ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — When you think of country music, you might think of Nashville, “Music City,” or even Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia, home to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. But to truly appreciate the history of country music, you must understand its roots in Asheville.
Let’s go way back to the Asheville Sessions of 1925. Those historic sessions of African, Native American, Scotch-Irish and Appalachian traditions recorded here in Asheville captured the origins of country music.
“The 1925 Asheville Sessions were the first session recordings of traditional music that were done in Appalachia, and in North Carolina, particularly of traditionally Appalachian music. The musicians came from Asheville and western North Carolina and Southwestern Virginia to record in Asheville. It was an early recording session; prior to that, they just recorded in big cities like New York and Atlanta. Musicians were invited to come into the heart of mountain music, and they were recorded for the first time, and it was historic,” said Blue Ridge Music Center program director Richard Emmett…