Janette Carter

The Carter Family Fold is located just off A.P. Carter Memorial Highway in a place locals call Poor Valley. Ridges of the Appalachian Mountains rise and fall in every direction, with a few small homes cradled between. This is technically Hiltons, Va., with “no more than a couple thousand people scattered around,” says Janette Carter, founder of the Fold.

Despite the modest size and remote location of the town, nearly every Saturday night as many as 800 people—usually from several states and sometimes a foreign country or two—gather at the Fold to hear the kind of old-time country and gospel music made popular in the 1920s. Bands with names like Morning Dew and Reedy Creek play acoustic fiddles, autoharps, mandolins, and banjos, while the enthusiastic audience claps and clogs on the dance floor.

“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” says Summerlin Lotz, a student at the University of Virginia who visited the Fold recently. “It’s so much fun just to jump around and not be embarrassed, and I’m really impressed by the participation of the older people.”

Like Lotz, most of the attendees come simply to have a good time. But Janette’s goal is more personal; she founded the nonprofit Fold in the 1970s to honor the Original Carter Family, which included her parents, Sara and A.P. Carter, and her aunt Maybelle, (whose daughter June, also an accomplished performer, is married to Johnny Cash).

In 1927, the group auditioned for the Victor Talking Machine Company and was granted a recording session in nearby Bristol, Tenn./Va., a border-straddling town now considered by many to be the “Birthplace of Country Music.” These recordings are credited with sparking the modern country music movement, leading many historians to declare the Carters the “First Family of Country Music.” The band eventually recorded more than 300 songs, earning worldwide acclaim and influencing musicians for generations.

“Before he died, my daddy asked me to try to carry on his music, and I told him I would,” Janette explains. “And when you make a promise, you keep it if you possibly can.”

If anybody could keep such a promise, it would be Janette, says Joe Smiddy, a musician and family friend. “Janette doesn’t push and she doesn’t lead,” he explains. “She just outworks everybody.”

Her formula for success includes strictly acoustic old-time or bluegrass performances, an equally strict “no alcohol” rule, and a rustic setting with exposed beams, carpeted walls, and patches of exposed dirt floor. The stage itself is just as casual: A vintage green sofa, scattered dining chairs, mounted deer heads, and poster-size pictures of the Original Carter Family are the only ornamentation.

The show begins with Janette performing a couple of Carter Family tunes with her brother, Joe, and son Dale. They might play a mournful version of Lonesome Valley or a snatch of a new half-written song they want to try out on listeners. Then they turn the evening over to the featured bands, some of which travel hundreds of miles just to perform on the famous stage.

“She has a good band every week,” says Knoxie Johnson, who has visited the Fold regularly for more than 20 years. “I’d rather go there than anywhere when it comes to music and entertainment.”

Charlotte Johnson, who often helps out at the Fold, remembers an incident that illustrates the venue’s strong appeal. “One night, a man came in and said, ‘I’ve finally moved close enough so I could get here.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s good. Where did you move to?’ And he said, ‘Baltimore.’ That’s 10 hours away.”

Between sessions, guests are free to wander the Carter Family Museum next door. The music memorabilia includes autographed photos of Johnny Cash, Tom T. Hall, and Marty Stuart, each of whom has performed benefit concerts at the Fold. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Arts Commission also support the Carter Family Fold.

“This was a farming area and people used to laugh when you talked about tourism,” Smiddy says. “But now you regularly have people staying in our motels and eating in our restaurants.

“Janette is a unique, one-of-a-kind person who is doing us all a favor by preserving this good time and this heritage for us.”

Janette agrees the format has worked well. “I think they would be pleased,” she says of her parents. “And I’m happy with what I’ve done. But I give God the credit. That’s who I depend on.”

Kara Carden is a regular American Profile contributor.

Upload Your Own Stories, Photos and Videos

Every week, American Profile magazine brings you stories that celebrate the people and places that make America great. Now we want to hear your stories and see your photos, videos and even audio.

 Start Uploading Now!

 

Discuss this Article