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‘Our Mountains’ to debut this summer in Eastern Kentucky

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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

In the summer of 2014, the new program Our Mountains, which will shine a light on the Appalachian Mountains of East Kentucky, debuts on television and online. “Developed by Dean Osborne, Joel Brashear, and myself,” says Rhonda Brashear, “Our Mountains will feature positive, uplifting stories of the people and places here in the East Kentucky hills. Our Mountains is a modern take on traditional Appalachian culture, celebrating the rich history of our region while looking toward a bright future.”

Production is currently underway on the pilot for the weekly program featuring the food, the music, the landscape and the people that make Appalachia, and specifically East Kentucky, one of the most amazing places on the planet. Featuring acclaimed bluegrass recording artist Dean Osborne, Appalachian cooking expert Rhonda Brashear, and TV/Filmmaker Joel Brashear as hosts, Our Mountains will showcase the best East Kentucky has to offer.

This diverse group of talent, all proud East Kentucky residents, will travel across the region and share the amazing stories found only in Our Mountains. Every episode of Our Mountains will feature a musical performance from an Appalachian artist; from Grand Ole Opry member Bobby Osborne to a high-school student who has been called a banjo-prodigy, viewers will be thrilled with the amazing talent found in Our Mountains. From gospel to blues, folk, rock and country, Our Mountains is truly full of amazing music.

'Our Mountains' producers (l to r) Joel Brashear, Rhonda Brashear, and Dean Osborne.
‘Our Mountains’ producers (l to r) Joel Brashear, Rhonda Brashear, and Dean Osborne.

In addition, the food of Appalachia is one of the last true regional cuisines still underexposed on a national scale. Rhonda Brashear has been a restaurant owner/chef as well as a collector of regional recipes. Each episode will see her share a traditional Appalachian dish, from cast iron skillet chocolate fudge pie to Col. Sanders’ scalloped tomatoes. Rhonda will keep the viewers tuned in to see what she’s got cookin’ in her kitchen.

Joel Brashear’s films have been showcased at festivals across America, but his heart has always been in East Kentucky. His first film, Fire Under the Mountain, recounted the Finley No. 15 & 16 explosion near Hyden, KY of 1970 that left 38 men dead. Since then, he created the acclaimed series From These Hills for WYMT-TV, the CBS affiliate in Hazard, KY. For Our Mountains, Joel will travel the hollers and highways in East Kentucky and the rest of Appalachia, finding the most fascinating people and places to share with our viewers.

With the growing adventure tourism industry, rich musical scene, deep culinary history and plethora of fascinating folks to talk to, Our Mountains should be telling the stories of East Kentucky for years to come. And with so many misconceptions of Appalachia in the media, a positive take on our region could not come any sooner. Says Rhonda Brashear, “With this program, our hope is to entertain and inform viewers about the wondrous beauty found only in Our Mountains.”

Alice Lloyd College Featured on Our Mountains

3 comments

  1. I would like to see some of our older community who can play and sing bluegrass. I know this is a dying generation and may be hard to find , but it would be a great adventure and probably great episodes. Another thing that could be several episodes would be a further explanation of the memorial on The Hurts Creek mine explosion. My father is a deceased veteran of the Army. He and many of his relatives served in the military and were darn proud of it. Maybe show some episodes of how many families were subject to this patriotic action. Show old/remaining camp towns like Blue Diamond and the like. I enjoy the show but would like to see more people involved. It’s good to see my hometown area when I’m not there.

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