“Who Will Watch the Home Place” was written by Kate Long, a songwriter from West Virginia. Laurie Lewis recorded it in 1993, and her version brought the song wide attention in bluegrass.
The song asks a quiet, aching question about a family farm. With the old people gone, the singer wonders who will tend the home place now — who will keep the garden, mind the graves, and hold the land that generations have loved. It is an elegy for a way of life as much as for a place.
The song has become a modern bluegrass standard, recorded by many artists.