Straight from the Eagle’s Nest comes Wranglers correspondents, HighMay HighJinx and Greasetrapp, crisscrossing the globe in search of funky music and the world’s best grouper sandwich. For the second year the Wrangler elite found their way to State Street with an eye for talent and adventure. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

Friday: War & Treaty at Paste Studios recording and we’re off like a herd of turtles. Paste was now called Bluegrass Situation. There was Birmingham’s best, St Paul & the Broken Bones. Greasetrapp hadn’t seen Los Lobos since 1996 at Further Fest in Atlanta. After their show she made it back to camp, only to realize she’d left her tent open. Once it got zipped up, the mosquitoes that were grouped at the top were now sealed in with her for the foreseeable future. All night they dive bombed her and slid deep enough into her ears making her bash herself into a bruised pulp.

When is a cougar no longer a cougar? When she becomes a deaf leopard.

Greasetrapp had met his match once and for all. This was more solid, non-stop music than she could consume. She’d sang until her voice turned rotten and she knew she had barn hair. Somewhere in the night she had to pee and couldn’t find the tent door.

The gravity of Bristol was hitting HighMay like a Rick Flair chip to the solar plexus. He was back in action and why not, in any other time in history he would have been branded deranged and living his days comfortably in a sanitarium.

Saturday: HighMay insisted that Sierra Ferrell had stared straight into his soul. Likely it was Wook from Big Daddy Love. Who can tell for sure?

They caught the Jon Stickley Trio and The Del McCoury Band before retiring to margaritas for the remainder of the night.

She got lost with a dead phone and her only recollection was that the hotel began with the letter B. She managed to find a dumpster at the Hyatt that felt safe enough to relax behind in seclusion. No longer had she laid down on the concrete, did she come to the realization of sliding in the shallows of a used grease pit and was covered on the backside with the dank salve.

Shrimphead had just returned from Ometepe where he worked cattle on a plantain farm near the beach. On weekends they played Grateful Dead and drank rum punch.

The television warned that flashing lights and strobing patterns might affect photosensitive viewers. Greasetrapp assumed a television worked because of flashing lights and strobing patterns. She had to pull it together before the Larry Keel & Jon Stickley Duo. Easier said than done.

Sometime between Marty Stuart and Old Crow Medicine Show Shrimphead returned to his hammock under the stage. He was wearing his stagehand camouflage and was able to walk unimpeded, anywhere he wanted. He had unfinished/poke and stick tattoos on his neck and hands and was missing some important teeth. He had a felony conviction and one master’s degree, which was par for the course.

Greasetrapp and HIgh May were on the hunt for the Mason Via show and why not, that guy had stayed busy lately and was “trending” to be sure. They were traveling together downtown and had formed a category five disturbance wherever they went. They were also picking up loose stragglers every bar they left and their crowd continued to grow through assimilation.

Find your way back to Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion again next year September 10-12, 2027. Same bat time, same bat channel.

Keep up with the Wranglers as we head south to Live Oak, Florida for Suwannee Roots Reunion and Hulaween. Then, we look to maintain a cruising altitude in the eye wall of the Florida winter season with Love Burn. Stay the course. Something funky this way comes. Welcome to the fourth quarter and it’s all about conditioning.

All photographs by HighMay Highjinx.

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Kaitlin Butts, Ashley Monroe, Fruition, Sister Sadie, Michael Cleveland, The Wilder Blue, Nolan Taylor, Shadowgrass, Ken Pomeroy, Theo Lawrence, The Wildmans, Jarekus Singleton, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Larry Keel’s Electric Larry Land, Denitia, Chicken Wire Empire also join the lineup of nearly 100 acts slated to appear on a dozen stages in the twin cities designated the “birthplace of country music” by the U.S. Congress. Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion amplifies the charm of its vibrant downtown location, steeped in the region’s authentic music, culture, and community. As Saving Country Music puts it, “Instead of traipsing back and forth through an open field like many festivals make you endure, you feel like you’re entering a musical village, and one that you never want to leave.

“New for 2025, Bristol Rhythm will add late night sets at Machiavelli’s outdoor tent, “barn” dances at the Country Music Mural Stage, and the festival’s first Artist in Residence, Dave Eggar. The dynamic cellist, pianist, and composer, who has worked with a host of artists including The Who, Coldplay, Tony Bennett, Patti Smith, Esperanza Spalding, and many more, will take his talents from stage to stage, collaborating with a number of festival artists throughout the weekend. Tennessee Songwriters Week Bristol qualifying round winners AustinBarrett, Camden Benoit, Claire Childress, and Erin Dalton will also perform in the round with Sarrenna, hosted by Adam Bolt.

WBCM Radio Bristol, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, will bring its popular Farm and Fun Time variety show back to the Paramount Bristol stage during the festival this year, with special guests to be announced. Hoot and Holler, Roanoke’s storytelling collective, will also return to delight audiences with more stories-“out loud!” Weekend passes to Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion are on sale now, with upgraded packages available. Visit here for tickets and information.

Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia is heralded as the birthplace of country music, home to the 1927 Bristol Sessions recordings. The award-winning Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion is a celebration of that great legacy and is renowned for its diverse headliners, established touring acts, up-and-coming artists, and some of the Appalachian regions finest music across a wide variety of roots genres. It is also noted for its unique downtown setting along State Street, where Virginia and Tennessee meet to form the twin cities of Bristol. For more information about Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion visit BristolRhythm.com.

About the Birthplace of Country Music. Located in Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia, the Birthplace of Country Music (BCM) is the parent nonprofit organization of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival, and WBCM Radio Bristol.

It is the mission of BCM to perpetuate, promote, and celebrate Bristol’s rich music heritage; to educate and engage audiences worldwide regarding the history, impact, and legacy of the 1927 Bristol Sessions from which BCM derives its name; and to create recognition, opportunities, and economic benefit for BCM’s local and regional communities. BCM accomplishes this mission through each of its primary branches (museum, festival, and radio station), special projects and events, and a multitude of community and educational outreach programs. Visit BirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org for more information.

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