Ernest Martin was a talented musician and singer, originally from Clay City in Powell County, Kentucky. In the 1930s he had some success in country music on such radio stations as WNOX in Knoxville, Tennessee. However, at age twenty-two, in about 1936, he began his career as an independent Baptist evangelist which lasted well into the 1980s. He traveled through thousands of miles conducting church revivals and recorded radio programs of preaching and singing. These programs were broadcast on stations in central and eastern Kentucky towns including Corbin, Frankfort, Harrodsburg, Hazard, Mt. Sterling, and Stanton. With sons Ernest and Vernon, he also made several commercial recordings in various formats including 78 rpm, 45 rpm, LP, eight-track, and cassette tapes. The programs in this collection, entitled "Highway to Heaven," date mostly from 1950 and were recorded for a Frankfort, Kentucky station. One additional program was recorded in 1968 for WYGO in Corbin, Kentucky.
