What were Pikeville and Elkhorn City, Kentucky like growing up?
It was very laid back. It’s the same way today. Technology has come along, but it moves very slowly there. Our form of entertainment was music. Neighbors would come by, and especially in church, I’d get to hear my aunts and my mother sing. We didn’t have a TV in our house till I was six. I have a brother who is five years younger than me, but I was the youngest girl. I just recall that in the houses where we lived, there was no in-door plumbing. Everything started to click at the age of six. We finally moved into a house that had a bathroom, a tub and a lavatory. I remember that we’d sometimes go to the movies, and my brothers and sisters, when they’d go on dates, either myself or my older brother would go with as chaperones for mom and daddy. I enjoyed going to the drive-in theatre. The first time I ever saw someone perform live, rather than over the radio or on TV, was Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. They were playing on top of the concession stand during intermission. There’s so much
