Charles Blevins was a West Virginia folk music artist and the owner of Red Robin Inn, in Borderland, West Virginia.

Career

Blevins began his career in

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

for 16 years, following in the footsteps of generations before him who had worked for the Borderland Coal Corporation in

Mingo County, West Virginia Mingo County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,568. Its county seat and largest city is Williamson. Created in 1895, Mingo is West Virginia's newest county, named for the historic I ...

. He later served in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was stationed aboard the battleship,

USS Alabama At least seven United States Navy ships have been named ''Alabama'', after the southern state of Alabama. * , a 74-gun ship of the line, laid down in 1819, though never completed as such. She was eventually launched in 1864 as the storeship USS&nb ...

Red Robin Inn

After retiring, Blevins opened the Red Robin Inn with his father in 1953 in Borderland, West Virginia. He began his music career performing at the inn, often accompanied by his collection of banjos. His musical journey was deeply inspired by his mother and grandmother, who played various instruments. The

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

closed in 1993 when construction of U.S. Route 119 required the land it occupied. In its memory, a museum called Red Robin Plateau was established across the

Tug Fork The Tug Fork is a tributary of the Big Sandy River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 13, 2011 in southwestern West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, and easter ...

Pike County, Kentucky Pike County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 58,669. Its county seat is Pikeville, Kentucky, Pikeville. The county was founded in 1821. It is ...

Film

Blevins appeared in the

West Virginia Public Broadcasting West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) is the public television and radio state network serving the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is owned by the West Virginia Public Broadcasting Authority, an agency of the state government that holds the l ...

documentary ''Mountaineer'', alongside

Denise Giardina Denise Giardina is an American novelist. Her book '' Storming Heaven'' was a Discovery Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and received the 1987 W. D. Weatherford Award for the best published work about the Appalachian South. '' The Unquiet Ea ...

and Clyde Case. The film explores West Virginia culture and folklore.

Personal life

Blevins is the brother-in-law of Burl Stafford.

Gallery

References