I once spent an afternoon learning how to bake biscuits with a nice Kentucky lady. I don't have the recipe with me, but I know it uses buttermilk, and oil, instead of shortening or lard.
Malva didn't roll her biscuits out--instead, she floured her hands, grabbed a quarter cup or so of dough, and patted it into shape. She brushed the top of each biscuit with melted butter, and baked them in a hot oven for 10 minutes. At that point, they were done, but not brown, so she turned the broiler on to brown the tops.
At this point, she said, "Now, honey, when you turn that broiler on, your only job is to watch the biscuits. Let the baby cry, let the dog bark, just keep your eye on them biscuits." Because, as I found out for myself, it is a short step from toasty brown to charcoal.
If you bake them til they are brown, they are often dry--the little bit of broiling at the end lets you have brown biscuits with moist middles.
My older son thinks no meal is complete without biscuits and gravy--he wasn't born in Kentucky, but he spent his formative years there.