Vickie Vaughn is bringing one of John Hartford’s Kentucky songs back home with her new recording of “Paducah.”
Due Sept. 4 through Mountain Home Music Company, the single is Vaughn’s first new music since her 2025 debut album, Travel On.
For the western Kentucky native, however, “Paducah” goes back much further.
Vickie Vaughn First Heard ‘Paducah’ at Murray State
Vaughn first encountered Hartford’s song about 20 years ago when a friend performed it on the campus of Murray State University.
“I thought it was so dang cool and humorous that I asked him about it immediately after he played it,” Vaughn said. “Since then, I’ve been dying to put my own spin on it.”
Hartford originally recorded “Paducah” in 1978. The song plays with the sound and rhythm of the western Kentucky river city’s name while moving with the feel of a riverboat.
That makes it a natural choice for Vaughn, whose own musical story began in the same part of the state.
‘Paducah’ Lets Vaughn Put Her Own Stamp on Hartford
Rather than treating the song as a museum piece, Vaughn gives it a lively modern bluegrass arrangement.
The recording gradually settles into a rolling groove while leaving room for the humor and wordplay in Hartford’s writing.
It also gives Vaughn another chance to bring her bass playing and lead vocal together in the same performance.
That combination has become central to her identity as an artist.
Vickie Vaughn Continues a Strong Run in Bluegrass
Vaughn has won the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Bass Player of the Year award each year since 2023.
She is nominated for the honor again in 2026, along with a nomination for New Artist of the Year.
Beyond her solo work, Vaughn performs with the Grammy-nominated Della Mae and is a founding member of High Fidelity. She has also toured as a backing vocalist for Patty Loveless and performed at the Grand Ole Opry.
Her solo recordings have given her another outlet for the influences that shaped her growing up in Kentucky.
On “Paducah,” that connection is unusually direct.
A song Vaughn first heard on a Kentucky college campus two decades ago has now become part of her own catalog.