Article Contributed by Mountain Home Music Company
Published on 2026-09-04
Back with her first new music since last fall’s Travel On, her full-length debut for Mountain Home Music Company, Vickie Vaughn pays tribute to her western Kentucky roots and the late John Hartford with a spirited take on his song “Paducah.”
The powerhouse singer has reigned as the IBMA Bass Player of the Year since 2023 and is nominated for the honor again this year, along with a nomination for New Artist of the Year.
“The first time I heard John Hartford’s ‘Paducah’ was when a friend performed it about twenty years ago on Murray State University’s campus,” recalls Vaughn. “I thought it was so dang cool and humorous that I asked him about it immediately after he played it. Since then, I’ve been dying to put my own spin on it.”
The track is a perfect marriage of material and performance, as Vaughn navigates the whimsical 1978 soliloquy on the lure of riverboat life with brash confidence.
The new recording begins with a nod to Hartford’s original, which featured nothing more than his fiddle and the sound of his dancing feet. Fiddler and producer Deanie Richardson fills in for the Bluegrass Music Hall of Famer behind Vaughn’s vocal before the full band enters with the second verse and its memorable destination: “You and me, baby, we’ll go to Paducah.”
From there, banjoist Matt Menefee, mandolinist Tristan Scroggins of Bronwyn Keith-Hynes’ band and Missy Raines & Allegheny, drummer Dave Racine, and East Nash Grass guitarist Frank Rische move forward with all the smoothness and power of a sternwheeler gliding down the Ohio River.
Brimming with good spirits and an obvious love for Hartford’s dazzling word-and-sound play, “Paducah” is a masterful demonstration of why Vickie Vaughn is being embraced by bluegrass and Americana colleagues and fans alike.
“Paducah” is streaming in Dolby Atmos spatial audio on Apple Music, Amazon Music, and TIDAL. Listen HERE.
