Worthington didn't share exactly what was going on, but said that hard living was taking a toll. Continue reading…

Before breaking out in country music, Kaitlin Butts came up with a hilarious — and surprisingly effective — way to get more people through the door at her shows. Continue reading…

She got it from her mama. It’s well known, and well-documented, that Dolly Parton grew up very poor (well, money-wise), in the mountains of east Tennessee. She’s become an icon because she’s obviously an incredible talent in the music world, but I think it’s safe to say that what most people admire about her is what an amazing person she is. Through philanthropic efforts like her Imagination Library Foundation, giving back is always at the top of her to-do list. She famously grew up dirt poor in the mountains of east Tennessee with 11 brothers and sisters, though she always notes how much love they had in their family, even if everybody in their area was poor with three o’s. Her mom, Avie Lee, was born on October 5th, 1923, in Lockhart, South Carolina, which was small cotton farming community. Her father was a preacher, and according to Dolly’s website: “She learned to make the best of what she had, a skill that would come in handy in her life as a wife and mother.” Avie married Dolly’s dad, Lee Parton, in 1939, and they had 12 children, six boys and six girls. She was very musical, and Dolly often credits her as her first musical influence, as she was a “gifted vocalist, arranger and interpreter of traditional mountain songs.” Dolly was very close with her mom, and she remained close with both of her parents throughout their entire lives. Of course, you probably know that Avie inspired one of Dolly’s most iconic songs, “Coat Of Many Colors.” And this new project, Smoky Mountain Mama, is a reissue of a rare recording by Owepar Entertainment, which Dolly started with her Uncle Bill Owens in 1967, and is a rare piece of Appalachian musical history as Avie showcases a collection of old mountain songs just beautifully. As a teenager, Avie sang in a trio gospel group with her sisters, Estelle and Dorothy Jo, and they performed  at churches, revival meetings, and local radio programs throughout the Smoky Mountain region. Later, in the ate 1960s, Avie formed a gospel group with her daughters Willadeene, Stella, and Cassie, and they recorded a family project called The Parton Family Sings In The Garden, which was reissued by Owepar in 2024. Avie Lee was encouraged by her brother, Louis Owens, and of course Dolly, to go back into the studio to preserve the mountain ballads and fold songs she used to sing for her children, which are a very important piece of Appalachian history, that ultimately became Smoky Mountain Mama. She sadly died on December 5th, 2003, at the age of 80 in Sevierville, Tennessee. Smoky Mountain Mama was sold as a cassette tape only in Dollywood in 1990, and because it was produced in very small quantities, it became a highly sought-after collector’s item and it’s just incredible that they were able to preserve it and release it now for all of Dolly’s fans to enjoy. It was restored using a surviving quarter-inch reel-to-reel master used for the original cassette production, and it really is amazing to hear Avie Lee’s renditions of traditional Smoky Mountain music. She seems like an incredible person, clearly someone who raised another incredible person and tons of great children, and her influence on Dolly cannot be overstated. These kinds of songs are a dying breed, you’d be hard pressed to find many people at all who know them in the modern age, especially those of younger generations even in this region of the Appalachian mountains where the Parton family lived, but it has been forever persevered as a very important piece of music and history in general here. Definitely check out some of the songs below… you will find it easy to tell where Dolly got so much of her once-in-a-generation talent: “The Wedding Bells” “The Eastbound Train” “Little Bessie” Smoky Mountain Mama Tracklist Track Listing 1. The Wedding Bells 2. Little Rosewood Casket 3. The Eastbound Train 4. Three Babes 5. Orphan Girl 6. Pretty Fair Miss 7. The Blind Child 8. Two Orphans 9. Little BessieThe post Dolly Parton Releases Rare Recordings Of Her Mother Singing Old Appalachian Songs From Her Childhood first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

One of the wildest “show must go on” stories you’ll ever hear. Tanner Horton (lead guitar, vocals) and Ashton Bowling (cajon) recently sat down with us on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast and talked about their former jobs before they started to take off, how they found out that Luke Combs is a big fan of theirs, and why they often find themselves dealing with imposter syndrome. Horton and Bowling also discussed how they handled getting stuck in Nashville during the nasty ice storm that hit earlier this year, and detailed a wild story about how their banjo player, Scott Sutton, had a heart attack before their debut show and still played through it. As the story goes, before The Creekers had even officially formed, Horton was asked if he wanted to get a band together to play at the Renfro Valley Entertainment Center (near Mt. Vernon, Kentucky) as an opener for Rhonda Vincent. The frontman said yes… and then had to quickly get a group together to be able to fulfill the opener duties. In need of a banjo player to play with them live, Horton asked Sutton if he’d be willing and able to. The banjo player said yes, and The Creekers were all of the sudden an official group. But as Horton explains, it wasn’t smooth sailing at their first ever show: “Scott had a heart attack about five minutes before we went on stage. He never skipped a beat. We never knew he was having an issue until three weeks after. He got up the next day and went to work.” Unbelievable, right? Ashton Bowling added some more details to the story, saying that Sutton finished up with the rest of the band and went home. It was only a couple of weeks later when he was still suffering from the same symptoms that he went to see a doctor and found out he had a heart attack: “He got done with the show, he got in his car, and then drove home. He went to the hospital like two and a half weeks later. They were like, ‘Yeah you had a heart attack this many days ago.’ It was right around the time that we played.’ He was like, ‘That’s why I was feeling like crap.'” Because it was one of the wilder stories we’ve ever heard on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast, we obviously had some follow up questions. The main one being, “Is Scott okay?” (he is), but after that… we inquired about if their banjo player has bad stage fright. Tanner Horton shot that down pretty quick: “No, that dude don’t get stage fright. He’s a (showman). He’s a character, is what he is. Now he’s got his pacemaker and stuff. He calls it his ‘jump box.’ His ‘jump starter.’ He’s still hammering right along with us. He ain’t slowed down.” @whiskeyriff @The Creekers #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff The phenomenon that Scott Sutton likely suffered from is what’s called in the medical field as a silent heart attack, where symptoms are more subtle and often confused for other issues. Thankfully, The Creekers banjo player eventually decided to go get checked out, and got everything in order so he can keep “hammering along” with the band. You can hear more from The Creekers by checking out the interview on YouTube or making sure to download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or by clicking here. We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts. Cheers, y’all. Audio Video The post The Creekers Detail How Their Banjo Player Played Through A Heart Attack During Their Debut Show first appeared on Whiskey Riff.