Mountain Music and Local Voices: Martin County’s Musical Story

A song can carry a place farther than a road ever will. A singer’s phrasing, a fiddle tune learned by ear, or a story about working life can introduce listeners to a community they have never visited. For Martin County, music offers one way to hear the people behind the place names.

That story includes a songwriter from Beauty who reached a national audience, a Tomahawk instrument maker whose shop became a meeting place, and young musicians learning to make those traditions their own. Together, they offer a starting point for exploring the county’s musical life.

Angaleena Presley: a voice from Beauty

One of Martin County’s nationally recognized musical names is Angaleena Presley. The Grand Ole Opry identifies her hometown as Beauty, Kentucky. AllMusic’s biography describes her as a Martin County native whose parents worked as a coal miner and a schoolteacher. [1][2]

Presley’s path to recognition included writing songs recorded by other artists. Her Opry profile points to “Knocked Up,” recorded by Heidi Newfield, and “Look It Up,” recorded by Ashton Shepherd, as songs that helped bring attention to her writing. She later joined Miranda Lambert and Ashley Monroe in Pistol Annies, whose debut album, Hell on Heels, arrived in 2011. [1][2]

For a small county, that connection gives listeners a concrete place to begin: a voice from Beauty contributing to records heard well beyond eastern Kentucky. It also makes the songwriting worth noticing alongside the performances. The Opry’s profile emphasizes Presley’s commitment to writing; the voice on the recording is also a person shaping the story. [1]

A listening path through her work

Presley released her solo debut, American Middle Class, in 2014, followed by Wrangled in 2017. Those albums give listeners an opportunity to hear her outside the trio setting. [2]

Another useful introduction is the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s recording of her June 3, 2017 Songwriter Session. The museum describes a program featuring material from Wrangled and songs recorded by Pistol Annies. Hearing a songwriter present her own work offers a different perspective from meeting the songs only through a finished studio record. [3]

As an editorial reading of her career, Presley’s appeal here is the connection between a local background and a distinctive individual voice. She does not have to speak for every Martin Countian to make the county’s creative life more visible. Her work can be one doorway into it.

James E. Webb and a musical home in Tomahawk

National recognition is one part of the story. Another is the patient work of keeping instruments playable and giving people somewhere to gather.

In Tomahawk, James E. Webb Musical Repair and Sales became such a place. Local reporting traces the shop to Webb’s grandparents’ former general store and says he opened the music business there in the 1970s. Webb was also an educator who served as a teacher and later principal of Inez Elementary School. [4]

James E. Webb died on February 5, 2026. The Mountain Citizen’s account of his life describes decades of instrument building, repair, and support for traditional musicians, along with his son James L. “Jim” Webb continuing the shop’s work. That distinction matters when telling the family’s story: the elder Webb’s legacy and the younger Webb’s ongoing role belong to different generations. [4]

A repaired fiddle or guitar may never receive a headline. Yet the skill behind that repair can make another lesson, rehearsal, or performance possible. Webb’s story makes room in Martin County’s music history for the craftspeople and teachers who help other people play.

Passing the music to the next generation

The Stidham Old Time Music Association describes its work in Tomahawk through three connected efforts: the Stidham Old Time Music Gathering, the Pick-and-Bow youth program, and the repair, workshop, and community activity centered on Webb Music Shop. [5]

The association’s Pick-and-Bow page describes free after-school traditional music instruction for Martin County young people ages 9–18. Instruments include guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and dulcimer, with donated instruments provided at no cost. The program emphasizes learning by ear and playing together. Families should contact the association to confirm current enrollment, meeting times, and instrument availability. [6]

Those practical details deserve attention. A child needs access to an instrument, someone willing to teach, and time to practice with other people. Programs that provide those opportunities help turn an interest in music into something a young person can actually do.

Where to begin exploring

A good first step is to listen to Presley’s solo records and Pistol Annies, then explore the museum’s Songwriter Session. For the local traditional-music community, visit the Stidham association’s website and check its current gathering, workshop, and youth-program information. These are different ways into Martin County’s music, and each rewards a little time and attention. [1][2][3][5][6]

This website also has room for voices that have not reached a national stage. Local performers, songwriters, instrument makers, music teachers, and families with recordings or photographs can help document a fuller story. Share a name or suggestion through our Contact page, along with details we can verify and permission to use any material you contribute.

Martin County’s musical story includes the people who leave and carry a voice with them, and the people who stay and help someone else find theirs. Both deserve to be heard.