What do you do when you no longer identify with the place you call home? Wayne Graham-the band guided by brothers Kenny and Hayden Miles-is the product of Whitesburg, Kentucky, a small town of fewer than 2,000 souls on the extreme eastern end of the state, almost in western Virginia. That's where they grew up, where they learned to play music from their family, where they served as the rhythm section for their father's small church, where they started making music together in a band with an unusual moniker, and it's where Hayden still lives. "Our music is the way it is because we're from here," he says. "It's very specifically Kentucky."
As adults, however, they find themselves increasingly alienated from the culture and values of the place, a small town not unlike so many other small towns in America. "I feel very fortunate to be able to say we're from here, and it's inspiring to watch other people from this region find success," says Kenny, who lives two hours away in Lexington, Kentucky. At the same time it can be very isolating. It feels strange to play our hometown, because our music isn't what people are looking for here. Sometimes Wayne Graham feels like a square peg in a round hole."