Maybelle Carter and the Carter Family

A country music legend, Maybelle Carter was born Maybelle Addington in the small town of Midway in the mountains of Virginia. She was the sixth of 10 children born to Margaret Elizabeth Kilgore and Hugh Jack Addington, a farmer and a businessman who owned a local store and lumber mill. She began signing as a young child and learned to play the banjo and autoharp. At the age of 13, she began playing the guitar and her mother began teaching all of the children folk songs which they performed at parties and dances the family hosted. At the age of 15, she dropped out of high school to join the performances of A. P. Carter and his wife Sara. She played the guitar and added her voice to their three-part harmonies. In December 1925, she met A. P.’s brother Ezra, fell in love, and soon after married at the young age of 16 (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia).

In 1927, Maybelle, A. P. Carter, and Sara travelled to Bristol, Tennessee to audition for record producer Ralph Peer. The audition was successful as the trio was offered a contract and the original Carter Family began to release songs on the Victor label. During their time in Bristol, The Carter Family recorded six songs that exceeded the expectations of Ralph Peer (Britannica Concise). The songs included country music classics “Poor Orphan Child”, Wandering Boy” and the Storms Are on the Ocean” (All Music). Their music was such a success because of the songs that were passed down from generation to generation. They transformed folk songs and religious songs by adding harmonies and instrumentation for the autoharp and guitar. Maybelle had a unique style when playing the guitar. She would play the base line with her thumb while her fingers strummed the melody. The style is known as the “Carter Scratch” which influenced the direction of country and folk music for decades. Their music went on to have an enormous influence on all of music, not only country, but modern rock and blues. Maybelle’s guitar...