Mountain Music Showcase Ending Four-Month Run

BRISTOL, Va. – The curtain is coming down on a live music program in downtown Bristol, but organizers said Wednesday they hope to revive it later this year.

The Mountain Music Showcase will end its four-month run at the Twin City’s train station later this month – the victim of a merger involving its producer ARC-TV, of Norton, Va., host Jim Edwards said. Last week, ARC announced plans to merge with NSE Films/MyMar Entertainment to form Appalachian Mountain Streaming. The new entity, which plans to establish a production facility in Bristol, will produce documentary films about the region and stream content via broadband.

“June 29th will be the last show,” Edwards said. “We’re going to take a break, get all the details worked out to complete the merger with NSE and reorganize the program. We hope to bring it back – bigger and better – this fall.”

The end comes just weeks after attendance began to increase once organizers switched nights and eliminated an admission charge.

The program was originally held on Tuesday nights and there was a $5 admission fee. In response to low attendance, organizers cut out the fee and shifted the shows to Monday nights, avoiding a conflict with free, live musical performances at the country music mural on State Street.

In the three weeks since, average weekly attendance has climbed to 125, according to Brad McCroskey, events coordinator at the train station.

“We would love to have them come back,” McCroskey said. “People were just starting to find out about it, so it’s unfortunate the merger happened at this time. We believe Bristol needs another place to go and see music.”

McCroskey said he hopes the shows can resume as early as August, but Edwards predicted that it will likely be September.

The two-hour shows are recorded by ARC-TV and broadcast through a number of regional cable channels.

Edwards, who developed and helped host the live performance show, said he was disappointed with the public response, but believes it can still be viable.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” Edwards said. “I thought surely the people in Bristol would support something that showcases our mountain music heritage and Bristol. With 50,000 people in the two Bristols combined, I thought we could average 300 people a week, who could donate a couple dollars to pay the bands.”

The keys to success are following a regular schedule and building a core audience, said Bill Hartley, executive director of the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance. The Bristol-based nonprofit promotes a number of musical events, but wasn’t involved in this series.

“One of the keys is regularity. If you look at the successful events and venues in this region, the Carter Fold operates every Saturday, Border Bash is the third Friday of every month in the summer, Rhythm & Roots is always the third weekend in September. People know when it is,” Hartley said. “The other key is to have that core group of people who come every week or as often as they can. That’s what keeps the doors open.”

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