Keeping The Old Time And Bluegrass Music Alive Every Saturday Night In Honor Of The Carter Family
Out of its trials and tribulations, its frontier-spirit and quest for freedom, America has given birth to some of the most influential musical genres that now circle the globe. The Jazz from New Orleans, the blues from the Mississippi, and the country music from the Appalachians. And every Saturday night, except during inclement weather, the old time country music lives on at a place that raised (and still raises) the most famous country music family - the Carter Family.
The original Carter Family - A.P. Carter, Sara Carter, and Maybelle Carter - were all from the area around Clinch Mountain. "Granddad (A.P.) is from this side of the mountain and Sara and Maybelle are from the other side of the mountain," explains Rita Forrester, granddaughter of A.P. and Sara Carter. Ms. Forrester now runs The Carter Family Fold, which keeps the old time and bluegrass music alive every Saturday night in honor of The Carter Family, and was originally started by Forrester's mother, Janette Carter. "Granddad told my momma on his deathbed that he wants the music to live on," Forrester explains, "and momma said 'Daddy, I'm basically a single mom, but I will try my best.'" Janette started to house concerts in the old store that AP ran after he retired from music in 1976. "The first show had an audience that went to the parking lot," Forrester recalls. In 1978, they built the building that is currently used by the fold. It has been running, now by Ms. Forrester, for the past 42 years.
The music that is played is much like the music that A.P. collected in the 1930s in Appalachia. "Most of the poems and songs he collected came over from Ireland, England, and Scotland," Forrester says. A.P. would arrange and write music to the poems and consolidate them into a little over 3 minutes - the length of one side of a 78. "Sometimes the poems would have 13-14 verses, so Granddad would pick out the verses that most tell the story and make it into a song," Forrester explains.
The songs that were sung tell the stories of the Carters and the people of the area. "They very much lived these songs," Forrester says. They are songs filled with heartbreak, religion, superstition, and country life. "My granddad was one of the best men I knew," Forrester says, "his conduct was influenced by his mother." Forrester says she always felt close to her great-grandmother, A.P.'s mom, as "Grandma Carter was the gold standard." A.P. was her oldest child and she always felt that he was "marked."
Forrester says she used to hear a family story that when Grandma Carter was out picking apples when she was pregnant with A.P. and lightning struck right in front of her. A.P. had a tremor in his hand from the time he was born until "one day before he died" that the family attributes the lightning. Although the tremor caused him to leave school in the 3rd grade, he, along with his then-wife Sara and sister-in-law Maybelle, made one of the most influential groups in history.
Of course, no mention of the Carter Family or the Fold would be complete with its most famous member - Johnny Cash. Johnny was a son-in-law of the family, married to June Carter who was the daughter of Maybelle, Forrester's great-aunt. "Johnny was the fold's biggest advocate, even bigger than the Carters," Forrester explains. June and Johnny would come and play every chance they got. Johnny was one of the only people who were ever allowed to play plugged in - almost all shows are completely acoustic. "Aunt Maybelle used to say Johnny was already plugged in when we met him so we can't change that," Forrester chuckles. Johnny played at the Carter Family Fold up until he died in 2003.
With all this music around, one would think that Rita Forrester would be enthusiastic about being a part of that world, but it wasn’t the case. “Most people think music is easy, but it is actually really difficult on families,” Forrester explains, “I wanted to get as far away from music and live a normal life.” Forrester says she blamed music for causing divorce in both her grandparents (A.P. and Sara) and her parents. Eventually, though, “I saw how much the fold meant to momma and how much it would have meant to granddad, so here I am,” Forrester says.
Now she volunteers her weekends (she also works a full-time job) to the fold – helping to cook the country food and setup the shows every Saturday where people come from all over the world to participate in. “All are welcome and we want people to feel the warmth of the mountain people,” Forrester says. She says, “you can find a baby and a 90 year old on the dance floor at the same time and all are smiling.” Forrester hopes that the fold continues for a long time after she is gone. She does it is because of the effect it has on its participants. “I once received a letter from a lady who brought her sick dad to a Saturday night,” Forrester says, “and she said it was one of the last times she saw her dad really smile… and that is why I do it.”
Andrew Malo
A graduate of Northeastern Illinois University in Education, Andrew has taught for the past decade in Chicago, New Mexico, and Japan. He enjoys tinkering with trucks and motorcycles, woodworking, reading and computer programming.
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