In two years, country music will celebrate the 100th anniversary of a series of recording sessions in Bristol, TN, which are considered to have been the foundation of country music. These sessions — and the songs the artists recorded — have come to be called, “The Big Bang of Country Music.”
Rob Anderlik of Mount Prospect on guitar
All of which piqued the interest of Chip Brooks, co-owner of Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights, which features a broad range of live music in its “listening room” style venue. He’s been working on creating a musical production that captures these groundbreaking sessions and the first step is offering a workshop version of the show.
Brooks calls the show, Bristol 1927: The Big Bang of Country Music, bringing to life the two-week recording sessions that took place in the summer of 1927.
“A guy named Ralph Peer recorded 19 different hillbilly acts and released 76 songs on record,” Brooks says, “which was really the beginning of country music.”
The first workshop performance takes place Oct. 22 at Hey Nonny. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the show starting at 7:30 p.m. It will be more of a concert than musical theater, with local musicians playing the 22 songs that came out of the sessions, and with Brooks breaking in with some description. Purchase tickets at HeyNonny.com.
Hey Nonny owner, Chip Brooks
“Our goal with this workshop version is to learn what performance style works, what do people react to, and what do we need to do to carry these songs over to an audience,” Brooks says.
It’s not the first time that this one-time litigation attorney has turned his research and writing skills over to crafting a show. Brooks has already produced three Hey Nonny semi-theatrical shows, including one about about the founding of Arlington Heights, another about the late 1960’s teen club, The Cellar, and one about the closing of Arlington High School in 1984.
“Those shows were a blast,” Brooks says, “but I wanted to find a subject that had broader appeal. Country music sure does!”
Brooks and his Hey Nonny staff have assembled what they call, the Hey Nonny Country Music All-Stars, for the show. Band members include Caleb Peters and Bridget Kavanaugh on guitars, Rob Anderlik on Dobro, Hayley Skreens on banjo, Dan Kristan on bass, and Pat Otto on mandolin, banjo, and a few other instruments.
Caleb Peters on guitar
In its seven years in downtown Arlington Height, Hey Nonny has taken great pride in offering all types of music genres, including country. In fact, Brooks and his wife, Patricia, traveled to Nashville last month for the Americana Music Festival. The five-day event featured showcase performances at venues throughout the city, with both established and emerging artists. The festival immersed the couple in country music — and its history — and Brooks has set out to share its rich beginnings with the community.
“This isn’t just a story of the music,” Brooks says. “Thisis the story of how the country music business – really, the whole modern recording industry – got started.”
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