The museum aims to tell the story of the Bristol Sessions, a series of historic recording sessions that took place here in 1927 and helped spread what was then known as "hillbilly music" to the rest of the country. Exhibits display instruments, recording equipment, clothing and other artifacts from country music and other genres, such as gospel and blues. The museum is 290 miles (466 kilometers) east of downtown Nashville, where a radio station began broadcasting a show in 1925 called the WSM Barn Dance in a downtown office building. Ross says Bristol's potential visitors include those who've already been to better-known music heritage sites in places like Memphis and Nashville, where the Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame are among the South's most-visited attractions. A documentary is also in the works from Oklahoma film director James Payne about country music's popularity in Japan, and how a World War II-era radio station intended for American forces in Japan helped fuel interest in the music that continues today. [...] on State Street, Bristol's main downtown thoroughfare separating Tennessee from Virginia, there are places like Borderline Billiards, where a member of the Old Line Skiffle Combo jumped on top of the bar and played a washboard last month during a music festival connected to the museum.