Will the Circle be Unbroken #9: Kentucky State Songs

Moving on from the previous article in this series, which focused on “Coal Miner’s Daughter” which of course is the amazing biopic of Loretta Lynn, this time round the focus is on Loretta’s home state of Kentucky and in particular its state songs.
Apparently 49 of the 50 US states have one or more state songs (New Jersey being the exception) which are selected by each state legislature as a type of symbol or emblem… a sort of “regional anthem” you could say. Some are written specifically for this purpose, others are existing songs which are adopted as being particularly relevant to the state.
When it comes to Kentucky, Stephen C. Foster’s composition dating back to 1853 “My Old Kentucky Home” is listed as the official state song, the original version adopted as such on March 19th 1928 with a more contemporary version with updated lyrics coming in 1986 .
It’s been recorded by many artists but I found this really great performance of the song by The Local Honeys who were appropriately born and raised in Kentucky

Kentucky also recognises a state bluegrass song, “Blue Moon of Kentucky” by Bill Monroe, which was adopted in 1988… incidentally Kentucky is nicknamed “The Bluegrass State” which isn’t in relation the musical style but based on the fact that the type of grass favoured for use in many of its lawns and pastures produces bluish-purple buds. Again, a lot of versions to choose from (including Elvis and Paul McCartney) ) but of course I had to go with this one, recorded by Patsy in 1963

Article written by Lesley Hastings (twitter.com/lesleyhastings)