West Virginia
Country Music

West Virginia has a deep country and Appalachian music tradition that runs independently of Nashville and is arguably more interesting for it. Brad Paisley was born in Glen Dale and became one of Nashville's most musically accomplished artists of the 2000s and 2010s. Kathy Mattea from South Charleston had a run of critically respected country hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Little Jimmy Dickens from Bolt became a Grand Ole Opry member in 1948 and performed there until his death in 2015, 67 years on the Opry stage.

The Wheeling Jamboree, broadcast from WWVA radio in Wheeling, predates the Grand Ole Opry and is country radio's second-oldest continuous barn dance broadcast. It ran from 1933 and represents a parallel track in country music history that often gets overlooked because Nashville dominated the industry narrative. The Summersville Music in the Mountains festival and other regional events keep the Appalachian music tradition active.

Living in West Virginia, the relationship with country music is the most organic of any state. This isn't Nashville country; it's old-time mountain music, bluegrass, and a strain of hard-country that comes from coal camps and hollows and doesn't need the industry to validate it. The local bar and honky-tonk culture is real. The bluegrass picker communities are alive and active. Charleston and Huntington have venues that book touring country acts. The state has less infrastructure than more prosperous states, but the authenticity of its music culture is genuine and deep.

Brad Paisley (Glen Dale) and Kathy Mattea (South Charleston) are West Virginia's biggest country exports. Little Jimmy Dickens (Bolt) was a Grand Ole Opry legend for 60 years. The Wheeling Jamboree on WWVA radio predates the Grand Ole Opry and was country music's second-oldest broadcast program.

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