Finding Rhythm without the Reunion

Catherine Jessee

 

The twin cities of Bristol, Tennessee and Bristol, Virginia share a downtown main street, State Street, as well as a long, storied music history. Some of the earliest official recordings of country music called the “Bristol Sessions” put this region on the national map in the 1930s.

Today, not far from the popular short-track NASCAR speedway, Downtown Bristol is home to the Rhythm & Roots Reunion, an annual music festival celebrating country, old-time, gospel, rock, and soul. Canceled due to COVID-19, this year’s event was supposed to be its biggest, celebrating its 20th reunion. This short audio documentary explores the influence of a growing festival on the local community year-round as well as the impact of COVID-19 on the undercurrent of music-making in Bristol.

 

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Catherine Jessee is a first-year M.A. student in Southern Studies. With a focus on Appalachian history and folkways, she is interested in where food systems intersect with or diverge from social movement and activism in the South. She holds a B.A. in American Studies and English from the University of Virginia.