Where there’s No Depression
Carter Fold treasures the tradition of country music’s First Family

by William Cocke

The Carter Family Fold lies tucked away within a rumple of the earth in the far southwestern tip of Virginia. Located in Scott County’s Poor Valley, a narrow crease of land that runs between the massive Clinch Mountain ridge to the west and nubbly Pine Knob to the east, the Fold is a place out of time. And it’s a rarity in these times to come across a place like the Fold that, quietly, unpretentiously, goes about the business of making music.

Consisting of a separate museum and music pavilion, it’s a monument of sorts to the memories of the valley’s most famous former residents: Sara, Maybelle, and A.P. – The Carter Family. Of course there’s a traditional granite monument, but it’s located 22 miles to the east in Bristol, on the Tennessee side of State Street, near the site of the historic 1927 recordings made by Victor Talking Machine Co. talent scout Ralph Peer that are often considered the birth of country music. The Fold, however, is a living, breathing, working organization, run by the current generation of Carters and devoted to the preservation of traditional old-time and bluegrass music.

In many ways, this part of Virginia hearkens more to Tennessee than it does to the Old Dominion. The North Fork of the Holston River, meandering through the valley, is part of the upper Tennessee River drainage, which is linked to the Cumberland River drainage of eastern Kentucky, all of which eventually empties into the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. The cultural geography looks to the Volunteer State as well: Kingsport, Tenn., is but 17 miles south, and Knoxville is the regional big city. Nashville is a good 70 miles closer than Richmond.

Yet it’s the mountain culture of the southern Appalachians that really defines this area. In that respect, Poor Valley, with its three main towns of Hiltons (pop. 30), Maces Spring (pop. 50) and Mendota (pop. 173), turns out to be fertile ground for those who wish to explore the roots of country music and the Carter Family’s place in that tradition.

The nonprofit Carter Family Memorial Music Center (the Fold’s official name) was founded in 1979 by Janette Carter, youngest daughter of A.P. and Sara. Five years before that, she had begun presenting music shows in the general store built by her father in 1945. By 1976, though, the weekend get-togethers had outgrown the one-room store and it became necessary to build a bigger space. The Fold was designed by Janette’s younger brother, Joe, who also coined its distinctive, Biblical-sounding name. ("Fold" in this context seems to draw upon all three definitions of the noun form of the word noted by Webster’s: "1. a pen in which to keep sheep; 2. sheep kept together; flock of sheep; 3. a group or organization with common interests, aims, faith, etc. as a church" – and perhaps even the British usage of "fold" to describe a small valley.)

With the help of family, friends, and musicians, the Fold, a 1,000-seat music shed, went up right next door to the general store. A loan from Janette and Joe’s mother and a benefit concert by Johnny Cash and the Carter Family (Maybelle’s daughters, June, Helen, and Anita) helped fund the Fold’s construction. It has presented live music every Saturday night since 1979.

The general store, a Virginia Historic landmark, now houses a museum of Carter Family memorabilia with enough cozy clutter to keep even the hardest-core fan enthralled for hours. Sara Carter’s handmade autoharp stand holds a prominent place in the museum, but the room is dominated by full-length wall displays of the family’s performing clothes: a sober black suit for A.P., beautiful pastel dresses for the women. Photographs and snapshots are spread out over two large tables; awards, citations and honors cover the walls. Original 78 rpm recordings, album covers, and magazine and newspaper stories are carefully preserved and displayed. There’s even room for the ten-penny nails that held up A.P.’s suspenders. Leaning up against a chair is the most recent acquisition: A framed declaration from the Governor of Virginia declaring August 1, 1997 "Carter Family Day" in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Bristol recordings.

It was a gray but mild November Saturday when I left the interstate at Bristol and headed west on a curvy two-lane to the Carter Fold. At every other turnoff, deer hunters lolled by their trucks telling lies and waiting for dusk. This is tobacco country, so most of the farms sport a shed or two where this primary cash crop is hung out to cure. Reaching Hiltons, at the head of Poor Valley, I turned off onto Route 614, now known as the A.P. Carter Highway. Maces Spring is about three miles away.

I was met in the Fold’s parking lot by Flo Wolfe, A.P. and Sara’s granddaughter by their oldest daughter, Gladys. Since it was lunchtime, I was whisked off (without complaint on my part) to Janette’s small but comfortable house just up the hill. There I was treated to a splendid country repast of baked chicken, sweet potatoes, green beans, baked beans, meatloaf and cornbread, with plenty of sweet tea to wash it all down, topped off with ice cream and cake for dessert.

Afterward, Flo and I left Janette to prepare the Fold for the evening’s show. She took me on a tour of the valley, stopping first at the graves of A.P. and Sara in the Mount Vernon Methodist Church cemetery. The plots are at the far end of the sloping grounds, three graves apart, in the midst of other Carter kinfolk. A.P., who died in 1960, and Sara, who died in 1979, were divorced, but in death they are not far from each other. Maybelle, who died in 1978, is buried in Hendersonville, Tenn.

We passed by Maybelle’s house, now owned by June Carter and Johnny Cash, and circled around the knob where, far up a muddy road, the cabin where A.P. was born still stands, albeit precariously. The one-room schoolhouse he attended is in better shape, although it is now used as a tobacco barn. Our route was completed as we passed the house he owned with Sara, just down the road from the Fold.

Later that night, after checking into a motel in Kingsport, I returned to the Fold. Rather unprepossessing from the outside, the Fold is something else entirely once you go through the door. Inside, two big wood stoves on either end of the structure are kept stoked and hot. Tall locust-tree beams hold up the tin roof, and the supporting beam is a huge hewn poplar. The front rows are made up of old bus seats; farther back, it’s carpet-padded crossties. The walls are also padded with old carpet for insulation and to improve the acoustics. Several large doors along the side roll up for summer shows. A concession stand sells soda, hot dogs, popcorn and ice cream. No alcohol is allowed.

The crowd was sizable, some 300 strong, the numbers swelled by a big tour bus parked outside. According to Janette’s son, Dale, who helps out and sometimes performs, the crowd is usually about half local and half from farther away. An informal poll at the beginning of the show produced a couple of people from Oregon and Washington state.

The show itself begins promptly at 7:30 p.m. and is run like clockwork by the mistress of ceremonies, Janette Carter, who sits onstage with her brother Joe. The format is run variety-style: Janette, on the autoharp, kicks off the evening with a Carter family song; she’s followed by Joe (a musician and storyteller in his own right) or Dale; then the headliner performs a 45-minute set. After a half-hour break, local musicians from the crowd are invited onstage to play a song or two, and the format is repeated again. The whole thing is over by 10 p.m.

On that particular evening, I was treated to two sets of mostly dance tunes such as "Sally Goodin", "Clinch Mountain Backstep" and "Soldier’s Joy" performed with gusto by The Larkin Family out of Church Hill, Tenn. Dancing is encouraged at the Fold, except during gospel numbers, and I witnessed a lot of enthusiastic clogging, including one 90-year old woman and a couple of baggy-pantsed teenagers. Dale did a few songs, including a powerful a cappella rendition of "Shiloh’s Hill". Joe did a comedy routine where he imitated a bawling calf and a grumpy old brood sow. Janette asked the crowd to pray for Johnny Cash’s recovery.

As I drove back to the motel, I came to the conclusion that, while going to bars and honky-tonks for music has its place, it does one’s soul good to go to a place like the Carter Fold. Through hard work and sacrifice, Janette and her family have managed to create and maintain the perfect memorial to their famous forebears.

Yet the outlook is not entirely sunny. Janette and Joe are both in their 70s, and their children lead busy lives and hold down full-time jobs. I spoke briefly with Janette’s middle daughter, Rita, who takes the tickets and helps out with the books and grant applications. The Carter Fold, she said, is fortunate to have a good relationship with and receive partial funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. But, like every other small arts organization around the country, the specter of drastic cuts in state and federal support is a very real threat to the Carter Fold; it could mean the difference between the Fold staying open or shutting its doors forever.

I wondered then what a certain Senator from the state of North Carolina and sworn foe of the NEA would say if he’d just spent an evening at the Carter Fold. Would a place like this, the sight of these people (tobacco farmers, no less!) enjoying themselves, the sound of this music, cause the scales to fall from his eyes? Would it make any difference at all? Gloomily, I thought not.

Then I put in a Carter Family tape, and as the opening chords of "Keep On The Sunny Side" filled the car, I had hope again.

Directions: Maces Springs is on Route 614 (A.P. Carter Highway), in Scott County, Virginia. Take Exit 1 off of I-81 just north of Bristol. Follow US 58/421 west to Hiltons (about 17 miles) and follow the signs. From Kingsport, Tenn., take US 23 north to Weber City, then US 58/421 east to Hiltons (about five miles). From Hiltons, take Route 709 to Route 614.

Lodging: Kingsport is your best bet. It’s only 17 miles away, the road is better, and the motels tend to be grouped on the west side of town. I stayed at a perfectly acceptable Days Inn.

Show information and museum times: Saturday shows are at 7:30 year round. Admission is $4 for adults, $1 children 6-11, and free for children under 6. The museum is open at 6 p.m. prior to showtime; museum admission is 50 cents, and free for children with parents. (A concession stand features many hard-to-find LPs, CDs and tapes, as well as stamps, t-shirts, books, caps, and more.) For a recorded message on upcoming shows, call 540-386-6054; for additional information, call 540-386-9480. For a printed schedule, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Carter Family Memorial Music Center, Inc., P.O. Box 111, Hiltons, VA 24258.

Carter Family Memorial Festival: Each year since 1974, the Carter Fold has been the site of a two-day music festival on the first weekend in August to commemorate the anniversary of the Bristol recordings. This year the 24th annual festival will take place July 13-Aug. 1. Local and regional bluegrass and old-time bands provide the entertainment for the thousands of people who attend this, the biggest event at the Carter Fold.