Sessions Festival

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Bristol Sessions Festival

Presented by the City of Bristol, Tennessee. One year. 12 nights of songwriters and stories.

The countdown to the centennial celebration of the 1927 Bristol Sessions in May 2027.

18/06/2026

Friday night!

Eugene Wolf & Ivy Sheppard + White Top Mountain Band + the Carter Family legacy + Raymond McLain as our MC. Need we say more?

Don’t miss the magic of music and storytelling June 19 in the Bristol Listening Room, presented the City of Bristol, Tennessee.

17/06/2026

We are honored to have Raymond McLain as our MC for Bristol Sessions Nights #2 on June 19!

A driving force in the world of bluegrass music and charter member of the McLain Family Band, Raymond McLain performed more than 1,000 times on the Grand Old Opry with Jim and Jesse and the Virginia Boys and represented bluegrass music and the United States during State Department tours in 62 countries. He served as assistant director of the Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music program at East Tennessee State University from 2000-2005, and as director from 2005-2009, helping to expand the program’s academic offerings and international reputation. After leaving ETSU, McClain established a successful traditional music program at Morehead State University in his native Kentucky. His influence on traditional Appalachian music is rooted in his dedication to performing the music he loves and preserving it for future generations.

We sell out fast so don’t miss your seat to this special night of music honoring the Carter Family.

https://bristolsessionsfestival.com

16/06/2026

Songwriters have always been our regional heartbeat.

Seth Thomas and Chance Lawson helped kick off Bristol Sessions Nights in May and found a moment to share a song they wrote together on stage. A special moment on a very special night.

Join us June 19th for our second installment of Bristol Sessions Nights presented by the City of Bristol, Tennessee.

Learn about all the chapters at https://bristolsessionsfestival.com

15/06/2026

We are thrilled Ivy Sheppard is joining Eugene Wolf for Bristol Sessions Night #2 June 19!

Ivy Sheppard has a true eye and ear for making the journey through the musical landscape of her Southern home. A well-respected banjo player and fiddler, as a teenager she was asked to join the renowned old time band, The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers. She traveled extensively with them across the country. Today, Ivy performs with various bands and hosts her 78rpm record show “Born in the Mountain” on radio stations across the country. Sheppard is just the kind of music artist we need today; she helps us juggle our old ways with the new.

Don’t miss Bristol Sessions Nights presented by the City of Bristol, Tennessee.

11/06/2026

In 1920s rural Appalachia, music was the lifeblood of the community. It served as an essential tool for storytelling, social connection, and coping with hardship.

As we look back, our region was once a bustling hub of railway activity, driven by coal, timber, and iron ore extraction across the Appalachian Mountains. Railroads built our region.

Source: James Agee Film Project Photographs. The Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University provides access to the materials on this website for the purposes of research and education. Any commercial uses of the materials or any uses that exceed the limits of fair use and other relevant statutory exceptions require the permission of the Archives of Appalachia and the copyright holder(s). It is the user's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials.

10/06/2026

The City of Bristol Tennessee is proud to celebrate the first family of country music on night #2 of Bristol Sessions Nights on June 19.

A.P. Carter was a song collector and member of the Carter Family, a trio that helped to pioneer what became known as country music. Born in Scott County, in Southwest Virginia, Carter worked as a carpenter and traveling salesman before marrying Sara Dougherty in 1915. Carter’s true passion had always been music, and with his new wife, who sang and played the autoharp, he began to perform and audition to make recordings. With Maybelle Carter—Sara Carter’s first cousin and the wife of A. P. Carter’s brother—the couple formed the Carter Family, recording for the first time at the Bristol Sessions of 1927. The group made nearly 300 records in a career that lasted until the early 1940s, and for several years they performed on ultrahigh-frequency border radio. These broadcasts could be heard across North America and helped make the group nationally famous.

Source: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/carter-a-p-1891-1960/
Contributor: Wayne W. Daniel
Contributor: the Dictionary of Virginia Biography

08/06/2026

Eugene Wolf was handed the gift of a lifetime 25 years ago when he was asked to create the role of country music’s patriarch, AP Carter in Barter Theatre’s “Keep On The Sunny Side.” Along with Ed Snodderly, he is a member of the country singing duo, the Brother Boys. Their latest album, “On The H***y Tonk Highway with the Brother Boys,” is a compilation of their recordings from 1988-2022 on Germany’s Bear Family Records. They won an IBMA Recorded Event Award for their work on the Jerry Douglas album, “Slide Rule.” Eugene has been a member of Barter Theatre’s acting company since 1997 and has toured his award-winning one-man show, “The Book of Mamaw,” for the last eight years. He is a recipient of a 2025 Bristol Roots Project Tradition Bearer Fellowship. He will be joined by Ivy Sheppard and is delighted to sing and tell what he has learned playing AP Carter.

Join us on June 19 at the Bristol Listening Room (located in the L.C. King Building) for Night 2 of Bristol Sessions Nights. Presented by the City of Bristol, Tennessee, this evening celebrates the next chapter in our 12-night countdown to country music's 100th anniversary in 2027. Learn more about all the nights at www.bristolsessionsfestival.com.

05/06/2026

Meet the Whitetop Mountain Band, playing Night 2 of Bristol Sessions Nights on June 19.

The Whitetop Mountain Band is a family-based traditional music group from the highest mountains of Virginia, carrying forward the rich musical heritage of the Whitetop region. For generations, the band's members have played a vital role in preserving and sharing the area's long-standing old-time, and bluegrass traditions, earning recognition as respected musicians, educators, and cultural ambassadors.

The band is currently led by Emily Spencer, a longtime leader who has been performing with the group since 1970s. Known for their authentic sound, exceptional musicianship, and deep roots in Appalachian culture, the Whitetop Mountain Band continues to inspire audiences of all ages through performances, workshops, and community engagement.

In addition to traditional mountain music, the band proudly performs songs made famous by the Carter Family, honoring one of the most influential groups in the history of American roots music. Their performances celebrate the enduring spirit of Appalachian traditions while keeping this treasured musical legacy alive for future generations. As one of the venue's most frequent and iconic performers, the group has been playing at the Carter Fold since shows first began at the A.P. Carter Grocery in the 1970s.

Join us on June 19 at the Bristol Listening Room (located in the L.C. King Building) for Night 2 of Bristol Sessions Nights. Presented by the City of Bristol, Tennessee, this evening celebrates the next chapter in our 12-night countdown to country music's 100th anniversary in 2027. Learn more about all the nights at www.bristolsessionsfestival.com.

02/06/2026

In 1998, the U.S. Congress officially recognized Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia as the Birthplace of Country Music. Not Nashville. Not New York. Bristol. And from now until May 2027, we celebrate 100 years since the recordings that made it official. The Road to 100 is how we get there.

Photo credits: The Tennessean

01/06/2026

In May 2027, country music turns 100. 100 years since the Bristol Sessions recordings in Bristol, Tennessee gave the genre its name, its sound, and its first stars. We're spending the next year telling that story one night at a time.

Welcome to the Road to 100. Celebrate with us and get your tickets to night 2, honoring the legendary Carter Family at https://bristolsessionsfestival.com/.

Photo credits: Wikimedia

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http://www.bristolsessionsnights.com/, https://cityofbristoltn.ticketspice.com/bristol-sessions-festival-2026

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