Day Seven-Cold Start, State Line Street,Hillbilly to Country, with a Brew Pub finish

Woke up this morning to temperatures to make us feel like home, 34 degrees. Burned through a tank of LP trying to stay warm. Now we are camping Michelle.

We started the day by finding State Street. It is pretty cool. The street is in the middle of the city and both sides are lined with very old buildings and businesses. Those that are located on the South side of the street show an address for Tennessee and those on the North side have a Virginia address.

We then went to the Birthplace of Country Music. It is really an interesting little museum. We spent a little over two hours there and could have been there another hour easy. The museum, being that it is about the birth of a music genre, it is more of an auditory experience than a visual. There are listening booths everywhere, three different auditoriums, a station where you can try your hand at re-mixing the original recordings and a booth, if so inclined, you can karaoke to the songs. The last auditorium showcased today's talent from Appalachia. I could have listened to that all day.

 I had not heard this bit of history before. In the early 1920's, recorded music was really taking off with the advent of the Edison Gramophone and others. Then came the Victrola and people could afford the machines and the demand for "records" went out of sight. In 1927 Ralph Peer, a producer for the Victor Recording Studios went to Bristol looking for new music to record. He was given a tip by Earnest Stoneman, who was from the area and had recorded one of the first Hillbilly albums in 1922.
In 1927 Peer asked for musicians in newspaper ads who wanted to be recorded for $50 dollars paid on the spot. It was what is now known as the Bristol Sessions. The 1927 sessions marked the blending of the Appalachian Hillbilly music into what is now what we call Country. It is described as "the big bang" of Country Music. Some of the names I did not recognize, but the music makes up much of the old time bluegrass tunes that are still played today. The names that were "found" included the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. Peers thought he had made a mistake and thought these were just poor farmers here only for the fifty dollars paid on the spot until Sara Carter sang, with then 18 year old, Maybelle backing her on the Guitar, and the rest as they say is history

They also have a working FM station in the museum. It can be streamed online.

There is also a beautiful Train Station fully restored on State Line. It is now used for music festivals and other functions, but they are striving hard to re-establish the rail line connection. Interesting fact, there were actually two stations, one in Va. and one in Tn. during the civil war. Bristol was a major rail hub at the time. Union forces burned both to the ground. They were both rebuilt after the war, but by two different rail lines. Since they were competitors, the rails didn't connect. There was a space of about 10 feet between the two lines. One had to disembark one rail line and then climb on the other to continue their journey. This became known as "The Bristol Gap"

We finished up our day at the Holston River Brewing Company. It wasn't the fanciest place we have ever been to but the beer and food were good and the owners were very friendly. They bought the building and attached campground in 2014 and opened the brewery by converting a large building that was on the site. The whole family except for one sister, who is a physical therapist, runs the place.