Night 1 of 12 is in the books. On Friday, May 22, 2026, Bristol Sessions Nights: The First Take opened the Road to 100 with a sold-out room at the Bristol Listening Room in the L.C. King Building in downtown Bristol, Tennessee. Ed Snodderly headlined. Seth Thomas and Chance Lawson played songwriter sets, and Logan & McKenna opened the night.
The City of Bristol, Tennessee presents the series, with ETSU's Appalachian Music Collective and Tennessee Hills Distillery as partners and the Birthplace of Country Music providing historical stewardship. Twelve nights, one a month, lead to the centennial of the 1927 Bristol Sessions on Memorial Day weekend, 2027. The First Take is where that road begins.
A Full Room for The First Take
Guests came in through a foyer with free popcorn and a Tennessee Hills concessions stand. The hall beyond was set with roundtables, and photos from the L.C. King company's past hung on the walls. This building once made Pointer brand overalls. On May 22 the 100-seat room sold out, and many of the faces at the tables were familiar ones from the Tri-Cities music community, including regulars from The Down Home in Johnson City.
Logan & McKenna opened with a half-hour acoustic set built on close harmony. Logan Fritz played acoustic guitar and McKenna Blevins kept time on tambourine. Most of the songs were originals, several from an upcoming release. They also reached back for the Carter Family's "Gold Watch and Chain," Hank Williams' "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)" and Gram Parsons' "Sin City."
Seth Thomas followed with "You Always Take Me In, Tennessee" and "The Strongest Woman I Know." For his last song he called Chance Lawson to the stage. The two met through the Tennessee Songwriters competition. When organizers suggested they share a cover, they wrote an original instead. They sang it together that night. It is called "Open Road."
Chance Lawson took a bar stool in dark sunglasses and drew laughs from the room with "Blue Collar Bartender" and "My In-Laws Are Outlaws."
Ed Snodderly closed the night with a band: Lisa Pattison on fiddle and John Gardner on drums. Eugene Wolf, his partner in the Brother Boys, joined him for several songs. Wolf plays A.P. Carter in Barter Theatre's "Keep On the Sunny Side." Snodderly played "When Doc Watson Came to Johnson City," "Farther Than Your Eyes Can See" and "Will Your Down Home Be Unbroken," his reworking of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." One of his songs left the room with a picture of a black snake on a porch, sniffing the biscuits.
The night also brought the first pour of the Bristol Session West Coast Pilsner, the official beer of the series, brewed by Tennessee Hills Distillery. It pours at every Bristol Sessions Nights event through 2027. Stephen Callahan, Founder of Tennessee Hills, summed up the night in his Tasting Notes newsletter on June 4:
"Night One sold out. The story's just getting started."
Stephen Callahan, Founder, Tennessee Hills Distillery
Meet the Artists
Ed Snodderly
Ed Snodderly was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. His grandfather was a farmer and old-time fiddler who, with his brother, won ribbons at Knoxville-area fiddlers' conventions in the 1920s and '30s. In 1976 he co-founded the Down Home Coffeehouse and Pickin' Parlor in Johnson City, Tennessee, with his friend Joe "Tank" Leach. The Down Home marked its 50th anniversary season in 2026.
His tenth album, Chimney Smoke, features his band the Shoestring Seven: Shawn Camp, Steve Conn, John Gardner, Steve Hinson, Gary J. Smith, Chris Scruggs and Kenny Vaughan. Gretchen Peters sings harmony on "Gone With Gone and Long Time," and Amythyst Kiah, Maura O'Connell and Malcolm Holcombe join as guest singers. With Eugene Wolf, he is one half of the Brother Boys. Find him at edsnodderlymusic.com.
Chance Lawson
Chance Lawson is a folk singer-songwriter from Kingsport, Tennessee, and he records as Chancellor Lawson. His songs grow out of Appalachian storytelling and acoustic tradition, and they turn on everyday life, memory, faith and growing up in East Tennessee. He has played across the Southeast, including Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, and has opened for 49 Winchester and Kashus Culpepper.
He previously played in the Tri-Cities band Donnie & The Dry Heavers. He has also competed in the Tennessee Songwriters regional competition at The Down Home. Find him at chancellorlawsonmusic.com.
Seth Thomas
Seth Thomas is a son of Appalachia who tells stories the way his kinfolk did when he sat at their feet as a child. His music mixes soul, roots and Americana, old days and new ways, and it carries the joys and pains of life the way a hymn does. Like Chance Lawson, he has competed in the Tennessee Songwriters regional competition at The Down Home. Follow him on Instagram.
Logan & McKenna
Logan Fritz and McKenna Blevins perform together in the regional Americana duo Fritz & Co., billed as Logan & McKenna for Night 1. Their songs are built on harmony, with alt country and vintage rock and roll in the mix. They have played Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, the Virginia Highlands Festival, AVL Fest and Appalachian Trail Days, and they opened a night for Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers. Find them at fritzandcompany.com.
From the 1927 Bristol Sessions to the Road to 100
In the summer of 1927, Ralph Peer of the Victor Talking Machine Company set up a temporary studio on State Street in Bristol and recorded musicians from the region. Those sessions launched the careers of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers.
Bristol Sessions Nights tells that story one chapter at a time, in three acts, on the way to the 100th anniversary in 2027. The First Take opened Act I, The Recordings. It fit that a Carter Family song came early in the night, and that the man who plays A.P. Carter at Barter Theatre stepped up for the closing set.
More Photos
See more of the room, the players and the people in the Night 1 photo gallery.
The Road to 100 Continued
The First Take opened the series. The Road to 100 continued with Night 2, The Carter Sessions, on June 19, 2026, when Eugene Wolf returned to the Bristol Listening Room with Ivy Sheppard and the Whitetop Mountain Band to honor the Carter Family. Read the Night 2 recap.
Live music in Bristol, Tennessee keeps rolling one night a month until the centennial. Single-night tickets are $27 on the tickets page. Details on the Bristol 12 Passport are on the passport page, and every chapter is listed on the series page.
Thank you, Bristol. See you at the Bristol Listening Room.
Photos: Hannah McAmis and Jon Luttrell, City of Bristol. Artist photos courtesy of the artists.
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