New Exhibit to Mark Fifth Anniversary of Birthplace of Country Music Alliance Museum

BCMA Vice President John Maeder conducts a demonstration of recording technology at the BCMA Museum. Bristol, VA-TN (March 1, 2004)

On Thursday, March 11 at 6:00 PM, the BCMA will unveil a new exhibit entitled "Twentieth Century Recording Technology: A Display of Country Music Recordings from Cylinder to CD" at 6:00 PM at its museum, located on the lower level of the Bristol Mall, Exit 1, Interstate 81, Bristol, VA. The exhibit unveiling will commemorate the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance museum. The unveiling will followed by the regularly scheduled live radio broadcast of the “Pickin’ Porch” at 7:00 PM, featuring Rockwood and the Boone Boys.

“We are pleased to be able to celebrate the fifth anniversary of our museum,” commented Bill Hartley, Executive Director of the BCMA. Hartley noted that over the last five years, the museum has become an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, relocated to a larger space to accommodate more displays, and continues to see tremendous growth. In 2003 alone, over 30,000 visitors, representing forty-nine of the fifty states and seventeen foreign countries came through the museum and museum attendance has doubled since last summer’s program on Appalachian music at the 2003 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

The new display will illustrate chronologically the recording technology which brought music to the listening public, including Blue Amberol and Oxford cylinders, Edison thick disc (80 RPM), 78 RPM, 45 RPM, 33 1/3 Long Play Albums, 8-Tracks, Cassettes, and Compact Discs. The display includes recordings from the BCMA museum collection, which have been donated by various friends and patrons, from within and outside our region and from outside, over the past five years to form the BCMA Museum collection.

"This is a display which we have discussed for several years and we are pleased to now have it as a part of our museum gallery. This display shows the variety of recording technology as a timeline of the growth and development of country music during the twentieth century," said BCMA Museum curator David Winship.

The display complements the newly started "78 RPM Record Party," which occurs on the second Friday of each month. This is an occasion for the public to come and listen to vintage recordings played on period machines. Members of the community who own older recordings, but do not have the technology to play them, are welcomed to bring their recordings for all to hear. The next scheduled 78 RPM Record Party," will be Friday, March 12 at 7:00 PM.