In August 1927, Alvin Pleasant Delaney “A.P.” Carter convinced wife Sara and sister-in-law Maybelle to drive to Bristol, Tennessee. There, they auditioned for record producer Ralph Peer, who was on the hunt for new talent in the still-fledgling recording industry. Thus, the Carter Family—still regarded today as country music’s first family—was born. From 1927 to 1941, country music’s first star vocal group produced hits like “Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)” and “Keep on the Sunny Side”. And certainly, A.P. and Sara Carter were largely responsible for bringing country music out of the mountains and to the masses. However, it was their daughter, Janette Carter, who kept the torch burning long after the Carter Family disbanded. Today we’re remembering her on what would have marked her 102nd birthday.
Janette Carter Kept Her Father’s Legacy Alive
Born on July 2, 1923, in Maces Spring, Virginia, Janette Carter learned to play the autoharp from her mother, Sarah.
As children, she and younger brother Joe joined their parents on a series of recordings for the Acme label. The siblings would later record a mix of their own material and songs previously recorded by members of the Carter Family.
Her interest in preserving the music of her homeland started at an early age, when she helped her father collect traditional folk tunes from rural singers.
A.P. Carter would jot down the lyrics and Janette would commit them to memory. He affectionately referred to his younger daughter as “my little tape recorder.”
In the twilight years of her father’s life, Janette promised him she would continue his work of preserving and spreading the traditional music of their mountainous homeland.
True to her word, she began hosting informal music programs in the store that her father operated in southwestern Virginia.
In 1976, Carter enlisted help from community members to build an 880-seat amphitheater, the Carter Family Fold, beside the store.
In a display of true Appalachian industriousness, the project salvaged seats from old school buses and fashioned benches from railroad ties.
Today, the Carter Family Fold draws more than 50,000 visitors a year. A staunch traditionalist, Janette Carter banned electric instruments at the venue. She allowed only two exceptions: Johnny Cash—husband of her cousin, June Carter Cash—and Marty Stuart.
Country Music’s “Voice in the Wilderness”
In 2005, Janette Carter’s tireless advocacy for Appalachian music earned her a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. This is the nation’s highest honor for folk and traditional artists.
Writing in support of her nomination, Stuart called Carter “our voice in the wilderness. Our diamond in the rough. The child of country music’s royal people. She was there in the beginning when country music was discovered. She drank of the original cup and she is now the foundation that sustains us as our spirit grows thirsty in a sea of musical conformity.”
Janette Carter died on January 22, 2006, in Kingsport, Tennessee, after battling Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses. She was 82 years old.
A tribute from independent music publisher peermusic—founded by Ralph Peer himself—called Janette Carter “the beloved matriarch of country music’s founding family.”
Featured image by Robert Alexander/Archive Photos/Getty Images
The post Born 102 Years Ago on This Day in Virginia, the “Beloved Matriarch of Country Music’s Founding Family” appeared first on American Songwriter.
Author: Erinn Callahan
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