Dwight Yoakam will headline the 17th annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival presented by the Birthplace of Country Music. Famous for straddling the two state lines of Tennessee and Virginia, and being the location where Ralph Peer’s Bristol Sessions gave birth to the recorded legacy of country and roots music.
According to NASCAR, “A big part of every Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway is driver intros, where each driver gets to pick a song of his or her choice to walk out to. It gives drivers a chance to show off their musical tastes, flex their comedic muscle and, yes, sometimes even send a message.”
Nashville will always be the home of country music, but Bristol, TN/VA was where the big bang of country music occurred. In 1927, recording pioneer Ralph Peer from the Victor Talking Machine Company set up his equipment in the Taylor-Christian Hat Company in downtown Bristol and started recording acts that would become the very foundation of what we know as country music today.