Appalachian Figures
Born in the coal camp country of Yeaddiss in Leslie County, Kentucky, Hugh X. Lewis carried the cadence of the hills into Nashville’s studios, onto syndicated television, and back home to Appalachian radio across six decades.
From the coalfields to Music City
Hubert Bradley “Hugh X.” Lewis was born on December 25, 1930, and spent his early years working in the mines before heading south to try his hand as a songwriter and singer in Nashville. By 1964 he had placed “B.J. the D.J.” with Opry star Stonewall Jackson, a No. 1 record that opened doors for his own recording career. The Tennessean’s obituary preserves key family details and origins, while trade press memorials summarize the early break that set his course.
Songwriter and recording artist
Success as a writer led to a run of singles and albums for Kapp Records, including sides like “I’d Better Call the Law on Me,” “You’re So Cold,” and “Evolution and the Bible.” Surviving label artifacts show Lewis on Kapp throughout the mid to late 1960s, and trade listings in Billboard document releases during this period. The 7-inch single “All Heaven Broke Loose” appeared on Kapp 978 in 1969.
Lewis’s music also crossed the border. Contemporary coverage and later summaries note that “All Heaven Broke Loose” charted in Canada, a reminder of how his Appalachian storytelling resonated beyond Kentucky and Tennessee.
A face on television and a name on Printer’s Alley
By the turn of the 1970s Lewis was not only a voice on record but a familiar face on TV. In February 1972 Billboard reported that his nationally syndicated program, The Hugh X. Lewis Country Club, had spurred a real club of the same name in Nashville’s Printer’s Alley, where he performed and hosted other acts. The same era’s World of Country Music roster placed him with Buddy Lee Attractions, an industry snapshot of where he stood in the touring world.
Poet of faith and the hills
Lewis’s second career as a performer of inspirational verse grew alongside his gospel recordings. In 2006 the Tennessee General Assembly recognized that work formally, designating him “Poet Laureate of Christian Country Music” through Senate Joint Resolution 527. Legislative journals record the measure’s passage.
Bringing it back home to Appalachia
Late in life Lewis returned his stories and songs directly to mountain audiences. MusicRow noted that beginning in 2017 he hosted a weekly gospel program, The Christian Country Store, on Hazard’s WSGS and sister station WKIC, a nice full-circle moment for a Leslie County native who had once left the hills to make records in Nashville.
Final years and legacy
Lewis died in Nashville on December 29, 2020, four days after his 90th birthday. Obituaries outline a life that stretched from Harlan and Leslie counties to Printer’s Alley and back to the airwaves of eastern Kentucky, with his family and his faith seldom far from view.
Sources and further reading
Tennessee General Assembly, Senate Joint Resolution 527 designating “Colonel Hugh X. Lewis” the Poet Laureate of Christian Country Music, filed Jan. 26, 2006. Tennessee General Assembly
Tennessee House Journal entry noting SJR 527 received and adopted, Feb. 27, 2006. Tennessee General Assembly
Billboard, Feb. 12, 1972. “Television Success Prompts Hugh X. Lewis Club Debut” (Printer’s Alley club and TV show). World Radio History
Billboard, Oct. 21, 1972, World of Country Music roster listing “LEWIS, HUGH X. (Vocalist), MGM; BA/PM: Buddy Lee.” World Radio History
Billboard, Apr. 26, 1969. Trade listing for “Hugh X. Lewis, Kapp 978” aligning with the single “All Heaven Broke Loose.” World Radio History
Discogs entries documenting physical releases: All Heaven Broke Loose (Kapp K-978) and the LP The Hugh X. Lewis Album. Discogs+2Discogs+2
The Tennessean via Legacy: “Hubert Bradley Lewis (Colonel Hugh X. Lewis),” Jan. 14–17, 2021. Legacy
Robert K. Oermann, MusicRow: “Country Entertainer Hugh X. Lewis Dies at Age 90,” Jan. 19, 2021. MusicRow.com
Baptist & Reflector: “B&R ‘Ambassador’ Hugh X. Lewis Dies,” Jan. 15, 2021, noting his long-running poetry columns and the 2006 resolution. Baptist & Reflector