At Randy Owen’s farm in Fort Payne on a recent summer day, the story of two men unfolded like an old country ballad to Yellowhammer News.
One of them grew up to become the voice of a generation: Randy Owen, the iconic frontman of “Alabama” – the most successful country band in history. The other became one of the most powerful men in state politics today – Alabama Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter.
They are also just two mountain boys from DeKalb County. One from Lookout Mountain and the other from Sand Mountain. Farm kids and neighbors in all the ways that count, with only a valley separating them…