U.S. 23 Country Music Highway Signs — Eastern Kentucky

The U.S. 23 Country Music Highway is marked by distinctive roadside signs running along U.S. Route 23 through eastern Kentucky, from Ashland in the north to the Virginia border in the south. Each sign honors a country music artist who was born or raised in the communities along the highway.

The highway was officially designated the “Country Music Highway” by the Kentucky state legislature in 1994 in recognition of the astonishing number of country, bluegrass, and roots music artists who came from the region. Individual artist signs along the route honour Loretta Lynn, Crystal Gayle, Chris Stapleton, The Judds, Billy Ray Cyrus, Dwight Yoakam, Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Patty Loveless, Tom T. Hall, Hylo Brown, Gary Stewart, and many others. The signs have become a pilgrimage route for country music fans driving from town to town through the Appalachian hollows that shaped American music.