Now this is cool.
The Tennessee Tourism department is partnering with Tennessee-based networks Circle and DittyTV to tell the story of country music’s most historic event in a one-hour docudrama, officially titled Born in Bristol: The Untold Story of the Birth of Country Music.
It’s being done in celebration of the 95th anniversary of the “Big Bang” of country music, which marks the day in 1927 that 19 performers gathered in Bristol, TN to record the historic Bristol Sessions that essentially created the genre we all know and love today as country (though back in those early days, it was often referred to as “Hillbilly music”).
Those recordings created the blueprint for the genre, one that is still alive and well today, which Eric Church explains in the new trailer:
“It was the first time it was recorded, it was documented, and it was the bible of country music. It is still the bible for country music.”
The docudrama will include reenactments, as well as new interviews with artists like the one and only Dolly Parton, the aforementioned Eric Church, Ashley Campbell, Ashley Monroe, Emmylou Harris, Marty Stuart, Shannon Campbell, Sheryl Crow, Steve Earle, and Vince Gill, as well as GRAMMY-winning producer Carl Jackson.
The documentary is set to premiere on Saturday, July 30th at 10/9c on Circle Network, with additional airings throughout August.
Check out the full trailer, it looks pretty damn good:
