There’s no better excuse, or moment in time, to road trip to one of the state’s most charming destinations. If you’ve given Bristol any thought, it may be as the home to the Bristol Motor Speedway, the NASCAR track and site of last year’s record-setting Battle at Bristol football game (156,000 people watched Tennessee beat Virginia Tech). Or, perhaps you recognize the Geico Insurance animated gecko who stands on the border that splits Bristol’s Main Street down the middle, half in Tennessee and half in Virginia.
But you should know the city for the 1927 Bristol Sessions, the recordings that people consider the “Big Bang” of country music: where hillbilly music morphed into commercial success.