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Rosemary
Clooney (Mason, b.
1928)
A well-known
singer of radio, television, and movie fame.
Her first movie, produced in 1953, was titled The
Stars are Singing.
Katherine
Jackson French (Laurel,
1875-1958)
A collector
of ballads of the Eastern Kentucky mountains, as well as a lecturer
on the topic. She
taught at the Sue Bennett Memorial School in London.
Crystal
Gayle (Johnson, b.
1951)
Like her sister,
Loretta Lynn, Gayle started out in country music.
She became a huge hit as a pop artist in the 1970s and 1980s.
Her hair, which she keeps three inches from the floor,
remains her trademark.
Sarah
Ogan Gunning (Bell,
1910-1983)
Born into a
poor coal mining family near Ely, she turned her experiences into
singing in the Appalachian folk style.
Many were protest songs that blended traditional ballad
singing with social messages.
Patty
Smith Hill (Henderson,
1868-1946)
Although
Hill spent her life as an educator, she may be best remembered for
writing, along with her sister Mildred J. Hill, the melody to
“Happy Birthday.”
Helen
Humes (Jefferson,
1913-1981)
A successful
jazz singer in Louisville and across America.
She also worked in an ammunition plant during WWII but always
returned to her love of “swing jazz.”
Mary
Garland Jackson (Aunt Molly) (Clay,
1880-1960)
A midwife,
labor organizer, and writer of protest songs.
Her music drew attention to the conditions of Eastern
Kentucky’s coal camps.
Follow this link
to learn more about the songs of Aunt Molly Jackson.
Alice Elizabeth DeArmond
Jones (Muhlenberg or north Logan,
1863-1945)
Musically gifted, she played guitar, banjo, mandolin, and
fiddle. The
“Muhlenberg sound” has influenced guitarists worldwide through
Merle Travis, Ike Everly, Chet Atkins, and others.
Naomi
and Wynonna Judd (Jackson, b.
1946/1964)
Possibly the best-known mother-daughter duo in the nation.
They received the Country Music Association’s Horizon award
in 1984, the Record of the Year in 1985, and Grammy awards in 1985
and 1986.
Check
out Wynonna Judd’s official site.
Sarah
Gertrude Knott (Ballard,
1895-1984)
The founder
of the National Folk Festival, the first multi-cultural festival of
its kind. She served as
the director from 1934 through 1971.
The National Folk Festival is
produced by the National
Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) and co-sponsored by
local government and community organizations in the host city for
three years. East Lansing, Michigan has been selected host city for
the National Folk Festival, 1999-2001.
Lily
May Ledford (Powell,
1917-1985)
One of the original Coon Creek Girls—one of the first all
female string bands—and stayed with them from when they began in
1937 until they broke up in 1957.
Her clawhammer style of banjo picking remains legendary.
Loretta
Lynn (Johnson, b.
1935)
Known
as country music’s first lady, she was the first women to earn the
Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year award in 1972 and
was named entertainer of the decade in 1980.
Learn
more about Loretta Lynn and other stars of country music at the Country
Music Hall of Fame.
Reel World String
Band (Fayette)
Following
in the footsteps of the Coon Creek Girls, Reel World String band has
been playing together for over 20 years.
Bev Futrell, Karen Jones, and Sue Massek make up the nucleus
of this all-women band whose music celebrates women’s lives and
educates listeners about the environment.
Jean
Ritchie (Perry, b.
1922)
One of the most well-known Appalachian folk singers who has
also spent time as a folk song collector, social worker, and
educator.
Jean Bell
Thomas (Boyd,
1881-1982)
Throughout her long life Thomas was a collector of Kentucky
folklore and folk song, a promoter of fiddler James William Day, and
the creator of the American Folk Song Festival, which she produced
every year but six between 1932 and 1972.
Mary
Wheeler (McCracken,
1892-1979)
Documented
music in the Eastern Kentucky mountains and later in her hometown of
Paducah, where she wrote down the songs of the dock workers along
the Ohio River. She also entertained the troops in Europe during
WWII.
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