With a Tribute to His Hall of Fame Career
In May of 2022 it was announced that Keith Whitley was to be inducted as the newest member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, with thousands of his fans and followers celebrating the news. But back in eastern Kentucky, plans for a musical celebration and a tribute had already been in the works for well over a year, not just for Keith’s contributions to country music, but for his entire musical career dating back to his time as a Clinch Mountain Boy with the legendary Ralph Stanley. On the evening of Saturday, August 6, at The Colt Adams Memorial Bluegrass Festival (CAMFEST) in Flemingsburg, Kentucky those plans came to fruition.
Vic Adams, CAMFEST promoter, recalled “Dave Carroll (a founding member of Hammertowne and the Host Band For CAMFEST) and I were on the phone one night talking about the festival, when he (Dave) out of the blue asked me if I’d ever thought about doing a Keith Whitley tribute. Without even having time to really think about it, I was overcome with excitement because Keith was one of my childhood hero’s and I had followed his entire musical career. I just instantly knew it was something that I wanted to do.”
But Adams also knew that if they were going to do this, it would have to be something special and would take a lot of time and effort from several people to make it happen. “What I did not want was just a few people standing up there singing Keith Whitley songs, I wanted it to include all aspects of Keith’s musical career.” The benchmark would be a tribute not only worthy of Keith’s legendary career from a musical perspective, but one that would make his family proud. So, the first call made was to Keith’s only surviving sibling Dwight Whitley. “We had to have Dwight and the family’s blessing before we would even consider moving forward.” Adams says. “When we called Dwight and asked for his permission to pursue the tribute, he welcomed it with open arms and seemed to be excited that we were even considering honoring Keith in this manner.” Dwight recalls, “I was so honored, the whole family was honored that they thought enough of Keith’s music and that it had made that much of an impact on their lives that they wanted to do this, but it was also a little scary for me. I was afraid that I couldn’t remember some of the details about the early days and I knew it was important to what they wanted to do. But I will tell you, I felt Keith’s spirit moving through everyone on that stage throughout the whole show. I could absolutely feel his presence. I have seen an awful lot of great shows in my life, and I’ve never seen a better one than that show. I still get goosebumps just talking about it.”
Dwight’s wife Flo, who maintains the Keith Whitley Foundation, chimed in. “What struck me most of all was the fellowship among the musicians on stage, it was so obvious that they were enjoying what they were doing. The teamwork that had to take place to put on the show that they performed was absolutely unbelievable.”
The show began with the introduction of eastern Kentucky’s own Larry Cordle singing a tribute song that he co-wrote with the late great Randy Scruggs, “Keith’s Song,” also referred to as “A Voice Still Rings True.” Larry reminisced about meeting Keith for the first time as just a young man growing up just a few miles from Keith’s hometown of Sandy Hook, recognizing immediately how special his talent was. “Keith was the best singer I ever knew personally,” Cordle commented. The next contribution was from another fantastic eastern Kentucky singer, Ray Craft. Ray rendered another beautiful tribute song, “Keith, How Many.” Written by the late, great Ernie Thacker.
Next, brother Dwight joined Larry Cordle on stage, recollecting and sharing stories with the audience about Keith and his teenage years, including Keith and Dwight’s weekly live radio performances and Keith’s meeting and teaming up with Ricky Skaggs. This led to both Keith and Ricky becoming Clinch Mountain Boys working with Dr. Ralph Stanley, which was the jump start to Keith’s legendary career. That proved to be a perfect segway for Ralph Stanley II & His Clinch Mountain Boys to open up the music to honor Keith’s tenure with Dr. Ralph Stanley. “It was unbelievable” states Adams, “to see Ralph’s son and Keith’s brother performing together just like Keith and Ralph did over 40 years ago playing the same guitar and banjo that they played and hearing Don Rigsby sing the high tenor that Ricky Skaggs sang was just something that I will never forget.” This was just the beginning of what proved to be an unforgettable night.
Next came the “New South” portion of the show, with Larry Cordle and Dwight Whitley again offering insight into Keith’s joining the legendary, Kentucky banjo master, J.D. Crowe & The New South. A star-studded lineup including Mo Pitney, Josh Williams, Caleb Daughtery, John Lewis, Matt Flake, Josh Hale, Jason Hale, Chaston Carroll, Dave Carroll, Don Rigsby and legendary steel guitarist Tom Killen, who performed for 30 years with George Jones. Also joining in during this segment was Keith’s own son Jesse Keith Whitley. Jesse covered the progressive Bluegrass songs that opened the door for Keith’s eventual move and successful career into country music.
It was a ninety-minute trip back in time that is almost hard to describe unless you were there. On a very special and somewhat historical side note, Dave Carroll played the show with Keith’s 1969 Martin D 28 Guitar (That was actually with the late-great Roy Lee Centers the night of his murder) and Caleb Daughtery played Whitley’s custom Parsons acoustic guitar, both graciously provided by Dwight Whitley for this tribute. “That’s the first time those guitars were ever on stage together, so it’s kind of a historical thing. It just makes it even more special to me” say’s Dwight Whitley.
By the time this segment of the tribute was over it was obvious from the look on promoter Vic Adams face that he was super excited with how things were going. Adams, who just celebrated his 33rd wedding anniversary the night before, recalled his bachelor party the week prior to his marriage. Adams recalled, “Folk’s just do not realize how special this is because 33 years ago my entire bachelor party was with all my buddies listening to Keith Whitley with J.D. Crowe and the New South, nothing else but that. We wore that Live in Japan CD out that night till well past 4’oclock in the morning.” Adams said with a laugh.
Lastly, Keith’s “Country Years” were remembered in a show featuring Jesse Keith, along with Caleb Daughtery, Mo Pitney, Josh Williams and a supporting cast covering many of Keith’s country hits. They shared the stage and performed one hit after another of Keith’s many #1 country hits to the crowd’s excitement. At one point Dwight joined his nephew, Jesse Keith, on stage for the first time ever for a very personal cover of “Brotherly Love.” It was definitely a night that no one would soon forget and something that many of Keith’s biggest fans will cherish for a lifetime. Joining the ensemble for the “Country Years” segment was eastern Kentucky’s own Austin Tackett on the electric guitar and not just ANY electric guitar, but one of Keith Whitley’s favorite guitars that he often played, also provided by Dwight for this special occasion.
The tribute in its entirety lasted over five hours and covered more than 40 of Whitley’s iconic numbers. “This is something that will never be topped,” says Dwight Whitley. “Keith would be so proud. I know he was watching. Words can’t describe what this meant to me and my family, covering Keith’s entire musical career like this…this will never be topped. I just can’t thank these boys enough.”
Vic Adams says “There’s absolutely no way we could have done this without Dwight and Flo Whitley. These were people that I had never met and they welcomed us into their home and provided us with information and resources that literally could not have come from anywhere else. The guitars played by Dave, Caleb and Austin, the pictures, the stories, and the memorabilia is what made this tribute what it was. These are two of the most humble people that I have ever met and their kindness and friendship are something I will cherish the rest of my life. We can’t thank them enough.” Adams also went onto say, “It took a lot of people behind the scenes to make this a success. One person cannot do this alone and without the help of Colt’s entire family, Dave Carroll, Dave Tackett and Colt’s Orange Army this doesn’t happen. I want them to know how much I appreciate and love each one of them.”
CAMFEST in itself is quite a story. Colt Adams, the late nephew of promoter Vic Adams, lost his life in a tragic auto accident on May 28, 2019 at the young age of 16. Not only was Colt a top high school football prospect in state of West Virginia and a 4.0 student, but he was one of the most kind and giving young men imaginable. It was the dream of his late grandfather ”Big George Adams,” along with his entire family, to carry on Colt’s legacy by using the festival to raise money to help others.
The “Colt Adams Memorial Scholarship Fund” is funded by money raised at CAMFEST which is a 501c3 organization. In four years, the organization has been able to help assist many young kids with scholarships and charitable contributions. Adams stated, “My family suffered a great loss when we lost Colt and our father’s one dream was to be able to keep Colt’s name alive by helping others. Although we lost Dad to cancer during the 2nd Annual CAM FEST, our entire family as well as our Colt’s Orange Army family has rallied behind this to keeps Dad’s dream a reality. Even though Dad and Colt are no longer here on this earth to participate, we know they have to be looking down on us with a smile and how proud they must be knowing how many people we have been able to help and what we are going to be able to do in the future to keep Colt’s name alive.” This year alone over $35,000 was given away on stage, including $4000.00 to the Keith Whitley Foundation Scholarship Program to assist kids who want to pursue music as a career.
CAMFEST is held at Mandolin Farm Campground in Flemingsburg, Kentucky. (www.coltadamsmemorial.com)
