Chapter 9: Country Western Music
The Carter Family stands as one of the most foundational and influential groups in the history of country music. Their recordings and legacy helped define the sound, image, and emotional tone of early country music, leaving an impact that continues to resonate nearly a century later.
Originating from Maces Spring, Virginia, the group consisted of A.P. Carter, his wife Sara Dougherty Carter, and his sister-in-law Maybelle Carter, who married A.P.’s brother in 1926. In 1927, the trio traveled to Bristol, Tennessee, to audition for Ralph Peer, who was scouting rural talent for Victor Records. This historic session often called the “Big Bang of Country Music” produced the first commercial recordings by the Carter Family and launched their decades-long career.
Between the late 1920s and early 1940s, the Carter Family recorded approximately 300 songs for major labels including Victor, Columbia, and Decca. Their repertoire included sacred hymns, traditional folk tunes, and original compositions that reflected themes of family, faith, heartbreak, and loss. Songs such as “Keep on the Sunny Side” (1928), “Worried Man Blues” (1930), and “Can the Circle Be Unbroken” (1935) have become enduring staples of both country and gospel music. Many of their religious songs drew from fundamentalist Christian traditions, while their secular work often explored personal sorrow and social hardship—core themes that echoed the legacy of earlier American singing groups like the Hutchinson Family Singers and continue to define country music today.
Musically, the Carters crafted a sound deeply rooted in Appalachian tradition. Sara sang soprano, Maybelle sang alto, and A.P. provided bass or baritone vocals, creating a three-part harmony structure that still defines Southern gospel trios.
Maybelle Carter emerged as a pioneering figure and one of the earliest female guitar heroes in American music. She developed the “Carter Scratch,” also known as “Carter Family picking”—a groundbreaking technique in which the thumb plays the melody on the bass strings while the fingers brush rhythm chords on the treble strings. This approach, heard in songs like “My Honey Lou” and “Wildwood Flower,” revolutionized the guitar’s role in country music, elevating it from a background rhythm instrument to a lead melodic voice. Her influence can still be heard today in the playing of countless country, folk, and bluegrass guitarists, including artists like Doc Watson, Chet Atkins, and modern performers such as Gillian Welch and Molly Tuttle
A.P. Carter played a central role in sourcing and shaping the Carter Family’s repertoire, often traveling through rural Appalachia in search of old hymns, folk ballads, and traditional songs. He was sometimes accompanied by his wife Sara or a local musician to help remember or perform the songs. While Carter adapted many of these works for recording, he frequently copyrighted them under his own name or listed himself as co-writer—even when the material was clearly drawn from long-standing oral traditions. This practice helped secure royalties and build a sustainable music business, but it also raises important questions about ownership and the appropriation of collective folk heritage. One notable example is “Can the Circle Be Unbroken?,” an adaptation of the Protestant hymn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” in which Carter altered the lyrics and arrangement but based the song on a preexisting religious standard.
The Carter Family’s story was not without personal drama. A.P. and Sara Carter’s marriage grew increasingly strained during the 1930s, in part due to A.P.’s frequent absences on song-collecting trips and the emotional distance that developed between them. Sara, known for her quiet strength and clear singing voice, eventually fell in love with A.P.’s cousin, Coy Bayes. After years of tension, Sara and A.P. divorced in 1936. Despite their separation, the group continued to perform and record together professionally for several more years. After the group officially retired in 1943, Maybelle Carter carried the family tradition forward by forming a new act with her three daughters: Helen, Anita, and the youngest, June Carter. Known as “Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters,” the group brought the Carter sound into the modern era, eventually achieving national fame. June Carter, in particular, would become a star in her own right, both as a performer and as the wife and creative partner of Johnny Cash.