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Audio cassette by thumb-picker Eddie Pennington
Cover photo of "That Muhlenberg Sound" audio cassette by thumb-picker Eddie Pennington.

That Muhlenberg Sound

The Muhlenburg sound is a distinctive style of guitar playing known as thumb-picking that musicians in Muhlenburg County began in the 1920s. The style has been popularized throughout the country by Merle Travis and Chet Atkins.

This project is documented as a local legacy with 20 commercially produced audio cassette tapes of performances by local Muhlenburg thumb-pickers, Eddie and Alonzo Pennington, Tommy Owens, Mose Rager, Paul Moseley, Jason Snyder, Lee Jenkins, and Tommy Owens. The cassettes are produced by the label, The Muhlenberg Sound, P.O. Box 132, Beechmont, Kentucky 42323. Muhlenberg is the home of the annual Legends Thumb-Picking Contest and the Thumb-Pickers Hall of Fame in Drakesboro.

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



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The Local Legacies project provides a "snapshot" of American Culture as it was expressed in spring of 2000. Consequently, it is not being updated with new or revised information with the exception of "Related Website" links.

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