Finally the Music!

Bristol is charming. It has that laid back country vibe with a touch of Southern hospitality. Everyone was saw was smiling, everyone we met was helpful. It did start to rain. First a drizzle, quickly becoming a warm downpour. Must be standard weather conditions as all the buildings on Main Street had awnings or overhangs. A long-haired gray-bearded fellow set aside his bike and took a seat out of the rain at the outdoor tables of a quiet cafe. He politely asked me for a light. As I don't smoke I suggested Francis, who promptly produced one. He was just sitting quietly there, chain smoking and watching the rain. We did briefly chat, bit damp for bike riding? You get used to it. It is sunny and warm in spite of the rain. No one from the cafe bothered him and he didn't bother anyone. Live and let live on the TN side of the street.

Down Main Street from the Cafe was a old soda fountain turned into a pawn shop. The service bar and counter had been retained, with all the equipment. The marble counter and vintage kitchen accessories entranced me. I wished I was more in the mood for a phosphate or ice cream soda, as placards promoted. Francis was more interested in the instruments and old tech equipment on the Pawn side of the place. He hoped to find an abandoned old Martin guitar or a forgotten Morse code key. Unfortunately everything beyond the soda fountain was just used and conventional. The most common items being the cabinets and cabinets of ubiquitous gold chains and gem stone rings.

Alternatively, both literally and figuratively, being on the other side of Main Street, the Virginia side, there was an Antiques and Collectibles Mall. It contained booth after booth of intriguing little things, hand made items and rustic furniture. Odd advertising memorabilia from past decades, crowded with WW1 and 2 historic treasures, examples of American craft pottery and domestic linens and vintage ephemera, including faded tourist post cards of Bristol and any other tourist attraction you can imagine. Large hand made country baking cabinets and wash stands were in rows with tall linen presses and broad low boys.

A few blocks off Main Street is the new Smithsonian Affiliate “Birthplace of Country Music Museum”. With a name like that, I was concerned it would be very commercial - - Grand Ole Opry / Dolly Parton. No so, it clearly has the Smithsonian touch. The history of American culture and roots music, features a variety of aspects, through excellent multi-media displays. There were audiotapes of performances; videotapes of learned discussions on fingering technique; historical timelines indicating pivotal historical events and the role of technology in the development of a unique American music. There were, of course, beautiful displays of vintage instruments and intriguing memorabilia.

The last display was heartwarming 360 degree montage video of a various popular and lesser known musicians performing “Will the Circle be Unbroken”. It was so evocative one could not help but sing along with tears in one's eyes. As the song played with the video feed, clips and information about the Annual Bristol Roots music festival were shown. In Bristol, the circle is certainly unbroken.

Not only in Bristol, but also in nearby Hiltons, Virginia. The site of the Carter family farm, in what was called Poor Valley at the foot of Cinch Mountain, is now the Carter Family Fold, a non-profit memorial music center. The original farm house and the log cabin in which A.P. Carter was born are on the site. More interesting, every Saturday night there is a roots music concert. We were fortunate to hear a fantastic group called Five Mile Mountain Road Five Mile Mountain Road out of Franklin County, Virginia. They played bluegrass and old time classic country. Their lead, Billy Hurt, played fiddle with Seth Boyd and Brennen Ernst trading off on guitar and banjo and Steven Dowdy on bass; in addition, they threw in a little piano on occasion.

It was all foot tapping music for dancing. The crowd at the Fold was ready to dance. Before the band played, I kept hearing syncopated clacking. Was someone practicing the spoons? No, they were getting ready to country clog! As soon as the band started to play the dance floor was full of folks. Some were doing sophisticated country swing couple dances; but many were just clogging and tapping to their own rhythms. In tap shoes, workboots or Birkenstocks, they were following their own terpsichorean muses. One woman, who appeared to have come with the band, faced the stage and was in constant movement completing rapid complicated clog patterns. Another, I must admit looked more like a candidate for Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks than a conventional dancer. Many just did a slow soft shoe maneuver round and round the periphery of the stage. There were young belles and bucks in flowy-flowery dresses or low-slung jeans, both worn with cowboy boots. There were older couples and Grannies dancing with their grandkids. In was an all ages family friendly affair. The good vibes and welcoming good humor were pervasive.

Bristol and Hiltons would be reason enough to make a trip to Southeast Virginia. In addition, there is an entire heritage music trail called the “Crooked Road”, through this region of Virginia. It is full of concert venues and historic homes. I hope we can return someday and explore it further but on this trip we were headed farther South. We wanted to see the Smokey Mountains but would the tourist traps of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg  be an amusing or a horrifying gateway?