Ilearned a lot from years of doing long distance with my partner: communication, teamwork, the best time to buy plane tickets. I also learned that the midway point between Nashville and Richmond is Bristol, a cornerstone of the Tri-Cities in the heart of southern Appalachia, where the Tennessee-Virginia border runs down the middle of State Street.

Bristol is technically two sister cities on either side of that border, both called Bristol, and for a while it was a home away from home for my partner and me. You might recognize it as the home of the Bristol Motor Speedway , or the annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion . As the birthplace of Tennessee Ernie Ford and site of the 1927 Bristol Sessions, where Ralph Peer recorded early tracks from The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, Bristol

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