From 1928 to 1929, musicians flocked to Johnson City from five different states to be a part of the Columbia Records’ historic Johnson City Sessions recordings. Ninety years later, downtown Johnson City was converted into a celebration for the anniversary.
Events on the main stage began at 11 a.m, starting with a panel led by Kris Truelson, Ted Olson, Roy Andrade and Jim Bowman. The panel provided guests insight and background about the Johnson City sessions.
“They used to call Johnson City the gateway to the Appalachians because of the fact that three railroads meet, intersecting into Johnson City,” said Olson, an ETSU professor in the Department of Appalachian Studies. “I mean we see evidence of it with depots, and on the Johnson City Sessions recordings you hear the train whistles, and you know it was an active railroad scene. It had everything that a record company would need to operate a location recording sessions.”
Bowman, a relative to Charlie Bowman and the Bowman Sisters, who were on the session recordings, gave insight on his own family experience with the historical event.
“Speaking from within the family – of course this was obviously a few years before my time – the Bowmans never talked about this,” Bowman said. “My grandfather never mentioned the fact that he ever recorded anywhere, which I thought spoke volumes about them.”
Following the panel, the stage was shared by other artists who did their own renditions of songs from the recordings, many of which shared some kind of connection to ETSU. The ETSU All-Star Old-Time Band performed at 1 p.m., consisting mostly of past students.
“As we were rehearsing for this weekend, it was so satisfying for me to just quietly observe the artist that these folks have become,” said Andrade, All-Star Old-Time Band member and ETSU Old-Time Music band director. “They were great when they were here, but now they are truly professionals out doing it for a living. To hear how it has changed and how they have changed as performers, artists and interpreters is really cool and satisfying for me.”
Painting gourds, square dancing, browsing through old records, playing in a drum circle and learning how to play guitar were all the opportunities for guests to participate in throughout the event as a means to interact with music and history. The Department of Appalachian Studies had its own booth set up to inform people about the program.
“Anytime we can partner with the city and partner with the community, that is really a core part of the mission of the university,” Director of the Archives of Appalachia Jeremy Smith said. “When we can come together over music like this and over such a significant historical musical event, and the city can support it and the university can bring its expertise in the way that it has, it helps everyone out.”
