Music of Kentucky

The Music of Kentucky is heavily centered on and its descendants, especially in eastern. is of particular regional importance;, "the father of bluegrass music", was born in the community of , and he named his band, the , after the bluegrass state, i.e., Kentucky. Kentucky is home to the (Highway 23), which extends from  to the Virginia border in.

Other s from Kentucky include:
 * , a Christian rock band formed at in
 * , born and raised in
 * , born and raised in
 * , born and raised in
 * , born in and raised in rural
 * , born in
 * , now better known as an actor, born in
 * , born in in
 * , with family roots in (older brother Don was born there)
 * , with the band roots and formation in
 * , born and raised in
 * , born in
 * , from
 * , formed in, where most of the original members grew up
 * of the, born and raised in Lexington
 * and her younger sister, both from in
 * , born and raised in
 * , consisting of John Michael Montgomery's older brother and Lexington native
 * of the Backstreet Boys, born in Lexington and raised near in
 * , born and raised in
 * , a rock band formed in Louisville
 * , born and raised in Muhlenberg County, and his son
 * , born in
 * , born in and raised in Louisville
 * , born and raised in
 * , formed in
 * , formed in
 * , folk & indie musician, born in Louisville



Music venues and institutions
Major music venues in Kentucky include the in. There is also in Tom T. Hall's hometown of Olive Hill. Just south of Olive Hill is, the boyhood home of , whose house is now a museum, exhibited in conjunction with the annual. The in  is a major institution, using the. is home to the, while the city of is a major bluegrass center, and is home to the.



Festivals
Singers gather annually at on the fourth Sunday in May to sing from a  hymn and tune book called. This event, first organized in 1884 and called The Big Singing or Big Singing Day, is considered by many to be the oldest indigenous musical tradition in the United States. It was organized by, a newspaper owner and publisher in western Kentucky.

Ashland is also home to the festival and, while Olive Hill also hosts the  and the. The has been held in  since. Owensboro has ROMP (River Of Music Party) the last part of June every year. Other festivals include the in.

Lexington is host to the oldest festival in the state. The is held every June at the  and considered one of the premier  festivals in the country.

History
In the 1830s, a of fervent Christianity began, leading to popular  song traditions. During this period, the country was undergoing a religious revival that was centered on itinerant preachers called circuit riders, and outdoor worship gatherings (s) where s (camp songs) were sung. Earlier in the century, the first camp meeting was held in July 1800 in. In 1801, a meeting in in  lasted for six days and attracted ten to twenty thousand people.

In 1916, and Howard Brockway collected Kentucky folk music which they published in two folios:
 * Lonesome Tunes: Folk Songs from the Kentucky Mountains (1917, New York)
 * Twenty Kentucky Mountain Songs (1920, Boston).