The Save Our Towns crews savors the strains from the Carter sisters, Pop Stoneman, and others in Bristol, Virginia, home of the new Birthplace of Country Music Museum

What better place to visit in the "Examples of Awesome" segment than a town that cobbled together $11 million to build a monument to powerhouse musicians?

In the expert tip, Liz Povar of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership talks about the need for a town's leaders to create a memorable elevator speech.

And Barbara Ellen Smith, professor of sociology in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, discusses ideas from the recent book she co-edited, a collection of essays about Appalachia. She points out that "political dissent tends to be muffled" when towns owe their allegiances to a single industry or employer, and she notes that if economies diversify in the post-coal era, greater democratization could result.

Episode Seven is posted at Save Our Towns or can be viewed in this YouTube video:

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