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Portraits from the road
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Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times
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Name: Janette Carter, 82, Hiltons
Occupation: Musician, owner of the Carter Family Fold, full-time keeper of the Carter Family legacy
Bio: Carter was 4 years old in 1927 when her parents, Sara and A.P. Carter, and her aunt, Maybelle, drove down to Bristol to make records that would profoundly affect the history of country music. The Carter Family used a simple formula of guitar, autoharp and harmonies to become the first family of country music. Janette grew up performing with her parents, who moved the family to Texas to broadcast over 500,000-watt Mexico-based radio station XERA in 1938. Sara and A.P. split and the "Original Carter Family" ceased to exist in 1943. A.P. died in 1960, Maybelle in 1978 and Sara in 1979. The Carters were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys this year. Janette recently won a National Heritage Award from the National Endowment of the Arts.
Favorite artists: The Carter Family, Jimmy Rodgers
Quote: "As a rule, when they got to the end of a song, it told something. Two instruments was all they needed. An autoharp and guitar told the story."
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