Renfro Valley is a neighborhood located just off

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

at the junction of

U.S. Route 25 U.S. Route 25 (US 25) is a north–south United States Highway that runs for in the southern and midwestern US. Its southern terminus is in Brunswick, Georgia, from where it proceeds mostly due north, passing through the cities of Augusta, Georg ...

and Kentucky Route 2793 north of

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

, a city in Rockcastle County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The community of Renfro Valley (which has its own United States Post Office, zip code 40473) includes the Renfro Valley Entertainment Center. Since being founded by local area native John Lair and others in 1939, Renfro Valley Entertainment Center has hosted the '' Renfro Valley Barn Dance'', a traditional country music show which gave entertainers such as

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on ...

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

, Red Foley, and

Homer and Jethro Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (1920–1971) and Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versi ...

the spotlight early in their careers. The ''Barn Dance'' and other programming originating in Renfro Valley was broadcast over the CBS Radio Network until the late 1950s. Today, Renfro Valley is known throughout Kentucky and the rest of the country for its rich history of "Real Country Music by Real Country Folks." This tradition continues today with outstanding stage shows put on by the current cast of Renfro Valley entertainers. Also, since 1992, Renfro Valley Entertainment Center has hosted Headliner Concerts that feature a mixture of well-known country singers with newer artists, as well as bluegrass, gospel, and comedy acts. Renfro Valley, Kentucky is also home to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Radio

Renfro Valley is the home of '' Renfro Valley Gatherin''' (also formerly known as ''Renfro Valley Sunday Morning Gatherin' ''), which is the second oldest continually broadcast rural/country oriented radio program in the

, having been aired every Sunday since September 1943. (Among rural/country oriented programs, only the ''Grand Ole Opry'' has been broadcast on a continual basis longer, since 1925.) After CBS Radio stopped carrying the show in the late 1950s, a pre-recorded version of the Gatherin' program went into syndication. The syndicated broadcast of the Gatherin' is still heard on scores of stations across the United States and Canada, as well as on satellite radio and Internet broadcasts. One station which broadcasts the ''Gatherin is the local radio station in Mt. Vernon - Renfro Valley, Kentucky, which i
WRVK 1460 AM.
For many years now, WRVK has been owned and operated separately from the Entertainment Center, although it was also co-founded by John Lair in 1957. Today WRVK is owned by Saylor Broadcasting, Inc. of Mt. Vernon, Kentucky.

References

External links

www.renfrovalley.com
Official site of Renfro Valley Entertainment Center
www.wrvk1460.com
Official site of WRVK Radio Station {{authority control Neighborhoods in Kentucky Populated places in Rockcastle County, Kentucky