Dale Ann Bradley hails from Pineville, Bell County Kentucky, where my father was born and raised until he ran away from home (for the last time) at age 14. My father never graduated from High School, got his GED the Air Force, went to Princeton, met my mother, joined the U.S. foreign service, taught himself two languages and three instruments, drove a Bentley, and gave a square mile of land to help protect Bell County's Blanton Forest. A remarkable man.
Not much comes out of Pineville, which competes as the poorest town in the poorest part of America.
Harlan is where the rich people lived, if you know what I mean.
Harlan is where the rich people lived, if you know what I mean.
And so, image my delight to discover Dale Ann Bradley of Pineville Kentucky. Yes!
In Run Rufus Run, Dale Ann Bradley sings of the hard choices of desperate people back in my father's day.
The mountains were a prison for their family of nine
No where to go no place to work unless you crawled down in the mines
And his momma knew the sound of a man's lungs turnin' black
So when daddy found another way to make a livin' it was easy to turn her back
Now Rufus was the oldest and he knew Bell County well
He could hunt and fish like any grown man and take care of his self
So his daddy put him to runnin' shine when he was just 12 years old
Said it might not be the right thing, but it sure beats minin' coal.
Ms. Bradley has a wonderful voice (two Grammy nominations, and five International Bluegrass Music Association awards for Best Female Vocalist), but the slightly deeper timber that has come with age is truly perfect.
1 comment:
Wow, loved the inspirational story of your father as well as that of Rufus. Thanks for sharing both of them. FYI, my little JRT I got through your connections with Margie (here on the west coast) is still hanging in there at 16 years old. Not sure how much longer he will be with me but he's been the best little person I could have ever been blessed with.
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