Any bluegrass cover band playing at a bar has probably heard unwanted requests like Rocky Top. Many bands cringe and/or make disparaging comments. After all, Rocky Top is overplayed and overdone… or is it?
Really, any request indicates you have an interested audience and that is good thing. Rocky Top is a good Osborne Brothers song even if a request for the number drives your band crazy. My advice for bands is to satisfy requests for popular bluegrass songs like Rocky Top. For a new listener who may only know one or two bluegrass songs, having the band respond to his request and enthusiastically perform the number can only have a positive impact.
Perhaps bands should play Rocky Top if requested, and follow it up with another good Osborne Brothers song to help develop the new fan’s interest.
Here are my favorite Osborne Brothers recordings:
Rocky Top 
Up This Hill and Down
The Kind Of Woman I Got
Ruby Are You Mad At Your Man
Love Hurts — (an interesting alternate to the Nazareth version)