The “Traditional Music Archives” focus primarily on music and artists from Kentucky. Because of our location and interest, we are uniquely qualified and able to develop and house resources within this emphasis for use by our students, scholars and the general public. Additionally, to best serve our students, and recognizing what is now the global nature of the musical traditions coming from our region, we make available a broad selection of materials from outside our primary focus.

 

 

 

The archive station at The Kentucky Center for Traditional Music is available to the public for research and entertainment. The station includes digital audio, video, documents and photographs of traditional musicians from Eastern Kentucky and beyond. Also included are materials from collections including photographs of Molly O' Day (Pike Co.), George Lee Hawkins (Bath Co.) and unreleased recordings of Keith Whitley (Elliot Co.) and Ricky Skaggs (Lawrence Co.). The collection also includes research documents from George R. Gibson (Knott Co.), who continues to define the origin and role of the banjo in East Kentucky Mountains. KCTM also houses rare photographs and recordings of 'Banjer' Bill Cornett, a former Kentucky State Representative from Knott County. 

 

 

 

Materials housed at The Traditional Music Archives are unique and irreplaceable. They must be used under supervision and may not be removed from the archives. A database of this collection is available at The Kentucky Center for Traditional Music.