Coming up on Kentucky Life, see inspirational, large scale murals from Central Kentucky artists, Graham Allen and Geoff Murphy.

One of the co-creators of The Walking Dead, Tony Moore comes to us from Cynthiana.

Learn about the crew that takes care of and ensures clear trails throughout the Red River Gorge, and rock band MojoThunder visited our studio for a special performance.

That's next on Kentucky Life.

Hey, everybody.

I'm Chip Polston.

And today we're back at the Headley-Whitney Museum.

Now, you may recall visiting this location earlier in the season, but we've got a brand new set of stories for you, and we're ready to explore the museum grounds even more.

But our first story takes us to Central Kentucky where artist Graham Allen and Geoff Murphy have created large-scale murals throughout the region, from Paris to Richmond to Lexington.

They've painted a number of portraits they call the inspiration series, focusing upon a diverse group of prominent people with Kentucky roots.

And in the process, they've added to a growing trend toward the creation of public art.

When you say public art, you're saying art that is public and accessible and available to everyone, and that's what these murals are.

So I think we've both always enjoyed the fact that this art that we create, in particular together, is accessible to literally anyone who goes outside.

They can see it, appreciate it, and discuss it with their neighbors, and hopefully at the end of the day, take something away from it.

Ame: Graham and Geoff have tapped into art in a format that is ultra-accessible.

Graham: We wanted to start a series actually after one of our clients was inspired to do this particular inspiration for Tom Waits.

That was in the Paris, Kentucky area.

So that sort of encouraged us to push in the direction of doing other inspiring figures we thought maybe for other clients down the way.

Geoff: This whole series has evolved as part of the Central Kentucky community in various towns that we've painted in with the community members actually choosing the subject matter.

I don't think there's been a single one where we actually decided who it was we were going to paint.

Ame: These murals and this artwork that is out there is very message centric.

These artists tell us what is important in our community, the history, the values, the culture.

They're simply asking you to think about those concepts, think about where this historical figure came from.

Geoff: I don't think I look at us as being teachers or anything, but there's definitely a lot of history, and a lot of interesting things to learn about, and from some of these subjects that we've painted.

Ame: They pick these subjects, these...

Pilot, African-American pilot, a singer, African-American activists and boxer in our community and in our history to show young people in our community that those objectives can be met as well.

Geoff: We have an ongoing series we've been working on for about five years that's become known as the inspiration series that includes portraits of individual people.

Ame: The murals that we see being created and defining this community are very important because of that diversity.

The diversity of race, gender, industry, historical references, all of those things, of course, it's what makes Lexington such a wonderfully vibrant and diverse community.

Graham: The Frankie Walker mural came to us by the city of Richmond where they were interested in actually promoting a little bit more of a mural series of sort, basically throughout the town.

So they were excited about promoting a little bit more mural projects, and such for it.

And they wanted to do something that would probably commemorate the local veterans, and also minorities and people just for the community basically.

So we were privileged to have the space on the side of the library there when they offered it to us.

Geoff: I think it is really cool that it could spark interest in not only the actual piece of art that we're creating you know, for the public, but also with this series, the art that was created by the subject.

Graham: The Willa Beatrice Brown mural came to us as an option from a client who was redeveloping actually a housing community in that 7th Street area, and they were interested in actually paying some homage to maybe somebody who had a family member was near from that area as well during the time, and Willa Beatrice Brown was a fitting character because we wanted to get in a nice diversity still and not just the veterans also, but then also celebrate minorities, but then also females we thought was important.

Geoff: Many of the subjects in this series have ended up actually being from Kentucky or at least in some way related to the area.

And we don't really think that's a coincidence.

We work directly with our community in choosing a lot of this subject matter, and they are requesting people that they feel like are important to the town or the neighborhood or city that they are currently involved with.

Ame: When we can all look at a piece of art and say, "It moves me in some way" and the next person to you, it moves them in some way, you're finding some common ground even in that piece of art.

As a young, self-described nerd exploring the woods in his hometown of Cynthiana, Tony Moore dreamed of one day becoming a comic book illustrator.

Well, he has since fulfilled that dream.

He's illustrated comics for Marvel characters and is the co-creator and original illustrator for The Walking Dead.

Now, in recent years, he's established himself as a go-to artist in the Kentucky music scene thanks to a friendship and a series of collaborations with Tyler Childers.

In this next story, Tony Moore gives us a glimpse of his life and artistry.

I'm Tony Moore.

I'm a small town guy who grew up to be an illustrator.

I'm from Cynthiana, Kentucky.

Most people would probably know my work from The Walking Dead.

I've been interested in being an illustrator or an artist of some sort basically my whole life.

I can't remember a time that I wasn't drawing.

I've described my illustration style as gritty, but fun.

I don't know how to describe it really.

There's that like cartooning element in my work, but then also that kind of...

I mean like I love horror movies and that stuff.

So like, there's that.

It's like a cantankerous weird mix of humor and grit and gore.

[Laughing] I don't know what you call it.

The aesthetic that I have in my artwork largely comes from growing up out in the middle of nowhere.

You know, most people when they see like an open landscape with abandoned houses and dilapidated barns and all that type of stuff, you know, it feels desolate and kind of bleak you know, because that's what we put in horror movies and you know, because it's isolation and all that stuff and neglect.

But for me, that aesthetic is childhood.

Like that's nostalgia for me because that's where I grew up.

My dad owned a dairy in Barrie, Kentucky, which is just outside of Cynthiana, and then, my grandfather owned the farm in Cynthiana.

And it was a lot of time just kind of living that country kid life, you know, wake up and march off into the woods, and come back when it got dark in time for dinner.

You know, when we weren't out doing that I basically spent my time watching cartoons and reading comic books and Mad Magazine, and watching horror movies, and Star Trek, and, you know, being a little nerd.

I'd say it's hard to grow up in Kentucky and not be influenced by you know, what's around you and it does feel important for me to like embrace that and you know, represent where I'm from in my work.

It gives like a little bit of insight on you know, living a life there.

The place is just kind of filled with creatives and I've been really fortunate to be able to work with other Kentuckians.

In recent years, I've kind of developed like a new relationship with the music, you know, the music scene, especially in Kentucky.

I've done a lot of artwork for Tyler Childers.

I drew the album cover for Country Squire and did a lot of show posters for him.

And then, also directed the music video for Country Squire.

You know, and from there, it's just been... just this like whole new like you know, giant web, like this big network of new connections.

And ever since like I've been kind of the bulk of my work.

You know, I've always felt like my whole career, I've been collecting puzzle pieces and building a picture, but then like just when I think I know what that picture is, I get a new piece and I put that and it changes the whole thing and now I don't know what the picture is.

And it's just piece after piece I'm getting a new one, it's always changing the whole picture, and that makes it exciting to keep collecting pieces.

Well, there's that old adage that good art disturbs the comfortable and comforts the disturbed.

And you know, I'm not gonna you know, sit and pretend that like you know, my headspace is all sunshine and roses, but I like stuff that makes me feel something, even if that feeling is awful like at least I'm feeling something from it.

And if I can produce work that gets an emotional response out of people, then I feel like I've really accomplished something.

And if it's going to be a meaningful thing, it has to hit you somewhere inside.

If my child self were able to hop in a time machine and encounter me as I am right now, I would be surprised.

I would be you know, like thrilled to know that you know, those dreams have come true, that I set out after that thing and got it.

Like, I mean, Ghost Rider was huge for me as a kid because it had everything, I loved it.

You know, it was like horror, it looked awesome, he's a big flaming skull and a motorcycle.

You know, he looked like the stuff on the back of my uncle's vest.

And the first paycheck I got at Marvel was doing a cover for Ghost Rider.

So right there, that was like childhood wish fulfillment, right?

It's like this thing that had like you know, had its hooks in me so deep as a kid that it like propelled me into it.

Getting to actually like make a living doing that, man, like, it really doesn't get much sweeter.

The Red River Gorge is one of Kentucky's greatest wild treasures with hundreds of miles of trails just waiting to be explored.

But those trails need care and maintenance so that they can be safely traversed by the thousands of visitors the area welcomes each year.

Lucky for us that's where the Red River Gorge Trail Crew comes in.

Charlie: It's a labor of love to work with people that are out here working because they want to be working, not because they're trying to make more pay or whatever.

Just enjoying the project.

Julie: Red River Gorge Trail Crew Inc, we're a nonprofit, fully volunteer crew just down here to serve and love on the Red River Gorge.

I personally installed these with my crew.

We maintain trails.

We keep the public lands accessible to the public in anyway you can really imagine from bridge building, bridge repair to trail clearing, brushing, repairing some rock slides, or kind of landslides.

We'll install crib walls.

It might just be a muddy section of trail that has -- it's just hard for people to work through.

So we'll put down geo webbing.

We've installed stairs, wood stairs, metal stairs, stone stairs, paint blazes, so we mark the trails for safety.

I mean there's a lot of things that the crew works on that are super important to have visitors be able to stay safe physically, stay on the trail without getting lost.

That you would never know that we came in and did the work but it was really important work.

Charlie: We started this crew.

I say started the crew with the help of some great volunteers in 1998.

When I started with the forest service in '91, I could see that it just wasn't going to be enough labor within the government, within the forest service to get this kind of work done.

It just takes too much volunteer too much effort.

So I started working with volunteers immediately when I first started in '91 and I love it.

Today, we're replacing a very old bridge.

I don't know the date of it, but it was probably built in the 1950s.

And it's still holding up, but it's aging.

The bridge is slumping.

The abutments are rotting out.

So airplanes and bridges you want to fix them before they fail.

And so, we are in the process of building the new abutments around the old abutments.

And I don't know if you've seen the stringers earlier.

We're going to use a hoist we have installed to lift these 1,800 pound stringers that was donated by East Kentucky Power and rebuild the bridge.

It's nearly a 30 foot bridge.

What is so rewarding about my work is I know all jobs are important, but the job that you can walk away from and say, "Look what I've done today," "Look what thousands if not millions of people are going to enjoy."

And when you come back 20 or 30 years later and it's still there or the trail you built is still there, that's super rewarding.

But we do it for the public.

We do it so people can have safe access to the lands.

That's what the Red River Gorge Trail Crew is all about.

Julie: It's awesome.

It's amazingly rewarding.

It's just a super special place.

It feels really good to be able to be a part of it, and see, you know, what I personally have done and what our crew has done.

There's a little bit of pride in our work.

Just being a part of this place is just a really special thing Erin: The first time I found out about Trail Crew, I was watching the KET special from 2011 or 2012 or whenever it was.

And they were interviewing Charlie and they were doing a project, and I thought, "This is really cool."

I like hiking, I like being outdoors, and I signed up.

And back then, I was actually an airfield major.

I was in engineering.

And I was working in an internship, a 9 to 5 kind of job and I absolutely hated it.

I came out here every weekend I could working with Charlie, working with the trail crew, and that made me realize like I want to be out here.

And so, I changed into forestry, and now, I'm an intern with the forest service.

I never had imagined I would be able to do something like this, especially just coming from a hiking background, like I was never that much in the outdoors as a kid and coming out here, like appreciating it, giving back is just beyond words.

And the fact that I can come out here even in a uniform, and just give back to it is just like...

I just feel like I'm dreaming.

Julie: Shortly before coming down through Nada Tunnel, there's a spot where the private-owned land stops and forest land starts.

There's a little picture, little sign of little bear.

And right in that space, nature takes over and the light, just like it is here, it becomes more diffused and everything gets quieter, and everything gets more settled.

And it's... every time I come down here in that little space, [exhaling] I breathe.

And that is what makes this place special.

It's just, I don't know.

And nature just takes you in and says, "Come on in, relax, everything's going to be okay."

So this is my happy place for certain.

It's where I come when I need to unplug, and unwind, and you know, destress.

COVID, like during lockdown, we were here every month and it really was...

It's just very therapeutic, it's beautiful.

All of the geological formations, and you just don't get to see this every day.

So it's definitely a special place that we want to continue serving and protecting.

Kentucky will always be known for its roots in bluegrass music.

But when looking at the music scene in Kentucky today, you'll find a broad range of music and a thriving community of local musicians.

Our next story hearkens back to the 1970s with a classic four-piece rock group named MojoThunder.

Now, over the past few years, the group has toured all over the state.

And through them, we'll look at the music of Kentucky as it exists today and learn what it means to be an up-and-coming rock band amongst the bluegrass.

["Babylon" by MojoThunder playing] Sean: MojoThunder, we're a rock and roll band from Kentucky.

We have a little bit of a southern flair.

If you listen to our playlist what you'll find is probably a bunch of '70s rock and roll, kind of stem from there, and kind of take other influences, more modern influences as we find them and come and come together and try to put it all together.

Bryson: I'll say, we're sort of like historians in respect to the music itself.

So it's like everything from like what Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Elvis Presley were doing in the '50s on up to like you know, Kingsley on My Morning Jacket, and all that.

You know, we sort of draw from that well, and then, try and do it on our own you know what I'm saying.

When you talk about Kentucky music too is it's interesting to go back because you have John Brim who's here.

They're from here.

I think he's from the Louisville area.

He was like a blues guy wrote songs that he may have not have necessarily been popular for himself, but ended up being recorded by other artists that were big.

So you have the like those blues influences in Louisville that eventually somehow lead up to My Morning Jacket.

It's like very alternative rock and roll band.

If you trail back even further you have people like Skeeter Davis who's like a lesser known female artist from here that's really, really good.

And I think when you put all that together, it's kind of like, you get outside of just the bluegrass influence.

And it's like, I mean, I like Bill Monroe and all that stuff, but I much prefer people to talk about Kentucky in a broad sense of all the things that it has to go.

Zach: Cool thing about Kentucky is like, we're like six hours away from a lot of cool cities.

And so, we can... You know, you see like some Lexington artists going to Atlanta for like a gig or something.

Like we help each other out, and we can swap with other areas and I feel like Lexington is starting to be like a kind of a hot spot for other people to swap to places like The Burl and kind of making this place like sought-after to play at.

Sean: The cool part for me is the community behind it all.

Everybody -- I mean, you know, everybody wants to make it to the next level, or to be the top that they can possibly be, like where there's a common community, kind of, like, we might not be the most close of friends, but we're all in this community together, and you can definitely feel that like, kind of, we're all in this together kind of vibe, especially in Kentucky with all the Kentucky artists Bryson: Being from Kentucky, you kind of feel like maybe your voice isn't totally heard all the time, you know.

So I think that inspires a lot of people who want to do great things to show that like, "Hey, we're out here you know, like," we're not LA, we're not New York, but we're Kentucky and that's okay.

Sean: It's fun, it's not for everyone.

You know, we don't stay at five-star hotels.

You know, we cram into cars and we are packed up to the ceiling of the car where you can't see out of it, and we go.

But it's really cool, man.

I mean, we've been able to cultivate and start to build these outside markets.

And so, it's really cool to go back to places and see the same people coming back, and then, see new faces every time.

Andrew: I mean, obviously the music has got a click like how they play and stuff, but there's like a whole another level of, you know, they've got to... you got to be able to stay in a car with this person for nine hours because your engine broke, and you just ran into a horrible solution, but you're going to get to the gig.

You know, like little stupid stories like that, I don't think I could last with certain people.

So I think it's extremely difficult to find the right group.

Bryson: I mean, our goal with music, with MojoThunder is to be able to do what we love for a living.

You know, and that is to me, the ultimate goal.

You know, I've never said, "I want to play Madison Square Garden in a sold-out house," and that -- if it came, I would take it, don't get me wrong.

But that's not what I'm looking for, I'm looking for a dedicated group of fans that is -- that can sustain what we do, and sustain families for us all.

Andrew: I would add on to that, like, as far as a goal is like just being to reach the most people in a sincere way, because it's like when you're growing up, it's like you can kind of be in your room by yourself and you're sort of surrounded by these records that like are very, very impactful to you.

So it's like whether you're doing that for say, like on a smaller scale like we are now, like that is the goal that is making it.

So I guess, the second tier of that is just pushing out as far and wide as you can.

So that way, you can sort of share those moments with people you've never met before, and be impactful with them in some way.

♪ ♪ Alright ♪ ♪ You got me high ♪ ♪ Feeling alive ♪ ♪ Oh, and baby ♪ ♪ Baby ♪ ♪ Come back I need more ♪ ♪ 'Cause you got me high ♪ ♪ On your soul ♪ ♪ Well, we have so enjoyed our time here at the absolutely beautiful Headley-Whitney Museum.

And as always, we've enjoyed having you here with us as well.

I'll leave you now with this moment.

I'm Chip Polston, cherishing this Kentucky Life.