By Carol Timblin

Eastern Kentuckians have been known to face many hardships, but they have always been surrounded by natural beauty, community, church and music. When pastimes and pleasures were few, a teenager could sing in the church choir on Sunday mornings or strum a guitar in a Saturday night jam session on a neighbor’s front porch.

From the dark “hollers” off a snaky road (US 23) that winds its way through eight mountain counties – stretching from Whiteville near the Virginia line to Ashland on the Ohio River – have come some of today’s top country stars. Loretta Lynn, Crystal Gayle, Wynonna Judd, Naomi Judd, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tom T. Hall, Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley, Keith Whitley, Dwight Yoakam, Gary Stewart, Patty Lovelace and Rebecca Lynn Howard all have connections to Eastern Kentucky. 
 
Dubbed the “Country Music Highway” by the Kentucky General Assembly, US 23 is one of the most interesting Byways in America.  Beautiful state parks and lakes, an abundance of wildlife, churches, schools, museums, historic sites and hidden places that nurtured today’s stars are waiting to be discovered. And when a traveler stumbles on a special community event or festival, the experience is all the richer.
 
The Country Music Highway begins in Whiteville in Letcher County, Ky., near Southwest Virginia. It is the home of Appalshop (WMMT at 88.7), a local organization that is preserving the area’s heritage via live radio shows, films and musical documentaries.  You can drop in on an old-fashioned jam session the first Saturday of every month, May-October, or attend a bluegrass show the second Thursday of every month.

Your next stop might be Pikeville.  The town boasts 53 historic buildings dating to the 1800s, with area history being the focus of the Big Sandy Heritage Museum in the railroad station. You can pick up local handmade crafts at the Pike County Artisan Center. Pike County is also where the legendary Hatfields and McCoys carried on their long feud, which led some to an early grave (Dils Cemetery).

If you want to see good local talent, stop at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonburg. The venue for Billie Jean Osborne’s Kentucky Opry features bluegrass, gospel and pop music during the summer and the Christmas season. People are encouraged to bring their instruments to the Thursday evening jam sessions, late June – early August.

A must-see on the tour is Butcher Holler near Van Lear, where country music queen Loretta Lynn and her sister Crystal Gayle grew up.  Their brother Herman gives personal tours of the home place ($5 per person), and his daughter Madonna runs the nearby Webb’s Country Store, where you can still buy an RC Cola and a Moon Pie.  You can also see the opening to the coal mine shaft where their father worked long, hard hours to feed the family.  More history on coal mining is offered at the Coal Miners’ Museum in Van Lear. The beauty of the area is that there’s nothing phony about it.

Glitz and glamour shine at the Country Music Highway Museum next door to the Paintville Information Center. Exhibits featuring costumes and memorabilia tell the story of country singers who’ve made it to the top..The gift shop has a good selection of CDs, books and country attire and accessories. Paintville’s other claims to fame are it’s Apple Festival in October and the Mountain HomePlace, an open-air museum featuring authentic farm homes and buildings and costumed interpreters. Saylersville, west of Paintville, has a similar set-up, with log buildings, a one-room schoolhouse and a post office/general store.

The Country Music Highway ends in Ashland, where Kentucky meets Ohio and West Virginia.  You can see a variety of shows throughout the year at the Historic Paramount Arts Center (restored 1930s Art Deco theater), as well as an excellent exhibit on the area’s country stars, along with many other interesting exhibits, at The Highlands Museum & Discovery Center. It’s located in the former Parsons Department Store.  Another option is a two-mile walking/driving tour of the river town.