The 1927 Bristol Sessions launched the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers as major country stars.
Ralph Peer of the Victor Talking Machine Company organized the sessions in Bristol, Tennessee, and Bristol, Virginia, during July and August 1927. The recordings included the Carter Family, whose harmonies and guitar style became foundational to country music, and Jimmie Rodgers, later called the “Father of Country Music.”
The sessions are often described as the “big bang” of modern country music because they brought commercially successful rural performers to a national record label. That phrase is a useful description, not the official name of the event.
The Bristol Sessions did not create country music from nothing. Earlier traditions included Appalachian ballads, gospel, blues, and string-band music. Their importance was that recording technology and Victor’s promotion helped these traditions reach a much larger audience.