In 1925, musicians gathered at the George Vanderbilt Hotel in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, to record songs that had never before been heard outside the Blue Ridge Mountains. Fiddlers, banjo players, and singers came together to share the music they grew up with. These recordings, now known as the Asheville Sessions, were the first commercial effort to capture Appalachian folk traditions. They helped shape the sound that would later grow into Bluegrass and country music.
This year, Asheville is honoring that moment with a centennial celebration and the release of Music from the Land of the Sky: The 1925 Asheville Sessions. The new album includes 28 songs that have been restored from the original discs. For the first time in a hundred years, listeners will be able to hear the details and voices that defined this beautiful period in Appalachian history.
For Appalachia as a whole, this project is a reminder that the voices of our people matter. At a time when the region was often overlooked, these recordings gave the world a window into life in the hills. These songs of our past carry stories of our culture for future generations. They preserve traditions that might have been forgotten and show the richness of a culture that outsiders often misunderstand.
By bringing these songs back to life, Asheville is also reminding people that Appalachian music still has an audience today. The same spirit that filled those hotel rooms in 1925 continues in the musicians who play in Asheville now.
The release of this album is a chance for the wider world to see how deeply Appalachia has shaped American music and honor the people who boldly shared the culture of our community with the world.
More information and album preorders are available at AshevilleSessions.com.