Lance and April Ledbetter at the music studio, Dust-to-Digital, they run out of their home in Atlanta. Lance Ledbetter is a LaFayette, Georgia, native. A 2018 release produced by Dust-to-Digital, "Voices of Mississippi," picked up two Grammys in Sunday's awards ceremony in Los Angeles.In TV news this week, a LaFayette, Georgia, native took home two Grammy Awards and an Ooltewah couple won $12,000 on "Wheel of Fortune."
Meanwhile, a former Chattanooga resident is earning a reputation as a vixen on the reality show "Temptation Island."
Let's recap.
Grammy Awards
The Grammy wins came Sunday in Los Angeles for music producer Lance Ledbetter, founder of the preservation record label Dust-to-Digital, which documents America's musical heritage.
The label's "Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris" earned trophies in both categories in which it was nominated: Best Historical Album and Best Liner Notes for the 120-page book that accompanies the recordings.
These are not the first Grammy nods for Ledbetter. Now living in Atlanta, he and wife April run Dust-to-Digital from their home. Since 2003, 10 of their projects have been nominated for a total of 13 Grammys and won four.
Nine years in the making, "Voices of Mississippi" contains two discs of Ferris' blues and gospel recordings from the 1960s and '70s, one disc of recorded stories and a DVD of documentaries Ferris, a Mississippi folklorist, made in the 1970s and early 1980s.
'Wheel of Fortune'
Meanwhile, Thursday, Travis and Bethany Goccia of Ooltewah were featured on "Wheel of Fortune's" Sweethearts Week, competing against two other couples to solve hangman-style puzzles for a chance to win vacations, cars and cash prizes. They taped the episode a month ago in Los Angeles.
"That was the longest four weeks ever," Bethany Goccia said Friday. "We weren't allowed to say anything."
They ended their run in second place with an all-cash total of $12,750 (before taxes). They were on track for more, until they spun to that dreaded bankrupt slot on the wheel, which wiped out their initial earnings.
Goccia said she was nervous at first, but she warmed up as the game went on.
"By the end, I was really relaxed and able to solve [the puzzles] quickly, the way I do in the comfort of my own living room," she said.
The Goccias applied to be contestants on the show at a Wheelmobile event in Nashville in November. They didn't make the cut then, but she was contacted later and told she could try again individually or as a couple for the valentine-themed week.
The highlight of the experience was being able to play as a pair with her husband. "It was much better to do it with him," she said.
The Goccias, both in their 30s, have been married 12 years and have two children, ages 10 and 11. Travis is a sales representative and national trainer for a hardware company. Bethany is a student who also works part time at a church.
The winning "Wheel" couple, newlyweds from Colorado, ended up with $56,620 in cash and prizes.
'Temptation Island'
Katheryn Golden, a former Chattanooga resident now living in Nashville, was the single "Southern hottie," as described by the show, who was blocked from dating one of the coupled men by the man's longtime girlfriend in an early episode of "Temptation Island."
Recently rebooted by USA Network from an early 2000s Fox series, "Temptation Island" follows four unmarried couples at a crossroads in their relationships as they are brought together in an exotic locale with 12 eligible men and 12 eligible women to test the couples' commitment. The aim is to see if the couples should stay together or if each person could be tempted to split from their current partner. The singles are there looking for love and are not shy about going after it.
Besides being prevented from dating her pick of the coupled men, Golden has been at the center of an argument with another single in the house they are sharing.
Chattanooga viewers may recall seeing Golden on an episode of "First Dates" that aired on NBC in 2017. She memorably told her blind date: "Wine makes me crazy, champagne makes me psycho, and I had both."
"Temptation Island" airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. Read more about Golden's experiences on "Temptation Island" in the Feb. 24 issue of the Times Free Press.
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.