After a couple years off we attended the
2021 Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival which is one of the liveliest festivals. Held in the Birthplace of Country Music the festival showcases music on venues located on both the Virginia and Tennessee sides of State Street. COVID definitely affected this year's lineup but the organizers were still able to schedule fantastic artists over the three days. The festival targets local and national artists with special attention to Texas musicians. We heard great performances by
Yarn,
The Steel Wheels,
Folk Soul Revival, Big Daddy Love,
Town Mountain, and
Blackberry Smoke. In addition,
John Anderson and
Hayes Carll represented Texas and we loved that Carll covered Ray Wylie Hubbard's
Drunken Poet's Dream.
We acted like drunken poets at two Bristol breweries located within the festival's parameter.
State Street Brewing Company is a relatively new brewery with outside seating accessible to hear the Country Music Mural stage or the continuous music at the
Delta Blues BBQ. The brewery opened a few years ago in the former Hayes Furniture building on the Commonwealth side of State Street and utilizes the 20,000-square-foot building to its fullest. Expect a spacious seating area and a long bar that runs parallel to the brewing equipment. There's enough diversity in their portfolio for all types of tastes - and for morning music we went with the
Long Tom Peanut Butter Porter. In the afternoon we transitioned to their
Dad Hat Kolsh and
Splash Berliner Weiss before ending the evenings with the
Cosmos Imperial IPA.
We've visited
Bristol Station Brews & Taproom a few times and it was great to see the brewery within the festival adjacent to the Piedmont stage. Folk Soul Revival paired with the
Piedmont Pilsner as fans are slightly bitter to their breakup and that matched the beer's profile. The
Bristol Helle Raiser fit the Hayes Carll set and would have worked with 49 Winchester if we weren't late. It wasn't the Blue Mountain
Steel Wheels ESB but the
Bearded Goat Bock hit similar notes as the band's
Rain in The Valley. And in the evening, give us the
Wil's Lucky Dunkelweisen.
The BRRR will be back in our regular rotation. Look forward to visiting these and other area winery and breweries until then with theCompass Craft Beverage Finder. Cheers.