In the hollers of Kentucky out on Leatherwood Creek
Lived a moonshinin' preacher with a family to feed
He cooked up corn grain whiskey and his blackberry wine
And sold five gallon demijohns 'til he was ninety-nine

His name was Billy Mize and he knew his whiskey well
He charged a silver dollar for a little taste of hell
And built a pinewood cabin with a shotgun on the wall
To keep his family warm at night when snow began to fall

[Chorus]
Billy Mize, the stories he could tell
Billy Mize, the life he knew so well
Became the Moonshinin' Preacher's Tale

His reputation spread throughout the holler far and near
As the maker of the finest shine and sweet persimmon beer
Twenty parts molasses with baker's yeast mixed in
Fifteen parts of barleycorn and ninety parts of sin

Billy Mize was always one step faster than the law
The smartest blockade runner revenuers never saw
But then one day the government got wind of where he hid
And Special Agent Russell Gert was sent to bring him in

[Chorus]

Billy Mize was sleeping tight with one eye open wide
And one finger on his shotgun when he heard a stir outside
He pulled the rusty trigger - blew a whole right through the door
Then Special Agent Russell Gert lay dead upon the floor

[Chorus]