Don't start to fret, folks. We will get to the chili. This is a story worth reading.
If you are any kind of music history buff at all, then I'm certain you've heard of the original Victor Talking Machine Company phonograph. Well, as with any business, the Victor people wanted to sell a lot of phonographs. "Records" were being "pressed" for the machines, and they knew what they needed was for more people to want to play records at home. To complete this new era of home entertainment they concluded that what they needed next was an explosion of a new kind of music that a lot of people would want to hear and play. This was 1927, and the economy was starting to feel a little shaky. They would have to hurry.
The Victor people had everything figured right, and they completed their plan by sending music producer Ralph Peer out to find and establish the new music. Modern musical scholars call what happened next "the Big Bang of Country Music."
Ralph Peer had heard there was a lot of great music out in the mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina and other nearby states. But how was he going to get to hear a lot of it? Well, he decided to set up an audition and recording studio, and issue an open invitation for people to come play their music. He looked at a map and considered other things such as a passenger rail line through town.
He settled on the town of Bristol which straddles the Tennessee/Virginia border. It had a rail line and the attraction of a town in two states. It was close enough to North Carolina, Kentucky and West Virginia, and the musical groups were chompin' at the bits to have a chance to have their music on a record.
Peer set up his equipment in a hat warehouse in Bristol, and a long line of "front-porch fiddlers, crooners and pickers" came out of the "hills" to showcase their talents. This group of people included names that are now world-famous. Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family and Ernest "Pop" Stoneman to mention a few. In all, 19 artists were picked (pun intended - ha!) to record a total of 76 songs.
The recordings were pressed onto records, and radio stations started playing the new music. It was like they were giving away gold. The public went crazy, and the "new music" was off and running. A lot of people now say that Bristol, TN/VA is the birthplace of Country Music.
Bristol has certainly claimed the title, and several years ago they decided to start having a festival each year to celebrate their heritage and country music. The festival, like their country music, has been very successful, and, now they are getting ready for their 2008 version with so many country music acts and other events it's hard to count them. One of the special events is a chili cookoff. Hey! You can't have a great country music festival without having a chili cookoff! Right?!
The festival is just around the bend (as they say a lot in the mountains). 19-21 SEP 2008 to be more exact. Last year they estimated 23,000 people attended. This year's festival will feature legends such as Doc Watson, Dr. Ralph Stanley and Wayne Henderson as well as many contemporary artists. If you are in the area, you really should go. It's sounds like a great, great time, and, hey, you can even get some great chili since they are going to have a People's Choice category among others.
Here is a link to the festival website if you would like to learn more. It's a great honor for chili to be associated with an event like the 8th Annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion.
www.bristolrhythm.com/index.php
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