Bonnie Mckenna

The Country Music Highway Kentucky is famous for more than horses

© 2007 by Bonnie McKenna All Rights Reserved

The twang of country music heard on the car radio as you travel along the Country Music Highway sets the tone for where coal is king and poverty lingers along the hollows. This is Appalachia. This is where kids grow up listening to blue grass, gospel and country music. This is where families encourage their children at an early age, to sing, play the mandolin, guitar or banjo. This is where, quietly through music, the people of Appalachia are preserving the heritage of this special place. It is no wonder that this quiet edge of eastern Kentucky gives birth to more famous country singers than anywhere else in the United States. Loretta Lynn, Crystal Gayle, Hylo Brown, Billy Ray Cyrus, Naomi and Wynonna Judd, Ricky Skaggs, Patty Loveless are but a few of the better known artists that were born here. Many more, who call this area home, are song writers, music producers or attached to the music business in some manner.

In 1994, in recognition of the many well-know music stars that come from this region the main highway in eastern Kentucky was designated The Country Music Highway. Eight years later this 144 mile highway was designated as a National Scenic Byway. Originally, U.S. Highway 23 was the main highway from Detroit to Miami. Today, the importance of the highway for commercial purposes has diminished except to truck coal to the barges on the Ohio River or to the rail heads destined to the bigger cities in the east. A great place to start your trip through this unique part of America is in Ashland. For the latest information about what is happening in Ashland and the surrounding counties, check in with Sue Dowdy at the Ashland Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.

In Ashland, visit the Highland Museum and Discovery Center. Here you will get a feel for the history of country music as you peruse their fantastic collection of memorabilia. It is possible, while walking around the museum that you might run into Polly Judd, mother of Naomi and grandmother of Wynona Judd. Polly volunteers her time in the museum. The museum also houses many other exhibits on the history of the region.

Up the street and around the corner from the museum is the Paramount Arts Center a beautifully renovated movie theater and home to Paramount Joe’s Rising Star Café. Paramount Joe is the much loved and benevolent ghost that inhabits the theater. The café is known for the number of famous country singers that have been discovered there or just show up to entertain the home fans.

The night I was there I saw the up-coming country singer Stephen Salyer. Salyer wowed the crowd with his good looks and mellow voice as he sang new tunes and old favorites. Another must on the list of places to visit in Ashland is the Jesse Stuart Foundation. The foundation is housed in an old classical-style post office building. The foundation is devoted to preserving the literary legacy of Jesse Stuart and other Appalachian and Kentucky writers. Visitors are encouraged to browse through their large collection of books that are available for purchase.

Down the highway, the next place to stop is in Paintsville, home of the Country Highway Museum. The museum features a number of interactive exhibits and a huge collection of country music star memorabilia. A panoramic photo of Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle’s childhood home in Butcher Hollow near the town of Van Lear graces the lobby area. Yes indeed, there is a Butcher Hollow; it is not just a place in a song. The home is open to visitors. Herman Webb, Loretta’s older brother will give you a tour of their home while spinning tales of growing up in the hollow. When asked if he thought Loretta would be this famous when she was a little kid, his answer was, “Naw, she was just another kid with a loud mouth.”

In the same area is the Van Lear Museum, at one time the headquarters for the Consolidation Coal Company. The museum brings to life the history of coal mining. Coal is still mined in the area, underground much like it was done years ago or the mined by very controversial method of strip mining. Today, in an effort to rehabilitate the land after striping out the coal, it is called ‘surface mining.’ The folks living in these areas are only too happy to express their opinions about the different mining techniques.

Also, in Paintsville is Mountain Home Place. Mountain Home is a living museum recreating life in the 1850’s. The area gives visitors a look at the isolation and self-sufficiency of mountain farmsteads. While visiting this area of eastern Kentucky one of the best places to stay is Jenny Wiley State Resort Park in Prestonburg. Whether you stay in the lodge, a private cottage or camp you will enjoy your time surrounded by the towering pines and peaceful mountains.

If you play disc golf or are interested in learning to play this fun sport then there is no better place than at Jenny Wiley. The resort manager Scott Ringham, a disc golf champion, will be happy to give you a lesson or two. Elk watching is made available through the park. Elk have recently been reintroduced on the Cumberland Plateau on a reclaimed strip mine. Elk watching requires an early morning wake-up call, but it is worth it.

All year around, the Jenny Wiley Theater for the Performing Arts adjacent to the park, puts on classical Broadway plays, musicals and holiday productions suitable for the entire family. Turn off The Country Music Highway onto State Highway 80 and head southwest toward Hindman, a quaint and thriving town of artisans working to preserve the folk art of Appalachia. The Kentucky Appalachian Artisan Center features exhibits of contemporary and folk art from the region. Across the street, the Center is developing a business ‘incubator’ as a means to assist country artisans in developing skills to operate their own craft businesses. Tour the Hindman Settlement School, established in the early 1900’s; it is one of the few remaining schools that brought education to the remote areas of Eastern Kentucky. Currently, the school offers very specialized educational programs and has become a part of the campus for the Kentucky School of Craft.

If you are looking to purchase quilts or other examples of Kentucky folk art, go south toward the border of Virginia to Whitesburg. At the Cozy Corner in Whitesburg you will find the widest range of quality quilts found in Kentucky. All of the quilts for sale in this unique store are hand pieced and hand-quilted. Josephine Richardson, the owner has long admired the craft and in her quest discovered many local quilt makers.

The Cozy Corner also sells other folk art, wood carving and books about the region. While trying to decide what to buy have lunch at the Courthouse Café. The store and café are connected. The menu changes daily with the availability of seasonal vegetables, fruits and meat. Don’t miss having dessert. Whitesburg is also known for its innovative and unique non-profit arts and media education center, Appalshop. The center produces original films, photography, music and recordings of Appalachia. Appalshop has received many national and international awards for their work.

As you travel from the north to the south of eastern Kentucky, through this unique region of America, you will have an opportunity to meet many friendly people, listen to their music, value their folk art and understand a bit of their culture. You will also have to agree, Kentucky is more than thoroughbred horses.