Saturday of our birthday trip, Lindee and I were in Bristol. First off we found the house Tennessee Ernie Ford was raised in. We hadn’t been sure what our schedule was going to be, so we didn’t schedule a tour – next trip!
From there we headed to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. It was just very, very interesting. I had heard of the Bristol Sessions, but really had no idea that they were the true beginning of commercially successful country music. I just loved reading all the details about all the recording they did in just a couple of days, and to learn that both Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family recorded their first records there. One of my favorite exhibits was the one on gospel music. Of course tons of the music they recorded during the sessions was gospel music, because tons of the songs those mountain people sang was gospel music. Very cool.
After lunch we spent some time walking around the downtown area of Bristol, and found the monument erected on this site where the actual building where the Bristol Sessions were held once stood. It was just a country music kind of weekend for us.