In Memorium - Janette Carter of Hiltons, Virginia
Janette Carter of the legendary Carter Family passed away on Sunday, January 22, 2006. Ms. Carter was the founder of the Carter Family Memorial Music Center of Hiltons, Virginia. She was the last surviving daughter of Alvin Pleasant and Sara Carter, who with Alvin Pleasant's sister-in-law Maybelle, formed the original Carter Family.In 1927 the Carters were among the artists recorded in Bristol, Virginia, by Ralph Peer, a talent scout for the Victor record label. The Bristol recording sessions are remembered as the birth of modern country music.
Janette Carter performed occasionally with her parents and aunt ferom 1938 to 1943, when the trio disbanded. She learned the autoharp from her mother and her singing style from her father. Janette Carter remained in southwest Virginia raising her own family. In 1974 she and her brother, Joe Carter, created the Carter Family Memorial Music Center in Hiltons. The Center, located on the family?s old farm property, includes a museum, the cabin where A.P. Carter was born, and the Carter Family Music Fold, a rustic concert hall, where there are performances of traditional music every Saturday night.
Janette Carter toured the state for many years through the Virginia Commission for the Arts performing arts touring program. She received the National Heritage Fellowship and Bess Lomax Hawes Award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2005, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Virginia Governor's Award for the Arts in 1985.
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