Robin Christenson would go out of his way to find "forgotten" songs to sing at Fox Hollow every year, where he would appear with his wife Ellen, Ellen's sister Irene (the Kossoy Sisters) and Irene's husband Tony Saletan. He found "Bright Morning Stars" in Ruth Crawford Seeger's book, "American Folksongs for Christmas," which contained songs she had found in the Library of Congress collections.

The same book has been the source of several LP collections. The earliest was on Folkways (FC 7553), with songs, including BMS, performed by Peggy, Barbara and Penny Seeger, along with some children.

Separately, the song was still sung in Kentucky (where the version in LoC presumably had been collected), and several traditional singers were performing it. I believe that was the channel through which Ralph Stanley found it.