About Us
Nashville is country music's capital, but Bristol is the birthplace. It was on Bristol's State Street in August of 1927 that record producer and talent scout Ralph Peer made the very first country music recordings with The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Stoneman, and others, for the Victor Talking Machine Company. The recordings, known as 'The Bristol Sessions', are recognized internationally as 'The Big Bang of Country Music.' What Peer was doing back then, collecting songs to be sold commercially, is literally the basis of the country music recording industry we know today.The Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, based in Bristol, TN/VA, is dedicated to calling attention to the crucial role played by artists from East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and the southern Appalachian region in country, bluegrass, and other musical avenues which have been nurtured by this region. Attending not only to the past, BCMA has developed programs which address this musical heritage in the present and promote its continuation into the future.
Mission
“To tell the story of the musical and cultural heritage of the region, its role in the birth and development of country music, and its influence on music around the world.”Objectives
To focus on a music form that reflects America's cultural, economic, religious and social heritageTo focus on a group of pioneers who influenced music throughout the world
To focus on the musical and cultural influences on these pioneers
To focus on a region that offers insights into America's past and future
To foster the promotion of the region and its musical and cultural heritage
