We go to the humble beginnings
Butcher Holler, Van Lear, Kentucky
Loretta Lynn’s Homeplace
GrassRoots Music Tour
Images: Jim Jacob
Words: Rob Dickens
All up, eight Webb children were reared in this humble abode – Melvin, Herman, Willie, Donald, Peggy Sue, Betty, Loretta and Crystal – in a holler that was populated by the coal company – they mined five shafts in Van Lear Kentucky, built houses, a school, a corner store. (Although this house was in fact not owned by the company). The store remains and is in the family’s hands.
Loretta Lynn was born here.
Crystal Gayle lived here.
Two other children made a living out of music.
Today we met Herman’s daughter (Loretta’s niece) Hermalee and she gave us a first-hand account of life here and the family history.
Butcher paper on the walls, a crank record player, a gasoline-powered washing machine, a bed in the front room, a coal-burning fireplace.
Loretta Lynn’s Butcher Holler is one attraction along the US 23 Country Music Highway.
All photos: LTTL
We’ve been to Hurricane Mills too.
From the Loretta Lynn website: “Loretta first arrived in Nashville 55 years ago, signing her first recording contract on February 1, 1960, and within a matter of weeks, she was at her first recording session. A self-taught guitarist and songwriter, Lynn became one of the most distinctive performers in Nashville in the 1960’s and 1970’s, shaking things up by writing her own songs, many of which tackled boundary-pushing topics drawn from her own life experiences as a wife and mother.
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We go to the humble beginnings
We go to the humble beginnings
We go to the humble beginnings
