The Birthplace of Country Music (BCM) is delighted to announce that Grammy-nominated blues artist Jontavious Willis will headline the next installment of the museum’s intimate 1927 Concert Series on Saturday, November 1, 2025. The evening begins at 6:00 p.m. with a hosted cocktail hour and catered reception, followed by an up-close performance that puts guests mere feet from one of modern blues’ most dynamic voices.
Now in its seventh year, the 1927 Concert Series was created to give audiences a richly curated listening-room experience inside the museum’s performance gallery. Limited seating, premium hospitality, and the venue’s world-class acoustics combine to celebrate the spirit of the 1927 Bristol Sessions—recordings that changed American music forever—while spotlighting today’s most vibrant roots artists.
About Jontavious Willis
A 2020 Grammy Award nominee for Best Traditional Blues Album, Jontavious Willis is on a mission to energize contemporary blues with the raw vitality of its earliest forms. Drawing from his Georgia heritage and the traditions of Delta, Piedmont, Texas, and Gospel blues, Willis delivers original, foot-stomping songs marked by masterful fingerpicking, commanding vocals, and unmistakable Southern charm.
Discovered by blues legend Taj Mahal—who christened him a “Wonderboy”—Willis toured nationally with Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ before releasing two acclaimed albums: Blue Metamorphosis (2016), winner of the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge award for Best Self-Produced CD, and Spectacular Class (2019), his Grammy-nominated sophomore outing. A new, yet-to-be-titled record on Strolling Bones Records is slated for release later this year.
Event Details
Date & Time: Saturday, November 1, 2025 · 6 p.m. (cocktails and catering) | Concert to follow
Venue: Birthplace of Country Music Museum Performance Gallery, 101 Country Music Way, Bristol, VA
Tickets: $90 (1927 Society members) · $100 (general public) — includes open bar and catered fare
Purchase: Get tickets here
Proceeds from the 1927 Concert Series benefit BCM’s educational programming, special exhibitions, and year-round community outreach. Seating is extremely limited; early ticket purchase is encouraged.
About the Birthplace of Country Music
The Birthplace of Country Music, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, celebrates Bristol’s role in the origins and development of country music through its museum, the annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival, and Radio Bristol. BCM seeks to perpetuate, promote, and honor country music heritage and its many related music genres.
