Last night, a group of us took a field trip to Hltons, VA, to see the Carter Family Fold—the place where AP Carter, his wife Sara and her cousin Maybelle would begin the origins of what is country music. (This is also the Carter family from which June Carter Cash comes.) It was a beautiful hour and a half drive through Tennessee (my first time ever actually in Tennessee!) and the extreme southwestern tip of Virginia.
The stage was incredible! In fact, I busted past the ticket guy where I needed to pay my admission of $5 just because I was so excited about getting pictures. My friend Leigh started laughing because I jumped a fence so to speak (in this case a small concrete barrier) to get to the stage to take photos. The stage really was something else. A complete and total shrine to the family. You can see a picture of it above. My friend Leigh commented, "I don't know whether the people around here worship God or the Carters more." (I will have you know that I did go back and pay my money!)
They had all sorts of Carter memorabilia (even a plethora of cassette tapes and 21 t-shirt varieties), a museum, and some great popcorn to buy for the show. The whole concert space is set up for families, and the groups that play there each Saturday night have to be bluegrass or old time music types and can only play with acoustic instruments. The evening always starts with a three members of the Carter clan playing some Carter family songs. One of the songs we heard last night was "Orphan Child"—one of the six first recordings from 1927.
There was also plenty of "Southern" being spoken here—the strongest accents I have heard yet. I really felt like I was in the deep south. My friend Leigh from South Carolina even commented that she couldn't say the word "fold" like most of the people who seemed to be making it into two syllables. And they most definitely were. Just try it—fold in two syllables. We also saw this cute old man at the museum who really could be "old as the hills" in his overalls. I could write a story using him as a main character. So Southern!
The actual headlining group of the night was the Jeanette Williams Band—a banjo, fiddler, two acoustic guitars, string bass, and mandolin. They were good and got the people going early. The custom is that people come to the front and start dancing—usually clogging. People even had their clogging shoes with the taps, and the area has mics in order to pick up on the tapping sounds for all to enjoy. I thought the greatest part of the clogging was the younger guy in his surf t-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap who was the best clogger on the floor. He so did not look like a guy who would clog, but he was amazing.
It was a fun experience and definitely something I am glad I took time for. The music was excellent and the atmosphere unbelievable. If you ever happen to head out in the direction of "the Crooked Road" as they call it, you should take in a Saturday night. It is well worth it!
One last bonus photo for your viewing enjoyment: Leigh and I help advertise the place. Aren't we lovely?!?
For more info, see:
carterfamilyfold.org
thecrookedroad.org
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