Pulled from Naomi Judd’s personal notebook, this 1979 page reveals the earliest sparks of what would become The Judds. At the time, Naomi and Wynonna were performing under the name Kentucky Sweethearts, and here, Naomi is deep in creative motion, She's trying on names, sketching concepts, and laying the groundwork for the duo’s public identity.
Naomi explores branding ideas like “Naomi & Wynonna,” “Southern Belles,” and “The Hearthearts,” while outlining everything from a variety TV show to anti-strip mine advocacy, down to specific guitar pickups and press kits. The ideas jump from folk crafts to foreign markets, TV talk shows to Billboard coverage, showing a mind working like a one-woman production company.
And always, her vision was fiercely female. She underlines the success of Patsy Montana, the first woman to sell a million records, and makes a note to consider filmmaker Barbara Kopple’s work, long before Kopple would direct the Judds’ own Emmy-winning documentary.
