The Country Music Highway Tribute Show, presented by Double Kwik, brought a large crowd to downtown Paintsville on July 29 for a celebration of the Country Music Highway.
It was the first of three shows scheduled this summer. The next show is on August 12 in downtown Whitesburg and on August 19 at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg. The Whitesburg event is FREE and will feature food and arts and crafts vendors. The Mountain Arts Center show is a ticketed event.
Our partners at BT Media Group and Event Stage Solutions transformed Paintsville’s city parking area into a state-of-the-art concert venue, including a large video wall. Paintsville Tourism provided FREE train rides and rock wall climbing throughout the day.
Honoring our Coal Miner’s Daughter
One of the highlights of the day was a special presentation of a Loretta Lynn painting to her family. The painting, by Ashland artist Elias Reynolds, was presented to Loretta Lynn’s niece Connie Webb. Connie, the daughter of Loretta’s brother, the late Herman Webb, continues her father’s work by running the Loretta Lynn Homeplace and Webb’s Grocery Store on Butcher Holler in Van Lear.
Thank you to the artists
Attendees were treated to more than eight hours of music. This included a special performance by Bluegrass legend Don Rigsby, who joined his son, Nathan’s, group Solid Ground.
Connor Dale and Rachel Messer were the headlining act. Messer was a former contestant on NBC’s The Voice. Other performers included:
- Eddie Jenkins and the 606 Sound
- Luke Trimble
- The Chuck Robertson Project
- Adalyn Ramey
- Ava O’Bryan
- Aaron Mykal
- The Johnson Central High School Honor Choir
Thank you to our sponsors and partners
The Country Music Highway Tribute Show would not be possible without the support of our sponsors and partners, including our presenting sponsor Double Kwik.
Other sponsors include:
- Kentucky Tourism
- Ale-8-One
- Foothills Communications
- Thacker-Grigsby Communications and TVS Cable
- Addiction Recovery Care
- Backroads of Appalachia
- Pikeville Medical Center
- UK Healthcare
- Kentucky Power
- Whitaker Bank
- Rye Development
- Rajant
- Citizens Bank of Kentucky
Our media sponsors are:
- WYMT
- WSIP-FM
- WDHR-FM
- WXCC-FM
- WMDJ-FM
- WXKQ-FM
- CMH23
- The Paintsville Herald
- Forcht Broadcasting
- ANI Digital Media
- Appalachian News-Express
- The Hazard Herald
- Floyd County Chronicle and Times
- Mingo Messenger
- Mountain Bargain Hunter
- Kindred Communications
- 93.7 FM The Dawg
A true collaboration
An event of this magnitude requires collaboration. Our first show was just that. From the City of Paintsville, Johnson County Fiscal Court, Paintsville Tourism, Paintsville/Johnson County Chamber of Commerce, and the Paintsville and Johnson County school districts.
Our partners at Addiction Recovery Care and its enterprises of 3 Sisters Catering, Torchlight Studios, and Mountain Movers Theatre provided an incredible hospitality suite for performers and event staff.
This event is also a collaboration between tourism agencies from across the Country Music Highway. This includes: Boyd County Tourism and Convention Bureau, Visit AKY, the Paramount Arts Center, Lawrence County Tourism Commission, Paintsville Tourism, Prestonsburg Tourism, the Mountain Arts Center, Pikeville Tourism, Pikeville/Pike County Tourism, the Appalachian Wireless Arena, and Letcher County Tourism.
Silent Auction
Another way we are supporting those promoting the arts along the Country Music Highway is through a Silent Auction.
The auction has a variety of items, ranging from autographed memorabilia and other fan favorites donated by the stars of the Highway and performing arts venues.
We are adding items every day. Some of the items online now include:
- Autographed Dwight Yoakum Fender Guitar
- Autographed Trace Adkins Fender Guitar
- Autographed Travis Tritt Fender Guitar
- Three Vince Gill gift sets (including autographed items)
- Ricky Skaggs gift set
- Alex Miller gift set
There are other items, such as Cincinnati Reds and Dollywood tickets.