Paul Smith

The next Kentucky Life features performances from one of Kentucky’s most beloved music festivals and profiles an artist whose home studio is also a sculpture. The program, hosted by Dave Shuffett, airs Saturday, May 31 at 8/7 p.m. CT on KET1; Sunday, June 1 at 4:30/3:30 p.m. CT on KET1; and Sunday, June 1 at 7/6 p.m. CT on KET2.

Each year in September, the J.P. Fraley Mountain Music Gatherin’ is held in Carter Caves State Park near Olive Hill. The festival includes traditional music of all kinds, but old-time fiddle music certainly takes center stage. Named for co-founder and accomplished fiddler Jesse Presley Fraley, the annual event attracts champion fiddlers and top players, who share billing with those just learning. Kentucky Life visits the festival to meet four of the best fiddlers around: Paul David Smith, Roger Cooper, Jesse Wells and Michael Garvin.

Kentucky Life also travels to Elliottville, where freelance painter and sculptor Sam McKinney lives with his wife and daughter. The log house is connected to “Serendipity Studios,” which McKinney designed and built out of 18th and 19th-century structures. He describes the work space as “functional sculpture.” A figurative freelance painter and sculptor for more than 30 years, McKinney works mainly on commission, with portraiture as his mainstay. His most recent sculpture, titled “Adam’s First Breath,” is displayed at the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park and Museum in Ohio.

Kentucky Life is a KET production, produced by Joy Flynn. Segment producers are Jeffrey Hill and Tom Thurman. Some Kentucky Life programs are available for on-demand videostream viewing at www.ket.org/kentuckylife.