Renfro Valley, Kentucky

Renfro Valley is less a town than a dream made tangible. Country music promoter John Lair brought his Renfro Valley Barn Dance here in nineteen thirty-nine, two years after launching it in Cincinnati, determined to create a show rooted in authentic old-time Appalachian music rather than the slick productions of Nashville and Chicago. Lair had grown up nearby and wanted to honor the musical tradition he remembered from childhood.

The weekly barn dance was first heard on Cincinnati's WLW and later on stations including WHAS and the NBC network. At its peak, Renfro Valley drew tens of thousands of visitors a year to this small hollow in Rockcastle County. The entertainment complex still operates today as a country music destination, with its original barn stages, a music museum, and campground, keeping the old-time tradition alive along the banks of the Renfro River.