In 1927 the Victor label advertised auditions in Bristol, which straddles the Virginia-Tennessee line. Usually remembered today for capturing the first commercial recordings of soon-to-be stars Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, the recording sessions and Bristol have been called the "Birthplace of Country Music." In fact, many Virginia old-time artists had already successfully recorded by 1927, including Henry Whitter and the Stoneman Family, both of whom were present at the Bristol session. The city hosted another Victor recording session in 1928.

For five days in October 1929, musicians from across Virginia played their songs for engineers of the Okeh Record Company in Richmond. Firms like Victor, Columbia, and Okeh held sessions away from their northern studios in order to mine the rich vein of southern music demanded by record buyers. The Richmond recording session was a microcosm of Virginia and American music, capturing the work of old-time bands, gospel quartets, harmonica players, jazz acts, and even Hawaiian orchestras. Artists came from Roanoke, Richmond, Hopewell, Norfolk, and several rural communities hoping to achieve musical fame. A few had already made 78-rpm records, most notably Bela Lam and His Greene County Singers, the Sparkling Four Quartet, the Tubize Royal Hawaiians, and the Richmond Starlight Quartette. Others had been heard on the new technology of radio.
 

One of the first releases of the Carter Family, recorded at Bristol in 1927. 
Courtesy of Joe Bussard.
 

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