Marty Stuart’s ‘Born In Bristol’ C2C Q&A Marks Country’s 90th Birthday

Born In Bristol, the documentary that celebrates the 90th anniversary of “the birth of country music,” will receive its UK premiere in two screenings on 11 and 12 March as part of the Country to Country (C2C) Festival in London next weekend.

The second screening will feature a Q&A session with revered country musician and historian Marty Stuart, moderated by broadcaster Baylen Leonard, himself a native of Bristol, Kentucky. Stuart will play the main stage of the C2C Festival on Friday (10) in Dublin, Saturday in Glasgow and Sunday, after the Q&A, in London.

The film tells the story of the July 1927 recording sessions in Bristol, organised by Victor Recording executive Ralph S. Peer, an event that Johnny Cash later described as “the single most important event in the history of country music.” It was produced by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development and Virginia Tourism Corporation and directed by Sundance Award-winner Chusy.

The 53-minute documentary also profiles the recording in 2015 of the album Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited, in which modern-day artists relived the sessions. The record, produced in partnership with the Virginia Tourism Corporation, featured Stuart, Vince Gill, Ashley & Shannon Campbell, Ashley Monroe, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Keb’ Mo,’ Sheryl Crow, Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers and many others.

Born in Bristol received shortlist consideration at the 2016 Cannes International Festival of Creativity, and was filmed on location both in Nashville and in the titular town of the historic recordings, which straddles the Tennessee-Virginia state line.

Format: UK English