Renfro Valley Barn Dance

Red Foley    

The Renfro Valley Barn Dance started on WLW from the CincinnatiMusic Hallon October 9, 1937. After a successful year there, the show was moved to Daytonwhere it was staged at the Memorial Auditorium. It was hosted by John Lair, Red Foley, Cotton Foley and Whitey Ford. Although it was successful there, John Lair had a vision for a larger scale Barn Dance show. So the barn dance was moved to larger quarters near Mt. Vernon, Kentucky (KY) in November 1939.

The show was carried by WHAS-AM in Louisville, the NBC Radio Network and WCKY-AM inCincinnati. Lair quickly built the roster for the show. The show opened up in the country side inRenfroValley, despite critics saying it would surely fail. However from the outset, huge crowds came and the show was a huge success. Then they said, oh, it'll end in a couple weeks after the novelty wears off. But what happened? The crowds kept getting bigger and bigger. They thought no one would come from afar to the country side to see a barn dance. 

        Homer & Jethro                                                          Coon Creek Girls

The barn could only comfortably and safely hold about 1,000 people. But the crowds were huge and it became necessary to hold additional shows each Saturday to accommodate the demand. Dwight Butcher was one of the emcees, usually handling the second show duties. He sang tenor and played guitar and harmonica. Master of Ceremonies was Gene Cobb, a bit of a comedian who did impersonations and sang. John Lair handled the announcing duties as well as planning the buildings, supervising their construction, writing, producing and maintaining a music library.

The roster of talent performing on the Renfro Valley Barn Dance was vast and varied. Red Foley and Whitey Ford were initial performers and investors. Steel guitarist Jerry Byrd played there. There were also a couple of crackups named Jethro Burns and Homer Haynes (Homer and Jethro). Every so often a "natural" bobs up in radio. In 1940 the sensation at the Renfro Valley was Homer and Jethro, who drifted up from the Tennessee hills to see if there was a place on the Barn Dance for two serious-minded young men who dabbled in "Hill-Billy." John Lair decided they had that "something different" all radio programs were looking for and much to their surprise, Lai even offered to pay them perform on the Renfro Valley Barn Dance and on the Monday night broadcast from the old log schoolhouse. Once they appeared, many other offers started coming their way from network shows and big orchestras.

You would have had to go a long way to find four prettier girls than the Coon Creek Girls. (Pictured Above) That's Lily May with the banjo, and seated with her on the timbers of the old water mill is Irene Ambergy. Opal Ambergy smiles along side the big bass fiddle and the demure miss with the violin is Bertha Ambergy. Not pictured are two more Ledford gals, Rosy and Susan, who played in the group from time to time. Their big break came in June of 1939 when they were invited to the White House to present their old songs and tunes for the entertainment for the King and Queen of England on their memorable visit to this country.

Guy Blakeman, Jerry Beherens and Roland Gaines made up the popular group known as The Mountain Rangers. Guy, a Kentucky mountain boy, rated as one of the few really good barn dance fiddlers and sang baritone in the vocal trio. Jerry, soloist and guitarist, was from Louisiana; while Roland, a native of the Renfro Valley section chimed in with top tenor and also took many of character parts on the Monday night broadcast from the Redbud Schoolhouse.

Slim Miller             The Mountain Rangers                                 Lilly May Ledford