Urban and rural, eastern and western, Appalachian Mountains and river towns — being a Kentuckian comes in several shapes and forms, and they are spotlighted in a new docu-series that recently wrapped up filming.
Created and produced by David Helmers, one of the forces responsible for bringing Railbird Festival to Lexington, and hosted by Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House, “Distilled in Kentucky” aims to shine a light on the commonwealth’s hidden gems with a special focus on music.
“If you’re from outside Kentucky, you may have perceptions and misconceptions about what Kentucky is, and a common one is that all of the music from here is traditional country or bluegrass,” said Helmers. “There is plenty of that, but there are also bands like My Morning Jacket and Cage The Elephant, that have big followings but people may not know are from here.
“Kentucky is hard to define and full of surprises,” he added.
Kentucky musciian Scott T. Smith (second from right) recorded a live performance on set at Pauley Hollow Distillery in Pikeville, Ky. Photo courtesy of Distilled in Kentucky
On the eight episodes in Season One, emerging musical acts S.G. Goodman (Murray), Nat Myers (Kenton County), Senora May (Estill County), Scott T. Smith (Louisville), Brit Taylor (Knott County), Kelsey Waldon (Monkey’s Eyebrow), Wayne Graham (Lexington) and Ben Sollee (Louisville) take the spotlight. The show takes an in-depth look at those artists’ journeys and influences, exhibiting the depth of the state’s present-day creative talent. Familiar contemporary faces like Tyler Childers and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James also make appearances, and the show also ties in legacy Kentucky acts who helped pave the way for current artists, such as Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe and The Everly Brothers.
“A lot of attention right now gets paid to Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers, and rightfully so,” says Helmers. “But people from here know that the roots of music coming from Kentucky go back much farther.”
Music isn’t the only aspect of Kentucky featured on the show, however — other guests set to appear include Louisville chef Lawrence Weeks, 21c Museum Hotels co-founder Steve Wilson, Josephine Sculpture Park founder Melanie VanHouten and Gov. Andy Beshear.
According to House, the show’s team put together a list of over 50 potential guests to speak with, before narrowing it down to the ones that made it into these initial episodes.
“Distilled in Kentucky” host Silas House has interviewed a variety of well-known Kentuckians for the show, including My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James. Photo courtesy of Distilled in Kentucky
“We could have done 24 episodes easily; it was really hard to narrow it down to eight,” said House. “One thing that shortened the list was a desire for geographic diversity. We wanted to cover the whole state and represent as many different kinds of music as we could.”
Further driving that sonic and geographic diversity was the setting of each episode, which took place in varying corners of the state in an effort to show the different lifestyles and influences within each that coalesce into the collective idea of what Kentucky and Kentuckians are. Musical performances were filmed at eight different distilleries — Green River (Owensboro), Pauley Hollow (Pikeville), Castle & Key (Lexington), Old Forester (Louisville), Larrikin (Lawrenceburg), Luca Mariano (Danville), Buffalo Trace (Frankfort), and New Riff (Newport) — and footage was also filmed in charming Kentucky locations that include Danville’s century-old donut shop Burke’s Bakery & Delicatessen, the Frankfort bookstore Poor Richard’s Books, and Northern Kentucky’s Rabbit Hash General Store.
“We wanted to take people into those spaces and introduce them to places they may not know as a way of learning that Kentucky is much more than its stereotypes,” declares House. “One thing we sought out was people who knew how to tell their stories and were interesting. One thing I associate with Kentucky is storytelling, and everyone we had on camera being interviewed was really good at doing just that.”
Silas House and 21c Museum Hotel founder and owner Steve Wilson. Photo courtesy of Distilled in Kentucky
Despite all those previously mentioned backdrops, House says that one of the most profound moments from filming for “Distilled” came in Pike County. Singer Scott T. Smith kicked off a rodeo on the side of a mountain with a rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” in front of a larger than expected crowd of nearly 250 people.
“It was so beautiful and moving seeing all these people coming out of the hollers for this rodeo where a Black man was singing the national anthem,” recalls House. “It was like a meeting of two worlds, especially with Scott being from deep Appalachia and now residing in Louisville. It reminded me of growing up and how things were community-centered in a way I don’t think they are anymore.”
The seeds for the show were first planted when Helmers approached House with the idea in 2019. House was immediately on board, noting “I don’t like to work with people unless I like them.” But COVID had other plans, stopping progress on the project until Helmers circled back last year. Filming kicked off this past April with the Atlanta-based production company School of Humans, which makes live-action and animated series for multiple platforms and networks including Discovery, Adult Swim, Netflix and more.
For House, who is also a novelist and music journalist by trade, the show put him in front of the camera to interview subjects for the first time, although you would never know it judging by his smooth delivery and casual approach.
Host Silas House chats with Kentucky musician Tyler Childers for an episode of “Distilled in Kentucky.” Photo courtesy of Distilled in Kentucky
“We want this to be down-home and laid-back, the kind of show that people can watch to feel calm and comforted by music, conversation between friends, and the art of whiskey-making,” expounded House in a recent press release. “I hope that every episode will feel like a big hug accompanied by the history, storytelling, and artistry that our commonwealth offers like no other place.”
With all eight episodes of the show’s maiden season now fully filmed, the crew remains in the early process of pitching it to television networks and streaming platforms in the hopes of finding it a home. But regardless of when and where it lands, Helmers is excited about what they’ve put together so far as well as the prospect of expanding on it in the future.
“I would love to do a Season 2, 3, and so on and continue to build on the platform we’ve created,” Helmers forecasted. “It’s been a team effort, from Silas and the artists we’ve worked with to the film crew, distilleries and other local businesses we partnered with. I’m grateful they gave us the chance and I hope that we did them justice.”
For more information, including sneak peeks of interviews and glimpses at some of the places visited during filming, follow the show on Facebook at Facebook.com/DistilledInKY or Instagram - @Distilled_In_Kentucky.
Louisville chef Lawrence Weeks, a 2024 semi-finalist in the James Beard awards, chats with host Silas House. Photo courtesy of Distilled in Kentucky