Biography

Country performer and daughter of legendary Kentucky guitarist, Kennedy Jones. Performed on WLW’s Midwestern Hayride as Lee Jones. Her brother, Kennedy Jones Jr., was also a performer on the Midwestern Hayride.

Interview Summary

1988 November 4
(2 hours, 50 minutes)
Lee Jones Prem and Kennedy Jones Jr., the children of legendary guitarist Kennedy Jones, talk about their father’s musical legacy. Discussion includes a family history; the Kentucky community where their father grew up; his start as a guitar player and his early career; creation of his thumb-picking method; the influence of Arnold Shultz; memories of Ike, Charlie, and Leonard Everly; his experience as a medicine show performer; memories of their father and Merle Travis; comments on their home as a gathering place for local musicians; his willingness to teach other musicians; his compositions and examples of the type of music he enjoyed playing; their father as a natural entertainer; his early radio career; memories of their father and Mose Rager; his versatility as a musician; his guitars; comments on the Muhlenberg guitar community and individual styles of the guitarists; the family’s move to Chicago and his work playing nightclubs; memories of their family and the Everly family; a description of their own careers, including Lee’s work on WLW-Cincinnati and the Midwestern Hayride and Kennedy Jr.‘s work as part of the Hayriders, the Midwestern Hayride staff band.