Chamber Unveils Giant Guitar Statue
Photo by David Crigger/Bristol Herald Courier
Trevor Petry with Snyder Signs tightens a strap on the neck of the new guitar sign at the Bristol Chamber of Commerce Wednesday morning. Including the base, the new sign is 20 feet tall.
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Lorie Hand was blown away when she saw the 20-foot-tall guitar the Bristol Tennessee-Virginia Chamber of Commerce put in its front yard.
“It’s awesome,” said Hand, a Piney Flats, Tenn., resident who was walking through downtown Wednesday with some friends from New York. “It fits right in to the area.”
Chamber executives and local businessmen unveiled the guitar statue Wednesday to mark the group’s 100th anniversary. Made of aluminum and fiberglass components attached to a steel frame, the statue weighs 1,100 pounds, said Snyder Signs owner Dan Synder. His company built the statue, which was designed by Thompson and Litton engineer Scott Wilson.
“It’s beautiful,” said Jim Fleischman, one of Hand’s friends from New York.
Fleischman and Hand said they wanted to return to the sign with a camera so they could get their pictures taken in front of the structure. Fleischman also said that when he saw the sign, he wanted to learn more about Bristol’s musical heritage.
That’s just the reaction Chamber President and CEO Lisa Meadows hoped the new sign would produce.
“There’s only one Birthplace of Country Music,” Meadows said, adding that the chamber spent $43,000 of its own money designing and building the statue.
The city is known as the “Birthplace of Country Music” because of the Bristol Sessions, music recordings that took place here in 1927. During these sessions, New York talent scout Ralph Peer produced the first commercially successful country music album.
Wilson said he was thinking about that legacy when the chamber hired him to design a statue to commemorate its 100th anniversary. He also thought about using the city’s stock-car racing history at the Bristol Motor Speedway as a theme for the statue. But chamber officials said they went with the country music theme because it had the potential to attract tourists year-round rather than for just one or two events a year.
“Music can sustain Bristol as an economic driver,” said speedway President and General Manager Jeff Byrd, who chairs the chamber’s 100th Anniversary Committee.
Meadows said unveiling the statue is the first in a series of events commemorating the chamber’s anniversary. Others include building a commemorative brick pathway and a 10-panel sundial with photographic prints highlighting events in the city’s history. Meadows said she’d also like to make over-sized guitar picks that chamber visitors can take home as souvenirs to mark their trip to see the giant guitar.
“Pick Bristol,” Meadows said while contemplating her guitar pick idea. “That’s such a great marketing plan. I wonder who thought of it.”
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Reader Reactions
i love the sign, what a great addition to downtown bristol, THE birthplace of country music, the rhythm and roots festival is only so long so tourist can enjoy this all year. and the comment about the manufacturing shouldn’t have been done in Johnson City, but bristol sign did the signs in Johnson City so whats the problem? I personally have had wonderful success with working Snyder Signs, they are true craftsmen with over 47 years of experience in the outdoor advertising industry. I applaude th.e chamber for their decision
I think the guitar sign looks great! Everytime I drive by, I see tourists stopping to have their picture made in front of the guitar! The publicity surrounding the structure has caused folks to come to the great City of Bristol to have a photo taken! People need to realize that the Gold Club Members of the Chamber (not the City) have spent their money very wisely. When people come to Bristol to see the sign, they also eat there, shop there, buy gas there…which in turn boosts Bristol’s economy. Snyder Signs is also a member of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, which along with being known for building quality signs, made them the perfect choice for making the iconic guitar sculpture.
Thanks for the new sign. I do believe during this economic downturn the community could have used the money in other places to help our citizens. It’s hard to look at the amount of money spent and ignore how many of our local people are unemployed or underemployed, from the lack of higher paying quality jobs, for this area. We have great colleges and universities in our area but no business base. Help keep these grads in our area. It’s a shame to let great talent leave our communities obviously change is needed.
OH!! Boy For all the ones that are loseing their jobs. They can go to statestreet and sing the blues. All we got left is poverty jobs in Bristol. They really care about us folks!!. They should of just get rid of that building and use it for the homeless. I could go on and on but its a dog eat dog world.
I find it very confusing as to why the BRISTOL chamber of commerce went to a business outside of Bristol to get a sign at a cost of 43,000 bucks. I believe Bristol sign should have gotten the job for the BRISTOL chamber of commerce. It just goes to show you how much the chamber does for the local businesses that support it.
I think it’s great. I’m not a fan of country music, but I like the new sign. It looks good, and it’s unique.
You know, they had 3 designs to choose from.
1. A replica of BMS.
2. The giant guitar.
3. Two criss-crossed SSI checks, one retirement and one disability.
All 3 could have represented the area equally. I think they chose the right one to show Bristol is a positive light.
Think people will drive to Bristol to see the 20 foot tall Fiberglass GETTAR ?
So we have retired business people from NEW YORK trying to get other retires to move here.
Well we better build more nursing homes and get that bed pan training.
WOW! That’s one HUGE…waste of money!Here’s an idea, why not spend $43,000 promoting Bristol in travel publications and websites?
I appreciate the efforts of those trying to get Bristol some air time, but when the dust settles, Bristol is known for the great sucking sound. That of business and college grads. leaving just as country music money went west to Nashville. If this guitar could make a sound, it would ring “hollow” at best.
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