Cumberland Mountain Boys, Russell Springs, KY performed throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, the Midwest and Canada (1942-47). Photo courtesy Kentucky Library, Western Kentucky University

Kentucky State Gospel Singing Convention

Held each October in Scottsville, the convention is an opportunity for non-professional gospel quartets and other groups from Kentucky and surrounding states to perform and hear each other sing. Some years a spring sing is held as well. As much a religious event as a musical one, this convention is a legacy of the shape-note singing schools popular in the South during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is documented in text, 22 photographs, program booklets, a videotape of the 1998 and 1999 conventions, and the book Singing the Glory Down: Amateur Gospel Music in South Central Kentucky, 1900-1990 by William Lynwood Montell.

Originally submitted by: Ed Whitfield, Representative (1st District).

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