Carter Family
Bands / Ensembles
The Carter Family (1927–1943) was a country music trio from Maces Spring, Virginia. The group was made up of A.P. Carter (vocals), his wife Sara Carter (lead vocals, autoharp, guitar) and Sara's first cousin Maybelle Carter (guitar, harmony vocals), who was married to A.P.'s brother Ezra. A.P. learned that producer Ralph Peer was auditioning musicians in nearby Bristol, Tennessee. The trio recorded six sides there on August 1 and 2, 1927, as part of the Bristol Sessions. The first of about 300 Carter Family records was issued that November. A.P. led trips to collect songs, and Sara and Maybelle arranged them for the group. The trio kept performing together after A.P. and Sara separated in 1933. The group's last regular radio work was on WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina, from autumn 1942 to spring 1943, and it disbanded in March 1943. Maybelle Carter went on performing with her daughters as Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters. The Carter Family became the first group inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970. They were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 2001.