Birthplace of Country Music Museum

09/03/2026

Bring your little ones and join us for Museum Story Time tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m.! This month’s theme is “From These Hills, Apples Grow.”

Featured books:
📖Golden Delicious by Anna Egan Smucker
📖Johnny Appleseed by Rosemary Benet

Our monthly Museum Story Time is fun for toddlers, tots, and their grown-ups! We’ll gather for books related to music and Appalachia, a tune or two by WBCM Radio Host Ella Patrick, and a related activity. This program is free and all are welcome.

09/03/2026

Don’t miss Museum Talk today at noon on WBCM - Radio Bristol! Erika and Tobias will be joined by Kat Havens, Director of Curriculum and Content at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, for a conversation about upcoming programming, special exhibits, and the museum’s immersive King Tut’s Tomb Discovery Experience. Tune in to hear what’s coming up and get an inside look at one of the museum’s most fascinating exhibits!

09/03/2026

Dolly Parton will always be remembered as one of the most revered and honored country music singer-songwriters of all time. We are grateful to Ella Patrick Art who performs under the stage name Momma Molasses for the design and creation of this in progress window painting – and to Believe in Bristol and Explore Bristol for their support of the project at the museum.

BRISTOL, Va. (WJHL) — Over a week after Dolly Parton died at 80-years-old, people across the Tri-Cities are continuing to remember the country music legend. The Birthplace of Country Music is honor…

09/02/2026

Attending Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion next weekend? Be sure to check out all of the happenings at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum!

🎙️ The Bluegrass Situation/Good Country Sessions
🎟️ Bristol Sessions Super Raffle
🎶 Songwriters Circle Song Swap
🖼️ VMFA on the Road Artmobile
🎨 Bristol Roots Project Showcase
✨ “Charles Vess: The Book of Ballads” Special Exhibit

Plus, all Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion ticketholders get $10 discounted admission! For more information and scheduling details, download the BCM app or visit the link in the comments.🔗

📸 Billie Wheeler; Ashli Linkous; Jessany Bowman

08/29/2026

Where better to gather, connect, and make music than on the front porch?

August 29 is National Play Music on the Porch Day, recognizing that music is a universal power that transcends far beyond barriers and differences. For generations, people from diverse backgrounds have come together to share songs, stories, and traditions, helping shape the genres we know today - including country music.

More than a century ago, English folk song collector Cecil J. Sharp and his assistant Maud Karpeles spent 46 weeks between 1916 and 1918 traveling through the mountain regions of five Appalachian states. During this time, he sat among the people of the mountain communities and listened to their stories and songs, stating “it is no exaggeration to say that some of the hours I passed sitting on the porch of a log-cabin, talking and listening to songs were amongst the pleasantest I have ever spent.”

Porches have long been more than just part of a home - they’re places for community, conversation, and creativity. Where do you gather?

08/28/2026

Have you ever been deceived by a lover? Did they turn out to be the literal devil? Then you might relate to the ballad, “The Daemon Lover,” featured in our current Special Exhibit, “Charles Vess: The Book of Ballads.”

This ballad dates back to the mid-17th century and has been known by many names, including “The House-Carpenter,” “The Banks of Italy,” and “A Warning for Married Women.” It tells the story of a young wife and mother who is seduced away from her domestic life by her former lover. She sails off with him only to discover he is actually a demon just before he smashes the ship and sends them both to their doom.

“Charles Vess: The Book of Ballads” is on display now through September 30th.

08/27/2026

📖 Tune in to Radio Bristol Book Club today at noon on WBCM - Radio Bristol! This month, we’re reading “Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance” by Denali Sai Nalamalapu.

Real people are standing up for both their communities and the planet. Drawing from original interviews with the author, “Holler” is an illustrated look at six inspiring changemakers whose stories should be better known. Denali Nalamalapu, a climate organizer in their own right, introduces readers to six ordinary people who became resistors of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a project that spans approximately 300 miles from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia—a teacher, a single mother, a nurse, an organizer, a photographer, and a seed keeper.

08/27/2026

Great to have the cast and crew of “The Mockingbird Sings” at Theatre Bristol visit the museum!

08/26/2026

It’s National Dog Day, and we’re celebrating with some of our staff’s four-legged friends!🐾

While we all love a cute dog photo, one dog in particular holds a special place in Bristol Sessions history. Nipper, the famous dog with his ear tilted toward a gramophone, became the mascot of the Victor Talking Machine Company — the recording label behind the Bristol Sessions. His iconic image went on to become one of the most recognizable symbols in recorded music history and was later adopted by RCA Records.

In the 1890s, artist Francis Barraud painted Nipper’s portrait listening intently to a phonograph. Emile Berliner’s Gramophone Company later purchased the painting and its copyright after asking Barraud to replace the phonograph with a gramophone.

Nipper quickly became a marketing icon for Berliner’s company in America and the launching of the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901. His trademark became a trustworthy symbol of quality: “Look for the dog, on the horn, on the record, on the cabinet” and “Don’t buy a record without a dog. Imitations have neither the dog nor the loud and clear tone of our records.”

Image of Nipper from the Collection of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum.

08/25/2026

Dolly Parton will always be remembered as one of the most revered and honored country music singer-songwriters of all time. Her music touched people across the world through honest storytelling, emotional depth, and a voice that spoke to generations. She was more than a musician; she was the soundtrack to our lives.

In addition to her prolific music career, she was also a successful businessperson, philanthropist, and actress. Her love for her East Tennessee home was expressed throughout her lifetime - from Hurricane Helene relief to the Dollywood Foundation - and it carried through globally via her funding of COVID research and the expansion of her Imagination Library.

Words are not enough to express what Dolly meant to us and to everyone who mourns her.
We will always love you, Dolly.