18 Wheels and an Opry Induction: Kathy Mattea’s career comes full circle

By Matthew Young, RealWV

Walk the Way the Wind Blows

“When Charlie McCoy interrupted ‘18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses’ to walk out on the stage and invite me to be an Opry member…I thought, ‘This will never happen to you again in your life, so you should just enjoy this moment.’”

That’s how Kathy Mattea described the moment she learned of her upcoming Grand Ole Opry induction. The invitation came on August 9 – right smack in the middle of what Kathy first assumed would be a standard Saturday Opry performance, much like the ones she has performed on Nashville’s world famous stage countless times before. But with McCoy’s unexpected interruption and invitation, Kathy’s standard Saturday quickly became the culmination of her life’s work.

“I was looking out at the Opry House, which was full to the top row of the top balcony,” Kathy said. “Suddenly everyone was on their feet, clapping. The house lights were up, and I could see all of them. I could see every person.”

“I felt like the sun came out, and was beaming on me,” Kathy added, “and I was just standing there letting it hit me.”

RealWV, on Thursday, had the chance to speak with the two-time Grammy winner about becoming the Opry’s newest member – which will officially happen on October 11 – and what goes into making such an event come to life. 

“Friends are coming in from out of town to be there, and other friends are coming in to play on the show,” Kathy told us. “So there’s a little bit of the ‘hey, do you know what you’re going to wear?’ And all the other fun stuff that you get to do.”

Born in South Charleston, Kathy lived with her family in the Cross Lanes area of Kanawha County before attending college for a time at West Virginia University. Kathy left the Mountain State for Nashville in 1976 to chase her musical dreams – and caught them, she did. Since releasing her self-titled debut album in 1984, Kathy has gone on to win four Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards, four Country Music Association (CMA) Awards, and two Grammy Awards. In 2011, Kathy was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.

In 1988, “18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses” – the song Charlie McCoy walked out onto the Opry stage to interrupt on August 9 – spent two consecutive weeks atop the country charts, becoming Kathy’s most recognizable song in the process. 

“I’ve had two managers in my long career,” Kathy told us. “One of them quit the business when he turned 40 – he said, ‘I’m gonna be done when I turn 40.’ But we’re still friends.”

“So he called me up to say, ‘Well this is a full-circle moment,’” Kathy added, with a smile in her voice. “My first agent called me, and my high school friend from West Virginia – whose dad introduced me to bluegrass for the first time – she’s gonna drive to Nashville to be there.”

College friends, roommates, and bandmates are among the unexpected list of well-wishers Kathy has recently heard from, she said, noting that, “That has been maybe the sweetest part of the whole thing.”

“I’m very lucky,” Kathy added. 

Hello, My Name is Coal

Since its inception in 1983, Kathy has been a regular guest on Mountain Stage – West Virginia’s celebrated performance-radio program. In fact, Kathy became so synonymous with the show, that when co-founder Larry Groce decided to retire from his hosting-role after 38 years, It was Kathy that he chose as his successor. 

“For my entire career, I have come and played on Mountain Stage,” Kathy said. “The way I describe it, for me, it’s sort of like running the bases and touching homeplate – every time I would put out a record, I would come and play Mountain Stage.”

“There’s a real long connection with the show,” Kathy added, “and a real sense that the arc of all the years of the show is directly parallel to the arc of my career.”

Kathy officially took the reins as host of Mountain Stage in September of 2021. However, she got her start as the show’s guest host well before her hosting duties became permanent. 

“I had been playing at the Birchmere, outside of D.C., and Andy Ridenour came out,” Kathy recalled. “Andy was one of the founders with Larry (Groce) and Francis Fisher, and Andy was the longtime executive producer.”

“Andy was telling me about somebody guest hosting Mountain Stage, and I said, ‘Well nobody’s ever asked me to guest host Mountain Stage,’” Kathy continued, adding that Ridenour then immediately asked if she would be interested. “I said, ‘Oh, it sounds like it’d be a great adventure.’”

Despite the extreme amount of work required to produce an episode of the program, Kathy explained, she found it incredibly fun. 

“It’s a whole different way of focusing, but I really enjoyed it,” Kathy noted. “So they started asking me, every once in a while, if I would come and guest host.”

When the offer was ultimately made for her to become the show’s permanent host, Kathy says she “thought long and hard about it” before accepting.

“They said they couldn’t find anybody that feels like the right fit,” Kathy explained. “They said that I was the first person they’d had that really gets it, and maybe that’s because ‘you’ve sort of been here from the beginning.’”

“It’s quite a commitment,” Kathy added. “But when I really sat down to think about it, I thought, ‘This checks all the boxes of things that I think are important in the world.’”

“I think that the platform it provides for artists is really important,” Kathy said. “The platform it provides for West Virginia culture and hillbilly culture – not in the stereotypical way, but in the real, ‘West Virginia hospitality’ kind of way – for that to be brought forward, is really important.”

“Just about every way I sliced it, I could not say no,” Kathy added. “Taking on a new job at this place in my career is not really something I thought would happen, but I’m really glad I said yes. I love that place, and I love all the people.”

Life as We Knew It

Despite leaving West Virginia before her twentieth birthday – trading her life as she knew it in the Mountain State for the bright lights of Music City – Kathy clings tightly to her roots, and the foundation upon which she has built her impressive career. 

“I think West Virginia is one of the last places where people feel attached to a sense of place,” Kathy said. “Where your family, and your parents, and their parents, and all your aunts and uncles – everybody lives close.”

“People don’t think, ‘Oh, where do I want to live?” Kathy continued. “Why would you want to leave? This is home.”

“I think in our transient culture, as it speeds up and moves more and more, people feel that sense of grounding that you get when you grew up next to a mountain that your parents grew up next to, and your grandparents grew up next to,” Kathy added. “When you run the same roads that all your cousins run. When you know the ins and outs of a place, and there’s a sense of history and community.”

“I moved to Nashville when I was 19, but I don’t think of myself as a Nashvillian,” Kathy noted. “I think of myself as an expatriated West Virginian. I think of myself as someone from West Virginia, who happens to have to live in Nashville for my job.”

18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses

While Kathy says she’s not entirely sure what to expect on the day of her induction into the Grand Ole Opry, she will most assuredly be performing. 

“I’ll probably do a normal set, which is usually about four songs,” Kathy explained. “There’s still the actual Opry show that’ll go on – this (my induction) is a part of it.”

Though initially unsure how long of a set she would be playing during her induction, Kathy told us that she was a bit relieved to learn she would not be expected to carry the entire show.

“I’m happy to let it unfold and let them steer the ship and tell me how I fit in,” Kathy said. “So we’ll see – it’s kind of all still in the planning stages.”

“It’s fun,” Kathy added. “You get to say what you’d wish for, and then they plan the party.”

As far as which of her songs attendees can expect to hear as part of her set on that special day, Kathy plans to break out her greatest hits.

“We’ll do ‘18 Wheels,’” Kathy says, “And we’ll do ‘Come From the Heart.’ Maybe ‘Where Have You Been’ – some of the songs that I’m known for, and that have lived as highlights over a long period of time. They seem to mean something to the most people.”

“I feel like my job is to go be ‘Kathy Mattea,’ so I’m not gonna do a bunch of obscure stuff,”  Kathy explained, adding that she may do something “as a surprise.”

In addition to her fan-favorite hits, Kathy noted her desire to perform a song from the “Coal” album.

“That record meant so much to me, and also it feels like a nod back to West Virginia,” Kathy said. “That would be a sweet thing to do in that moment – especially with Charlie McCoy there.”

“We’ll see how it all unfolds,” Kathy added.

Kathy Mattea will be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday, October 11. For more information, including a list of additional scheduled performers, or to purchase tickets, visit opry.com.