Uncommon Wealth of Kentucky

The Kentucky Library and Kentucky Museum seek to have a “living collection” of music in a variety of formats. We collect the nationally renown but also those with only a local following. The collection consists of books, some periodicals, sheet music, photographs, posters, flyers, sound and video recordings and ephemera that highlight the importance of music to this region. In Folklife Archives, there are a significant number of oral history interviews as well as theses that cover all aspects of music. Highlights of the local musicians/collectors include Mary Clyde Huntsman’s Merry Makers, Duke Allen and the Kentucky Ramblers, WKU faculty musicians, Hawaiian steel guitar instructor Freddie Joe Lewis, local DJ Tommy Starr, New Grass Revival, and Kentucky Headhunters. Select Gospel musicians include Hillvue Heights Music Group and John Edmonds’ Gospel Truth, and country musicians, including Jordan Pendley, Cousin Emmy, and the Mighty Jeremiahs. At WKU, Nappy Roots, Government Cheese and the Hilltoppers/Billy Vaughn show the Hill’s influence on the world of music. All of these provide evidence of the enduring popularity of all forms of music in South Central Kentucky.