Mountain Music Museum will hold grand opening Thursday

BRISTOL, Va. – Ben Church and his son, Jarrod, made the nearly two-hour journey from Birchleaf, Va., to Bristol on Tuesday, in part to visit the Mountain Music Museum.

Jarrod Church is merchandise manager and “backup banjo player” of Ralph Stanley’s bluegrass group and his father is a lifelong fan of the music. They spent part of the afternoon examining the artifacts, framed photographs, old records, posters and other memorabilia enshrined in a former toy store at the Bristol Mall.

It’s the fourth such mall location in 11 years for a collection of thousands of artifacts that reveal much about this region’s musical legacy. Organizers plan a grand opening, rededication ceremony and concert Thursday evening.

“It’s really special that they want people to come and see all these wonderful things,” Jarrod Church said, while standing next to the rusty soft-drink cooler that was once in A.P. Carter’s general store. Carter was the patriarch of the Carter Family, a Scott County, Va., group honored in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

“I get to travel all over the country with Dr. Stanley and in the big cities you don’t see the artist appreciation like we have here,” he said.

Ben Church said he is “glad to see it preserved” but “amazed” at how many famous country and bluegrass acts grew up in this part of Appalachia.

Visitors can trace that lineage on a display called Roots & Routes of Country, a topographic map denoting the hometowns of artists as diverse as Stanley, Carter, Tennessee Ernie Ford of Bristol and Kentucky’s Patty Loveless.

“We’ve got to glue the names on this map,” volunteer Susan Gobble said of the daunting task of affixing more than 100 artist names.

It is but one feature inside the 4,000-square-foot space where sparkling new photo murals share space with antique artifacts and some items visitors haven’t seen before.

Displays will feature about 10 percent new material and many items that have been stored for years because the previous location was so cramped, Gobble said. Most recently, the museum was on the mall’s lower level. Originally, it was in a former bank space near the front entrance on the first floor.

“Practically everything is back on display,” said Tim White, president of the nonprofit Appalachian Cultural Music Association, which runs the facility. “We’ve been working for the past few months trying to get everything ready. We opened about half the museum this winter.”

White said volunteers have performed all of the work needed to re-establish the museum along the mall’s Sears Court.

Among them is Gobble, who has been commuting from Damascus, Va., for the past three years to volunteer about 40 hours each week to work in the gift shop, museum and the smaller downstairs location that preceded it.

“We’re almost ready,” she said. “This still isn’t everything. We’ve still got a lot in storage, but this is so much nicer than what we had. We appreciate the mall so much.”

The gift shop has three employees and a core group of about a dozen volunteers who help with cleaning, organizing and tending to the museum exhibits, Gobble said.

“I like talking to the people who come in here and educating them about this music I love,” Gobble said.

In the 11 years the museum has operated inside the mall, thousands of visitors from all 50 states and many foreign countries have signed its guest book, gift shop Manager Phyllis Helton said.

Thursday’s festivities will begin with music featuring the East Tennessee State University Bluegrass Band at 5 p.m., followed by a ribbon cutting and dedication at 6.

Music is scheduled to continue until 9 p.m. in the museum and at the nearby Pickin’ Porch.

Other performers include the Skinner Family, Lightnin’ Charlie, Teddy Helton and the Pickin’ Porch Band and the Snyder Family.

There is no admission charge for the concert, but donations are accepted.

A silent auction designed to raise money for the ACMA and museum operations is scheduled from 5-8 p.m. Thursday. Among the auction items is a rocking chair autographed by Ralph Stanley, Rhonda Vincent, Dan Tyminski, Jesse McReynolds, Doyle Lawson, the members of Blue Highway and other prominent performers.

For more information, call (276) 645-0035.

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