Two Legendary Performers Top Lineup For Annual Rhythm & Roots Reunion

BRISTOL, Tenn. – If roots music had the equivalent of Mount Rushmore, Ralph Stanley and Doc Watson almost assuredly would occupy spots of honor.

Next weekend, they will occupy stages during Bristol’s annual Rhythm & Roots Reunion.

In Stanley and Watson, the eighth annual downtown music festival boasts two of history’s most decorated, beloved practitioners.

While both have performed here on other occasions, it will be their first festival appearances.

“We’re very excited about this year’s festival. Our depth this year is phenomenal, and there are so many genres of music represented,” event Executive Director Leah Ross said. “[Singer-songwriter] Darrell Scott called our lineup ‘insane’.”

Conceived as a celebration of Bristol’s legacy as the “birthplace of country music” for a series of historic 1927 recordings, the festival encompasses country, bluegrass, blues, gospel, old-time, folk, Celtic and Americana styles.

Appalachia natives Stanley and Watson cover much of that spectrum.

Born five months prior to the historic Bristol Sessions in 1927, Stanley has become an iconic roots music figure. During his nearly 60-year career, the Dickenson County native has won the National Medal of Arts, Grammy Awards, been inducted into the Grand Ole Opry and recognized as a living legend by the Library of Congress. On Wednesday, he will be presented the Virginia Governor’s Award for the Arts.

Along the way, he has performed on more than 175 CDs, including many with his late brother, Carter, and his band, the Clinch Mountain Boys.

Stanley is scheduled to perform at 4:15 p.m. on Sunday.

Watson – the guitar virtuoso from Deep Gap, N.C. – has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences, seven Grammy Awards, a National Medal of Arts and National Heritage Fellowship, and was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Honor.

Watson is scheduled to perform Saturday at 8:30 p.m.

The two legendary performers top a lineup that also includes bluegrass star Sam Bush, country crooner T.G. Sheppard, Dan Tyminski, Cherryholmes, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Scott Miller & the Commonwealth and more than 100 other national, regional and local musicians.

“We get so many calls from local, regional and national artists wanting to perform here. Our music committee really has a daunting task filling that lineup,” Ross said. “Over the years, some newer artists – like Old Crowe Medicine Show and the Carolina Chocolate Drops – have attracted national attention after appearing at our festival.”

A recent Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine online poll ranked Rhythm & Roots second among 20 major music festivals in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland. Only the long-established MerleFest in North Carolina ranked higher in the fan poll.

This year’s festival is set to unfold from Friday through Sunday. Performances are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. on Saturday and at noon Sunday, with music expected to continue past midnight on Friday and Saturday.

During its seven-year history, crowds have swelled from 5,000 in 2001 to more than 20,000 last year, organizers said.

“We’ve come a long ways from that first year. Our reputation has really grown, not only among the artists but the people who travel the festival circuit,” Ross said.

That credibility was built on annual lineups featuring stars like Rhonda Vincent, Del McCoury, Marty Stuart, Seldom Scene, Acoustic Syndicate, Gene Watson, Gillian Welch and Dave Loggins, among others.

While many music gatherings typically are held in fields or outdoor arenas, Rhythm & Roots occupies the Twin City’s center, with State Street and adjoining streets blocked off to traffic. Fans can wander up and down the downtown area, check out musicians on three outdoor and a dozen indoor stages, including restaurants, bars and coffee shops.

The Bristol Convention and Visitors Bureau hasn’t tried formally to gauge the festival’s economic impact, spokeswoman Beth Stockner said.

“We haven’t done an impact study,” Stockner said. “We’re very pleased with the folks who come here from out of town, stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants and pack downtown.”

Area hotels have experienced a “gradual” increase in business as the festival has grown, Stockner said.

“Over the years, we’ve had a good representation of international travelers, with people coming from Japan, Germany and England,” Stockner said.

New for 2008, fans who want to learn more about making music and the creative process can attend a series of workshops featuring many of the festival performers.

“We’ve had different requests for that from people who want to know more or learn about how to get into the business,” Ross said.

Presenters include Wayne Henderson, Darrell Scott, the Red Stick Ramblers, Otis Taylor and Cephas & Wiggins.

“We’re very excited about this lineup and they’ll be in Theatre Bristol, which will be an intimate setting. So all the workshops should be very interactive,” Ross said.

Scheduled for Saturday afternoon, workshop topics include songwriting, instrument history and instrument-making and the creative process.

Another new feature is a designated autograph area where fans can meet their favorites and purchase CDs or souvenirs. All autograph sessions are scheduled inside the former Hayes Furniture building on State Street.

“Not all the artists will be there, but a lot of them will be available – right after their performances – at this one location,” Ross said. The autograph area comes at the request of both fans and musicians.

While the festival traditionally attracts most of its crowd from a 150-mile radius, fans from as far away as Ireland, New England and Colorado already have purchased advance tickets this year, Ross said.
“Our early ticket sales are far ahead of last year. And last year was the best ever for advance sales,” Ross said. “We’re 100 percent above last year, so that is very exciting.”

The festival took over selling advance tickets through its own Web site this year, Ross said.

“We had used TicketWeb, but we began asking and most of the people who went to TicketWeb came from our Web site. This has also allowed us to sell shirts and other items online,” she said.

In addition to the music, the festival again will showcase about 100 craft and food vendors. However, there will be some changes from past years, former Chairman Ed Harlow said.

“We’ll have two food courts this year,” Harlow said – “one at Moore and State [streets] and one near the country music mural.”

The change was made to better accommodate fans attending performances at the outdoor stages, Harlow said.

“We want folks to patronize and eat at our downtown establishments, but with 20,000 or 30,000 people, not everybody can get into the State Line Grill,” he said.

Free shuttle bus service again will be available throughout the festival, with stops at Sugar Hollow Park in Bristol, Va., hotels on both sides of the state line and the rear parking lot of Tennessee High School.

Buses are scheduled to run from 4:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Saturday and 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Tickets are $40 for the weekend, $20 for Friday or Sunday and $15 for Sunday. Children ages 12 and under are admitted free.

There is a separate $10 charge to attend Friday’s Midnight Pickin’ Party event at the Paramount Center.

Tickets are available at the festival office at 29 Sixth St., Bristol, Tenn., the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, downtown businesses Fandango, and Mountain Aire Music, Tri-Cities area Kroger stores and Clintwood Electronics in Clintwood, Va.

dmcgee@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2532