Kentucky might be known as the Bluegrass State, but it’s also home to several country music artists. These three country singers are all from Kentucky, where they were raised before launching their successful country music careers.
Videos by American Songwriter
Chris Stapleton
Chris Stapleton is from Staffordsville, Kentucky, where he was the class valedictorian. He did move to Nashville after high school, but not for music. Instead, Stapleton attended Vanderbilt University, studying biomedical engineering. Unsure if that was the career path, Stapleton dropped out, later attending business school, before ultimately pursuing a career in music.
Although Stapleton didn’t move to Tennessee for music, he might have if he had known it was a possibility.
“I met somebody who was a songwriter,” he recalls to CBS News. “And then it was just like, that’s a job? They’re gonna pay you to sit in a room and make things up on guitar? I need that job. That’s the job I want.”
Stapleton’s first major cut as a songwriter is “Your Man” by Josh Turner. In 2015, Stapleton released his debut solo album, Traveller.
Carly Pearce
Carly Pearce is from the small town of Taylor Mill, Kentucky. When she was 11 years old, Pearce began performing in a bluegrass band. But even then, Pearce knew her music dreams extended far beyond her home state.
When she was just 16 years old, she convinced her parents to let her audition to perform at Dollywood. She got the job, and left her home state with her mother, getting an apartment so Pearce could perform, while also finishing her education by homeschooling.
“At the time I didn’t even realize that my mom was uprooting her life to drive me and live with me in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Gatlinburg,” Pearce admits (via Country Now).
Of course, Pearce ultimately relocated to Nashville. In 2017, she had a No. 1 hit with her debut single, “Every Little Thing”.
Loretta Lynn
Born and raised in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, Loretta Lynn was the second oldest of eight children. A coal-mining town, money was tight for Lynn and her family. Still, she had nothing but fond memories of her simple, rural upbringing.
Lynn later wrote “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, out in 1970, about her childhood.
“Every word is true,” Lynn once told American Songwriter. “My daddy would work all night in the coal mine. During the day, he would work in the cornfields. There were ten of us. He had to make a living for us. Eight kids. I was second, so I would take care of the kids while Mommy did the sewing and the cleaning and everything else. I think that’s why I sing. I’d rock the babies to sleep and sing to them.”
Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage
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