Muhlenberg County, known for coal mining and music, is also celebrated for its close family ties. The Kirtley brothers (above) exemplify the strength of family as they pose on the grave of their father in 1922.

Muhlenberg County has been famous for its record-setting coal production since 1890. But as the county grew and the coal piled higher, another kind of energy began to flow from the depths of the mines. Songs like "Sixteen Tons" and "Paradise" spotlighted the lives of the bent and bowed coal miners and put the county on the map. With the addition of the world's largest power plant and the world's largest coal shovel, tourism increased as visitors came to see the hometowns of the famous Everly Brothers, James Best, Warren Oates, and Merle Travis. The Duncan Cultural Center and Museum, a gift from Hamilton Duncan, is a beautiful gathering place where people today can enjoy music and art and learn about Muhlenberg's coal legacy and rich history.

A collection of 15 intermediate level thumbstyle blues guitar solos in the style developed and played by some of the coal miners of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky and surrounding areas in the early to mid-20th century. Jim Mason and Amos Johnson were two of the early players. the style was picked up and streamlined by Mose Rager and Ike Everly and was the forerunner of the Travis Style. This style can be heard on Merle Travis' blues recordings. the music is presented in notation and tablature with chord symbols. the performance/demonstration recording is excellent for listening. It contains all 15 tunes with rhythm guitar accompaniment.

Western Kentucky represented, in the time period covered by this book from the 1950s-80s, the bulk of coal mining in North America. Attributed to in John Prine’s famous song “Paradise,” Muhlenberg County is home to Kentucky's first commercial coal mine named the McLean Drift Bank. At one point, Muhlenberg County produced more coal than any county, state, or country as the largest producer of coal in the world. The massive mining machines documented herein show how this was possible through vintage and colorful photography. Production statistics are detailed for each piece of equipment, laced with historical facts and stories about the mines and mining companies that operated them. Includes a rare look at some of the old draglines that have been re-started and are digging in Western Kentucky once again thanks to new technology.

Mose Rager: Kentucky's Incomparable Guitar Master is the story of this true Kentucky music legend who preferred living the quiet life to the fame he could have earned playing the country music circuit. There are many country guitar legends, Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, and Eddie Pennington, to name a few, who trace the roots of their music to Mose Rager of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky (home of the Everly Brothers). Known for developing a unique thumb-picking style, Mose worked as a barber and a coal miner when he wasn't playing gigs with Grandpa Jones, Curly Fox and Texas Ruby. Readers will appreciate the skills and easy way of this gifted "box" player, and learn why Highway 176 in Drakesboro, Kentucky is named Mose Rager Boulevard in his honor. Although Mose died on May 14, 1986, his sound lives on when modern-day pickers try to play "That Muhlenberg Sound."

This in-depth study offers a new examination of a region that is often overlooked in political histories of the Bluegrass State. George G. Humphreys traces the arc of politics and the economy in western Kentucky from avid support of the Democratic Party to its present-day Republican identity. He demonstrates that, despite its relative geographic isolation, the region west of the eastern boundary of Hancock, Ohio, Butler, Warren, and Simpson Counties to the Mississippi River played significant roles in state and national politics during the New Deal and postwar eras. Drawing on extensive archival research and oral history interviews, Humphreys explores the area's political transformation from a solid Democratic voting bloc to a conservative stronghold by examining how developments such as advances in agriculture, the diversification of the economy, and the civil rights movement affected the region. Addressing notable deficiencies in the existing literature, this impressively researched study will leave readers with a deeper understanding of post-1945 Kentucky politics.