Fat Baby Studios – a funny name behind the production of some seriously awesome music.
Located in the basement of a house in Whitesburg, Kentucky, Fat Baby Studios was started by Letcher County native, Kenny Miles, after he moved back to Kentucky following a brief stint in Nashville.
“First someone has to die to make some space there,” Miles said of Nashville. “Kentucky music is simply better. The community is more supportive, and everyone is more focused on quality rather than on climbing a ladder.”
Miles’s practiced ear and experience as a sound engineer has the studio producing albums for rising artists like Senora May (Estill County), Sean Whiting (Pike County), and Josh Nolan (Powell County). Other Kentucky music favorites like Laid Back Country Picker (Lawrence County), Luna and the Mountain Jets (Lawrence County), Slut Pill (Letcher County), and Brett Ratliff (Johnson County) are also in the studio’s portfolio.
An artist himself, Miles and his brother, Hayden, started the band Wayne Graham in 2010. They’re currently on tour in Europe.
Signed by two German labels (K&F Records and Hometown Caravan) and one Denmark label (Celebration Records), Rolling Stone Germany wrote a feature article, “This Season’s Beards,” about the band in October 2018. The article came after the band made huge waves in Germany. Their album was chosen as one of the Top 20 albums of 2018, their song was chosen as a top song of 2018, and the album was featured as the Top Critic’s Pick in Rolling Stone Germany for three months in a row.
Though the name for Fat Baby Studios came about a bit randomly, the name for the band has significant family meaning. It comes from the first names of the brothers’ paternal and maternal grandfathers, Wayne Miles and Graham Kincer.
Kenny and Hayden say: “Our music is about family. When you take a listen, you become part of the story because we sing about the joys and trials that every family faces.” A four-piece band, Kenny is on vocals and guitar, Hayden on drums, and fellow Kentuckians, Lee Owen and Chris Justice are on lead guitar and bass.
While playing music is an age-old eastern Kentucky tradition, many times this music has been taken out of state for final production in studios in Nashville and elsewhere. Wayne Graham and Fat Baby Studios are making and producing music in the Kentucky hills – the very hills that inspired the music.
Though the Miles brothers are taking their music worldwide, they are keeping money local and building up the music industry in eastern Kentucky through their studio – a perfect example of Appalachia’s New Day.
About: Appalachia’s New Day is a new storytelling effort offered by MACED to eastern Kentucky communities. We can work with you to help identify, shape and amplify stories about businesses, programs and initiatives in your community that are helping build a new economy in eastern Kentucky. Read more stories here. Contact us or sign up here if you would like more details.
