RENFRO VALLEY, Ky. (LEX 18) — If you’re wondering what made Loretta Lynn such an icon in the music world, the executive director of Kentucky’s Music Hall of Fame probably, and maybe unintentionally explained it.
“We all wanted to be like Loretta Lynn. We may not have been a coal miner’s daughter, but we felt her songs,” said Jessica Blankenship.
Felt, being the operative word. When you can feel the musician beyond just hearing, then you know you’re listening to something and someone special.
Lynn was inducted into Kentucky’s Music Hall of Fame in Renfro Valley twenty years ago. Blankenship said she is arguably its most influential inductee. And while the loss of Lynn is being felt across the Commonwealth, Jessica quickly learned that feeling of sadness crossed state lines.
“Last night I was at the Grand Ole Opry as a guest of a couple of our inductees. And just the emotion. You could feel the love in that room, and as you walk through the Opry they’ve got a lot of mementos of Loretta,” Blankenship said.
Perhaps it’s because many of them felt as Jessica does about Loretta.
“Hearing those lyrics are always emotional to me and it’s like I hear your pain, and I hear your truth. Loretta sang the truth,” Blankenship said.
And the truth is, that’s how you separate the good ones from the Hall of Famers.
