Tag: Rosine

You Gotta Hear This: Molly Tuttle, Sister Sadie, and More Women in Bluegrass

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In this week’s edition of You Gotta Hear This, we shine a light on women in bluegrass!

We begin with “Come Alive,” from Darin and Brooke Aldridge. An four-time IBMA Award-winning vocalist, Brooke beautifully delivers this love letter to the mountain life. Meanwhile, Amanda Cook explores a complicated heartbreak in “Let You Go.” Although she’s an understated singer, all of the emotions are evident in her vocal performance. You don’t have to belt it out in bluegrass to get your point across!

Rising talent Farayi joins with Sister Sadie on “May a Love Like This Find Me,” which is a twist on the social media meme: “May a love like this never find me.” If you find ordinary love to be an extraordinary blessing, you’ll enjoy this one. In addition, Heather Mabe of Red Camel Collective is putting thoughts of love into a gospel song in “My Point of View,” a wonderfully encouraging song at a time we need it more than ever.

Meanwhile, few pop songs from the ’80s capture feelings of frustration better than Men at Work’s “Overkill.” It’s equally compelling as sung by Rosine’s Meredith Lane O’Connor with a vocal assist from the songwriter himself, Men at Work’s Colin Hay. We also have a pretty cool, true-to-life road trip song from Sister Sadie called “Marlboros in Muskogee.” And speaking of traveling, the Travelin’ McCourys offer “She Did Break” with harmonies from one of our favorite female vocalists, Garnet Bowman. And finally, you can’t talk about women in bluegrass without mentioning Molly Tuttle, who reimagines “The Highway Knows” acoustically.

As we say every week, You Gotta Hear This!

Darin and Brooke Aldridge, “Come Alive”

Artist: Darin and Brooke Aldridge
Hometown: Cherryville, North Carolina
Song: “Come Alive”
Release Date: September 25, 2026
Label: Billy Blue Records

In Their Words: “With ‘Come Alive,’ we wanted to capture what the mountains we call home have always meant to us and the deep connection we feel to the place, the people and the traditions that shaped who we are. It’s about the music that has been ingrained in our hearts and souls since childhood, the precious time spent with family, the memories made around a kitchen table or on a front porch, and the songs passed down from one generation to the next. Those are the things that become part of your story and stay with you wherever life takes you. The mountains have a way of reminding us what matters most, and music has always been at the center of that for us. It brings people together, carries our history forward and gives a voice to feelings that sometimes words alone can’t express.

“We hope this song takes people back to a special place, brings a familiar memory to the surface or reminds them of the people and moments that have made their lives meaningful. To us, that’s the beauty of this music. It’s more than a sound or a song. It’s a part of who we are, a connection to where we come from and a tradition worth keeping alive. It’s the kind of music that doesn’t just fill the air. It reaches your heart, stirs your soul and makes you come alive.” — Darin and Brooke Aldridge

Amanda Cook, “Let You Go”

Artist: Amanda Cook
Hometown: Fancy Gap, Virginia
Song: “Let You Go”
Album: Love Through Time
Release Date: October 16, 2026
Label: Mountain Fever Records

In Their Words: “Jeff Partin has written songs for several of my records, and once again, he brought us a beautifully written heartbreak song. There’s something really special about the way Jeff tells a story, and I think this one captures that complicated place of knowing a love has run its course but still having a hard time letting go. The band took Jeff’s song and made it our own, giving it our sound and our style. It expresses another side of love that fits perfectly with the theme of Love Through Time. Love isn’t always about the happy endings. Sometimes it’s about the hurt, the letting go, and finding the strength to move forward.” – Amanda Cook

Farayi, “May a Love Like This Find Me” (Ft. Sister Sadie)

Artist: Farayi
Hometown: Rural Idaho
Song: “May a Love Like This Find Me” (Ft. Sister Sadie)
Release Date: October 13, 2026
Label: Down the Road Records

In Their Words: “When I thought of the concept for this song, I initially thought about how daunting and demoralizing it can feel to try and fail at finding that true, romantic love, but once Deanie, Dani, and I got in the room together, it became apparent that the song was more about gratitude. We chose to explore how love manifests within our ordinary lives in ways that are simple, yet so profound, and in relationships that can easily be taken for granted. Sometimes we already have the profound love we’re seeking.” – Farayi

“Writing this one with Farayi was one of my favorite days in a room in a long time. The idea underneath it is that being well loved is usually pretty unremarkable. It doesn’t announce itself, but it’s everything. That’s a harder thing to write than heartbreak, because there’s no drama in it. But we kept chasing it until it felt true. There’s a lot of real life in this song.” — Dani Flowers, Sister Sadie

Red Camel Collective, “My Point of View”

Artist: Red Camel Collective
Hometowns: Walnut Cove, N.C. (Tony and Heather Mabe); Wirtz, Va. (Johnathan Dillon); Oakboro, N.C. (Curt Love)
Song: “My Point of View”
Release Date: October 14, 2026
Album: Finding Your Way Home
Label: Pinecastle Records

In Their Words: “We needed a gospel song for our upcoming record, so I was thumbing through ideas I had saved on my phone. I ran across the lines ‘you’re doing better than you think, and you’re stronger than you know.’ Those words just hit me right in the heart and I instantly knew, this is a gospel song. It came together so quickly. It flowed right from my heart. We are so excited for folks to hear this tune and our upcoming album, Finding Your Way Home, coming early 2027!” – Heather Berry Mabe, Red Camel Collective

Rosine Feat. Colin Hay, “Overkill”

Artist: Rosine Feat. Colin Hay
Hometowns: Nashville, Tennessee (Rosine); Topanga, California (Colin Hay)
Song: “Overkill”
Release Date: October 23, 2026
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “Colin has said that when he wrote ‘Overkill’ in the early ’80s, he was trying to make sense of how fast everything was changing around him during the ascent of Men at Work. At a different scale, that feeling hits home for us too: starting Rosine, getting married, and building a life and a band at the same time has been incredibly rewarding and beautiful, but it’s also brought sleepless nights and long stretches of introspection and self-questioning. Having Colin join us on this song reminds us that most of the people we look up to have faced fears similar to ours and have led lives where each day feels like a new adventure.” — Forrest O’Connor and Meredith Lane O’Connor, Rosine

“When I came up with the song ‘Overkill’ some 46 years ago, I had personal struggles. Whenever I sang the song, it helped me. Soothed my soul, so to speak. It lives inside me and has been my constant friend all this time. When I hear Rosine play the song and Meredith sing it, it lifts my spirits, makes me feel useful. It’s become their friend too. It connects us, like an electric current. That’s what music does, there’s nothing like it.” — Colin Hay

Sister Sadie, “Marlboros in Muskogee”

Artist: Sister Sadie
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Marlboros in Muskogee”
Release Date: October 6, 2026
Label: Down the Road Records/Exceleration Music

In Their Words: “We left Nashville for a tour through Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona honestly kind of dreading it. We knew we were about to drive thousands of miles in three days, and that part of this job feels a little ridiculous sometimes because the travel is most of the work. Then you get up there and play for an hour, maybe 75 minutes, and that’s the part everybody sees. But somewhere along the way, that trip turned into one of those experiences none of us would have missed for the world. We didn’t sit down and decide we were going to write a road song. We went on the road, lived all of these little moments together, and a song came out of it. ‘Marlboros in Muskogee’ feels less like we were trying to make up some glamorous story about life on the road and more like we just paid attention to what was actually happening while we were in it.” — Dani Flowers

“We told our co-writers [Jon Randall Stewart and Jessi Alexander] about the entire trip, and then wrote the song with them. And they got exactly what we were looking for. When we played it for the girls, we were all sobbing because it is exactly what it’s like on the road with us. This song is the story of this band.” — Deanie Richardson

The Travelin’ McCourys, “She Did Break” (Ft. Garnet Bowman)

Artist: The Travelin’ McCourys
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “She Did Break”
Release Date: October 13, 2026
Label: McCoury Music

In Their Words: “I had the idea and title for the song ‘She Did Break.’ I wrote it with Adam Hood and Donnie and Chris Davisson. It was so great to hear where we took the idea and went with it. It’s an age old topic of the wandering of a man in a relationship and the heartbreak it leaves behind. I’m proud of how it turned out and the ‘icing on the cake’ was adding Garnet Bowman’s beautiful voice on it.” — Ronnie McCoury

Molly Tuttle, “The Highway Knows” (Acoustic)

Artist: Molly Tuttle
Hometown: Palo Alto, California; Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “The Highway Knows” (Acoustic)
Album: So Long Little Miss Sunshine (Acoustic EP)
Release Date: September 4, 2026
Label: Nonesuch Records

In Their Words: “I recorded this acoustic version of ‘The Highway Knows’ last fall after having so much fun reworking it with an acoustic trio for a couple shows we did last year. On my album version from So Long Little Miss Sunshine, there are drums, keys and all sorts of other textures which we stripped away for this version. People seemed to respond to hearing these songs done acoustically so I wanted to put out these versions that were a little truer to how the songs first sounded when I wrote them and played them around the house. This version features Mair on mandolin and vocals and Vanessa McGowan on bass and vocals.” — Molly Tuttle

Photo Credit: Joshua Black Wilkins (Sister Sadie); Ebru Yildiz (Molly Tuttle)

You Gotta Hear This: Jess Williamson, Wynonna (Feat. Iron & Wine) and More

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Every Friday, BGS shines a light on some of our favorite new tracks in bluegrass, folk, Americana and beyond. Then we ask the artist about the inspiration behind the music and pass their wise words along to you.

This week, fiddler and singer-songwriter Laura Cortese reflects on her family’s hiking ritual in the uplifting title track to her new album, Lucky Waters. Meanwhile, Levi Foster takes a metaphorical cue from the natural landscape on “Appalachian Funk Tree,” a very fun song to listen to (and the title track to his new album, too). Folk favorite Crys Matthews tips her hat to a musical hero, Nina Simone, with a deeply felt rendering of “Feeling Good.” Then, from the Pacific Northwest, River Tramps offer a pretty and poetic song, “Never Was,” followed a true-to-life song called “It Never Ends” from rising acoustic duo Rosine. After that, Jacob Sharp of Mipso opens his heart in “Space,” a lovely song he catches himself singing around the kitchen. (Same here.)

Two very different Nashville bands are up next. The trio verygently brings a really cool electric vibe to “I DON’T WANNA DIE,” a song about aging inspired by a band member going to get a B12 shot. They’ve got the harmony thing down! For the Volcano Brothers, it’s the acoustic guitars that beautifully blend on a wonderful, Hawaiian-flavored tune, “La Rosita.” Embracing her love of country music, the exquisite Jess Williamson shares her feelings of wanderlust in “Hum of the City,” while country icon Wynonna imagines her late mother (and more than a little of Joni Mitchell) in an intimate new song called “Hear Me Now,” written with Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam. It’s a standout track from the legendary artist’s new album, The Hard Truth.

As we like to say every week, You Gotta Hear This!

Laura Cortese, “Lucky Water”

Artist: Laura Cortese
Hometown: Ghent, Belgium
Song: “Lucky Water”
Album: Lucky Water
Release Date: October 9, 2026
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “Lucky Water’ is more or less a family hike in Lassen Volcanic National Park, on the ancestral lands of the Atsugewi, Yana, Yahi, and Maidu peoples, that my aunts, uncles, cousins, and I have done every year since my mom was born. It’s a short, steep hike with a meadow at the top. Each year we stop at the same spots, look for the flowers, put our feet, or full bodies, in the freezing stream. It’s not a ritual with pomp and circumstance, per se, but through repetition it has become a touchstone.” — Laura Cortese

Levi Foster, “Appalachian Funk Tree”

Artist: Levi Foster
Hometown: Rustburg, Virginia; now in Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Appalachian Funk Tree”
Album: Appalachian Funk Tree
Release Date: October 9. 2026
Label: Banner Music Records

In Their Words: “I wrote this song during a deer hunt in South Carolina when the idea hit me to build a song that could hold all strains of country music under one roof. The tree became the anchor a wild thing grew nearby feeding off bluegrass, funk, Texas swing, rock ’n’ roll… with each verse wandering into a different influence. Weird, I know. We never saw a deer that day, but we came home with a song that set the tone for the entire album.” — Levi Foster

Crys Matthews, “Feeling Good”

Artist: Crys Matthews
Hometown: Richlands, North Carolina
Song: “Feeling Good”
Release Date: October 9, 2026
Label: Shamus Records

In Their Words: “I have always felt so drawn to Nina Simone. We are both North Carolinians, we both grew up loving classical music, and we were both raised in the church. This intimate version of her iconic song Feeling Good (featuring Seth Glier on the keys) feels like the embodiment of all of those things.

“Written by English composers Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the 1964 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd, the song was first performed by a character simply called ‘The Negro.’ He sings the song after winning a ‘ruleless game’ against two white characters. The struggles of racial and socioeconomic inequality in 1960s Britain (the premise of the musical) paled in comparison to its American equivalent. As a fellow Black southerner, I don’t have to imagine how deeply that resonated with Nina. That ‘game’ is being played just as fervently today as it was then. It is still just white supremacy coated in a veneer of capitalism — it was not (and is not) designed for Black or poor people to win. And so, ‘Feeling Good’ is a freedom song of sorts, much like the songs Nina would’ve grown up hearing her ancestors sing.

“‘Freedom is mine’ is just as revolutionary of a proclamation now as it was when Nina first sang it, and is an absolute honor to sing them now.” — Crys Matthews

River Tramps, “Never Was”

Artist: River Tramps
Hometown: Tokeland, Washington
Song: “Never Was”
Album: Songs in Solitude (five-track EP)
Single Release Date: October 9, 2026 (EP: March 19, 2027)
Label: De La Luz Records

In Their Words: “‘Never Was’ came from a question we kept returning to: how much of what we believe about ourselves is actually ours, and how much was handed to us by circumstance? The song is about learning not to mistake what happened to you for who you are. It also recognizes that taking responsibility for your life doesn’t require carrying every burden or accepting every judgment placed on you. Sometimes transformation looks less like charging forward and more like becoming still enough to recognize what was never yours in the first place. We recorded it to tape at Fremont Recording in Oregon, and the arrangement grew around that emotional tension—pedal steel and mandolin alongside electric and acoustic guitars, bass, and drums. We wanted the performance to keep its human edges rather than smoothing away the uncertainty inside the song. For us, ‘Never Was’ is ultimately about making peace with the past without letting it name the future.” — River Tramps

Rosine, “It Never Ends”

Artist: Rosine (Forrest & Meredith Lane O’Connor)
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “It Never Ends” (feat. Alison Brown & Mark O’Connor)
Release Date: September 25, 2026
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “‘It Never Ends’ was fully developed as a musical concept first, with the progression, melody, and arrangement finished before any lyrics were written. The music of the verse takes its cue from some of the early twangier Beatles songs, in particular ‘I’m a Loser,’ which starts with the 1-5-b7 progression and in which the 5 chord really could work as either minor or major…I decided to go with minor! The chorus melody, and the parallel harmonic movement beneath it, is derived from the second movement of Dvořák’s “From the New World” symphony, which I think is one of the most beautiful themes in all of classical music.

“Like many writers, I’ve kept a running list of song concepts, many of which I might never get to, some of which I hold onto for a number of years before exploring. ‘It Never Ends’ is a subject I’d wanted to tackle for a little while. I enjoy it because it’s such a ubiquitous phrase that is, of course, ironic in its fundamental untruthfulness, and that irony made it seem like a good fit for a lighter, more uptempo musical context (also a Beatles-inspired approach).

“As would hopefully be the case for any couple (!), Meredith and I have leaned on each other through a wild stretch of life; in some ways, the last two years have felt like 10 given all that we’ve been through together. We bring each other down to earth in ways no one else can, and we also serve as each other’s best reminders that whatever onslaught of troubles and challenges we might feel won’t end is only happening ‘for now’ — the truth is that it will all ultimately end, and one of our main hopes and goals is to serve as a light to one another through it all!” — Forrest O’Connor

Jacob Sharp, “Space”

Artist: Jacob Sharp
Hometown: Morganton, North Carolina
Song: “Space”
Album: Middle Kid
Release Date: October 9, 2026
Label: City Kitty Records

In Their Words: “‘Space’ is the song I’ve played most around the house these past few years. Singing it makes me feel calm – it’s like a balm. I wrote it for my wife Cate a few chapters of life ago whilst imagining the path toward the chapter we are now in. It’s about being patient amidst growth and the pleasure and power of committing your love to someone else over and over again. The day we tracked this Joseph Terrell (from Mipso) and I sat across from each other finger picking in unison as we have so many times in our years together. I love the interplay of the guitars on the track with Hannah Read’s fiddling. Hannah has such a unique way of finding a melody that really dances. Her playing has this mystical element to it always, and was the exact binding this track needed.” — Jacob Sharp

verygently, “I Don’t Wanna Die”

Artist: verygently
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “I DON’T WANNA DIE”
Album: SORRY, SARAH
Release Date: October 9, 2026
Label: Nettwerk Music Group

In Their Words: “‘I Don’t Wanna Die’ was written about aging and not liking it. We were all in a season of sickness and ailments at the time. Drew told us he was getting a B12 shot that afternoon and that kind of kicked off this idea. Written from a place of defiance against the things trying to slow you down, while also realizing a lot of it is self-inflicted. This has been one of our favorites to play live for awhile now, so stoked to finally have it out in the world!” — verygently

The Volcano Brothers, “La Rosita”

Artist: The Volcano Brothers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “La Rosita”
Album: Light of the Hilo Moon
Release Date: September 25, 2026
Label: Black Hen Music

In Their Words: “Since our repertoire mostly draws from Pre-WW2 recordings, this is a great example of what gets us fired up as a band. ‘La Rosita’ is a song that I learned from a recording by the great Sol K. Bright, who was an early steel guitar virtuoso and member of Irene West’s Royal Hawaiians. He left her band to form his own group, Sol K. Bright’s Hollywaiians. The song dates back to 1923, and was featured in a Mary Pickford silent film from that era. Sol Bright’s version was recorded in 1934. Our version draws from that recording, but then we take it off into our own zone as well. It’s a fun launch pad for improvisation.” – Steve Dawson

Jess Williamson, “Hum of the City”

Artist: Jess Williamson
Hometown: Los Angeles and Marfa, Texas
Song: “Hum of the City”
Album: A Mile South of Heaven
Release Date: October 9, 2026
Label: New West Records

In Their Words: “I’m kind of a wanderer by nature, and this song is about my complicated relationship with the idea of home. I’ve spent years feeling pulled between the excitement of life in the city and the peace of a more rural life, never quite sure where I belong.

“There’s a romance to being in hotels alone. I love checking into my room, going down to the hotel bar, and talking with the bartender. I once checked into a hotel and realized I was staying in the very same room I’d been in years earlier (room 12, from the song), during a completely different season of my life, right before a major life change. There’s something uncanny about the anonymity of a hotel room holding such a personal memory.

“The song imagines a conversation with the hotel bartender, asking him to change the music. Sometimes contemporary music feels a little weird if you happen to have history with the person singing it. But old country music always hits.” — Jess Williamson

Wynonna, “Hear Me Now” (Feat. Iron & Wine)

Artist: Wynonna
Hometown: Franklin, Tennessee
Song: “Hear Me Now” (Feat. Iron & Wine)
Album: The Hard Truth
Release Date: October 2, 2026
Label: ANTI- Records

In Their Words: “This song represents where I’m at right now. It’s me looking around at what’s still here, what’s gone, and what I’m still carrying with me. There are little snapshots and references in these lyrics that probably won’t make sense to anybody but me, and I love that. They’re pieces of my life. So much of my story is wrapped up in my mother, and I still wonder what she would think if she could hear me now. Would she roll her eyes? Would she be surprised? Would she harmonize? Writing this with Sam Beam gave me a place to put those questions, because losing someone doesn’t mean the conversation ends. I still talk to Mom. I still hear her. And every once in a while, when I’m singing, I wonder if she’s listening.” — Wynonna

“She was really open and vulnerable with the stories she shared,” Beam explained. “I was surprised at how determined she was about trying something new, and she talked a lot about how much Joni Mitchell’s music meant to her. I wanted to give her something in that vein. A great collaborator.” — Sam Beam, Iron & Wine

Photo Credit: Jackie Lee Young (Jess Williamson); Thomas Crabtree (Wynonna and Sam Beam, Iron & Wine)

For Bluegrass Fans, Kentucky Offers a Commonwealth of Tourist Attractions

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Kentucky music is currently having a moment, but it’s far from the first time. Before artists like Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, and Chris Stapleton made it big, folks like Bill Monroe, Loretta Lynn, Keith Whitley, Crystal Gayle, Tom T. Hall, Patty Loveless, Ricky Skaggs, Dwight Yoakam, and countless others helped build up the Bluegrass State’s rich musical foundation spanning bluegrass, country music, and more.

With so much talent having originated from Kentucky, there’s no shortage of destinations around the Commonwealth to consume this musical history. From the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg in the southeast to the Muhlenberg Music & History Museum in the west, Lexington’s Red Barn Radio and beyond, every nook, cranny and holler throughout the state is full of destinations beckoning to be explored by music fans. We’ve compiled more than a dozen of these attractions below in an epic road trip that could be called the Kentucky Music Trail.

Central Kentucky

Opened in 2002, the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Mount Vernon features exhibits showcasing talent from throughout the state ranging from country and bluegrass trail blazers like Bill Monroe, Loretta Lynn and Keith Whitley along with Black Stone Cherry, The Kentucky Headhunters and Exile, among others. The museum is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily with an admission of $10.

 

 

Also sitting on the same 55-acre property is the Renfro Valley Entertainment Center. First opened in 1939, the massive barn features two unique performance halls that host country, gospel and bluegrass music annually from April through December. Additionally, the venue has been the home of Renfro Valley Gatherin’, a syndicated radio program airing on Sunday nights at 9:30 p.m. EST, since 1943. The show is the third oldest continually broadcast radio program in America and the second longest continuously running such program featuring country music, behind only the Grand Ole Opry.

Back inside the Hall of Fame & Museum, one of the most prominent exhibits is one showcasing Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour, an internationally syndicated radio program hosted by folk musician Michael Johnathon in front of a live studio audience at the historic Lyric Theatre in Lexington on most Monday nights at 7 p.m. Launched in 1998, the entirely volunteer-run production spotlights musicians across all genres performing their songs and sharing the stories behind them. Now over 1,000 episodes in (and counting), the program has featured artists like Sam Bush, J.D. Crowe, The Black Opry, Riders in the Sky and Billy Strings. Each show also features a “Woodsongs Kid,” helping to encourage and grow the next generation of Kentucky songwriters.

Another radio program based in Lexington and featuring talent from around Kentucky, Appalachia and the southeast with a similar mix of conversation and performance is Red Barn Radio. Founded in the early 2000s at Renfro Valley’s little red barn (from which the show draws its name), co-founder Ed Commons helped lead the show’s move to its current home inside LexArt’s headquarters in downtown Lexington in 2005. The show has taken off since moving there, hosting everyone from Sam Bush to J.D. Crowe, Tom T. Hall, John R. Miller, Arlo McKinley, Sierra Ferrell, Sunday Valley (led by a young Sturgill Simpson) and Tyler Childers. In the case of Childers, his performance on the show became so revered that he ended up releasing it as a live album, Live on Red Barn Radio I & II, in 2016.

Eastern Kentucky

Out east on the campus of Morehead State University you’ll find the Kentucky Center for Traditional Music (KCTM), a school teaching the next generation of bluegrass and old-time musicians the nuances, history and business side of the music. Founded in 2000, the center offers the only Bachelor of Arts in Traditional Music in Kentucky along with a minor in traditional music. It also features an extensive digital archive of Kentucky and Appalachian traditional music, a recording studio, sound-proofed classrooms and rehearsal spaces. Alumni from the school include Linda Jean Stokley and Montana Hobbs of The Local Honeys, current professor and pedal steel player for Nicholas Jamerson, Thomas Albert; Lauren and Leanna Price of The Price Sisters, and current Assistant Director, Archivist, Instructor and member of Tyler Childers’ band, Jesse Wells.

 

 

Just over an hour southeast of the KCTM you’ll find the U.S. 23 Country Music Highway Museum. Located just off of U.S. 23 in Staffordsville just north of Paintsville, the museum features memorabilia from Tyler Childers, Chris Stapleton, Loretta Lynn, The Judds, Patty Loveless, Dwight Yoakam, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tom T. Hall and other artists hailing from the counties that the highway passes through in Eastern Kentucky. The area known as the “Country Music Highway” is distinguished as having the highest number of charting country musicians calling the area home per capita than anywhere else in the world. Admission to the museum is $4.

After another half-hour drive through the area’s Appalachian mountain back roads and hollers you’ll come across Loretta Lynn’s birthplace at Butcher Hollow in the old coal mining community of Van Lear. The humble mountainside cabin features four rooms to explore—one bedroom for Loretta, younger sister Crystal Gayle and her five other siblings; a bedroom for her parents, a tiny kitchen and a cozy dining room—all covered wall to wall in pictures and other collectibles from the Coal Miner’ Daughter’s childhood and life as a musician. Tours are $5 and are typically guided by members of Lynn’s family who still call the holler home.

 

 

About a mile up the road from Lynn’s home you’ll find Webb’s Grocery, a general store constructed by the Consolidated Coal Company in 1918 when Van Lear’s coal output was near its peak. In addition to stocking ice cold Coca Cola, Mallo Cups and other quick bites the shop also is stuffed with tons of pictures of Loretta Lynn and her family including a massive banner reading “Welcome Loretta Lynn.” A journey to Butcher Hollow offers not only an incredible look back on the upbringing of one of country music’s most iconic voices, but also a look back on the mountain towns ravaged by the boom and bust of the coal industry that back in the day helped to power our entire country.

Another 30 minutes south of Van Lear is the Mountain Arts Center (MAC) in Prestonsburg. Opened in 1996, the building features a 1,000-seat concert hall, a state-of-the-art recording studio, loads of rehearsal space and will soon be the home to the TV and radio headquarters of CMH23, an organization dedicated to educating people on the history of artists from the Country Music Highway and giving a platform to up-and-coming musicians from the region. According to Executive Director Joe Campbell, the MAC and CMH23 are also partnering with The Country Network on Live From CMH23, a show that will focus on rising artists from around the state.

 

 

The MAC is also the home of a family variety show called Billie Jean Osborne’s Kentucky Opry, as well as the Kentucky Opry Jr. Pros. (an educational program for aspiring entertainers ages 6 to 18) and the Appalachian Arts & Entertainment Awards. Kentucky Opry alumni include Chris Stapleton’s longtime bassist J.T. Cure, Jesse Wells, Tyler Childers’ piano/keys player Chase Lewis, Brit Taylor, Marleena Vanhoose and Rebecca Lynn Howard.

Western Kentucky

Just under two and a half hours west of Lexington via the Western Kentucky Parkway is Rosine, a small town in Ohio County with its claim to fame being the birthplace of the Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe. In the heart of Rosine, you’ll find several landmarks commemorating the artist starting with the Bill Monroe Museum, which houses countless instruments, outfits, fan letters, photos, personal furniture and even Monroe’s personal Cadillac DeVille in a constantly growing and evolving collection. The museum is open Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission is $3-5.

 

 

Less than a mile up the road from the museum is the Rosine Barn Jamboree, which hosts free bluegrass jams every Friday night from mid-March through mid-November. A stone’s throw away from the barn sits the Rosine Cemetery, where you can’t miss the grave of Monroe. Featuring an obelisk-style monument and adorned in flowers, Monroe’s grave stands tall over the quaint hillside cemetery as, even in death, he watches over the town that helped to define him. The cemetery also includes several of Monroe’s family members including Birch and Charlie Monroe and Pendleton (Uncle Pen) Vandiver.

Also nearby is Jerusalem Ridge, Bill Monroe’s homeplace. On the compound you can see Monroe and other family member’s childhood homes. Restored in 2001, Bill’s home features guided tours Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sundays from 1-4 p.m. The site also features several stages and plays host to the Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration, a festival taking place annually in September with some of the region and country’s best traditional bluegrass bands.

Less than an hour west of Rosine in Central City you can learn about icons like John Prine, The Everly Brothers, Merle Travis, Ike Everly, Mose Rager and Kennedy Jones at the Muhlenberg Music & History Museum. In addition to the traditional museum the building features a 1950s era jukebox serving up hits from the aforementioned artists that call Muhlenberg County home along with a towering Everly Brothers monument just outside. It also houses the Kentucky Motorsports Museum.

 

 

Just under an hour north of Central City is the last stop of our Kentucky Music Trail tour at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum along the banks of the Ohio River in Owensboro. The latest jewel of Owensboro’s transformed downtown, the $15.3 million building opened in October 2018 not only houses the museum and hall of fame, but also the 447 seat Woodward Theatre, a gift shop and several private event spaces along with a 1,500-seat outdoor amphitheater to boot.

When it comes to the museum, the biggest of bluegrass fans could easily spend a day diving into everything the facility has to offer. A self-guided audio tour will inform you on the ins and outs of each exhibit, the roots and impact of artists to bluegrass music, the nuances of the music and more, helping to fully immerse and indulge visitors in the music. On display are items from the likes of Rhonda Vincent, Bill Monroe, Billy Strings, Sam Bush, The SteelDrivers’ fiddler Tammy Rogers, Flatt & Scruggs, The Steep Canyon Rangers, J.D. Crowe, Hee Haw, bluegrass’ cinematic coronation O Brother, Where Art Thou? and more.

 

 

Other facilities in the museum include a pickin’ parlor where guests can play on pre-tuned guitars, mandolins, banjos, upright bass and more along with a transcribed and searchable interview database provided in partnership with the University of Kentucky’s Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, a massive display honoring banjo maker Jimmy Cox and the Hall of Fame itself. The prestigious space contains 68 plaques honoring those instrumental to bluegrass from its roots to its golden age and everywhere in between. Much like the museum, it offers a tremendous look back at the genre’s roots, where it is now and how it got there.

The same could be said for all of these destinations. I was already in love with my home state prior to visiting all of these places, but after having done so I’ve grown an even greater appreciation for the state, its musical roots and trailblazing artists. I’m confident that you will too upon making the trip for yourself.