John Lair (1894-1985) was in the perfect situation to collect tales from the folks around Rockcastle County, Kentucky. He did a column in the Renfro Valley Bugle that collected them from 1958 to 1968, and he had not only grown up there in Renfro Valley. He worked for the WLS Barn dance for 8 years, and then in 1939 started the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, now the Renfro Valley Entertainment Center, still devoted to country music.