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Birthplace of Country Music Museum in downtown Bristol

Sullivan County · Music

Where country music was born.

Live stages. Local stories. Appalachian rhythm.

From the 1927 Bristol Sessions to State Street's living music scene.

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In the summer of 1927, Ralph Peer set up a microphone in a hat warehouse on State Street and the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers walked in. The Bristol Sessions are the Big Bang of country music, and Bristol still holds the room. The Birthplace of Country Music Museum tells the story; Paramount Bristol and Cameo Theater keep it playing.

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The Bristol Sessions

In the summer of 1927, talent scout Ralph Peer recorded the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers during the Bristol Sessions, launching the commercial country music industry. These twelve days in a rented building on State Street are recognized as the 'Big Bang of Country Music,' and Bristol is officially designated the Birthplace of Country Music by the U.S. Congress.

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