Kathy Mattea, born June 21, 1959 in South Charleston, West Virginia, grew up in Cross Lanes and discovered her passion for singing at an early age when she joined a Girl Scout camp. In 1976, Kathy attended West Virginia University and joined a bluegrass band called “Pennsboro.” In 1978, Mattea moved to Nashville and worked at the Country Music hall of Fame as a tour guide, while singing backup vocals for Bobby Goldsboro.

In 1983, after months of singing demos for singers, publishers, songwriters and other big names in the Nashville music industry, head of Mercury Records Frank Jones signed Kathy Mattea for a record deal. However, it was only until she released her third album “Walk the Way the Wind Blows” in 1986 did Mattea reach critical and commercial success. The album produced several top ten songs, including “Train of Memories,” “You’re the Power,” “Walk the Way the Wind Blows,” and “Love at the Five and Dime,” which drew attention after renowned country singer Don Williams added vocal harmony to the song.

In 1988, Kathy Mattea released “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses,” which reached the Billboard country singles chart and spent multiple weeks at number 1, beating Dolly Parton’s record for a solo female artist to top that chart for consecutive weeks. In 1990, Mattea’s song “Where’ve You Been,” which was co-written by her husband Jon Vezner, reached #10 on the country chart and earned Kathy a Grammy for “Best Female Country Vocal.” For both “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses” and “Where’ve You Been,” Kathy Mattea won a CMA’s “Female Vocalist of the Year.” After releasing her first Christmas gospel album, “Good News,” Kathy Mattea won another Grammy in 1993. When Mattea moved to MCA Nashville in 2000, she released “The Innocent Years” as a tribute to her sick father. In 2002, Kathy moved to another label Narada to explore a new sound, releasing “Roses” with an eclectic folk tune.

Kathy Mattea has always been active in voicing out her opinions. In 1991, Mattea participated in the multi-artist project “Voices that Care,” wherein top names in the industry recorded music to raise money for troops in the Gulf War. Since the early 1990s, Mattea has been involved in charities, mostly related to HIV/AIDS. Her social activism clearly sounds through on her 2008 album “Coal,” a record filled with songs against coal mining. Kathy Mattea’s latest project involved speaking for AL Gore and discussing “An Inconvenient Truth,” to help fight global warming and educate people about the physical and environmental effects of coal mining.