A working history: Carter Fold Festival honors family, music in Hiltons

HILTONS, Va. — At last year's Carter Fold Festival, the granddaughter of A.P. and Sara Carter, Rita Forrester, worked to prepare food in the Carter Fold concession stand. A Kingsport Times News reporter stood for an interview. Meanwhile, a man needed assistance pulling his truck from the mud at the venue.It might sound like a hectic set of circumstances to most. But to Forrester, it's all in a typical day's work."It doesn't stop," Forrester said, referring to her work as the Fold's executive director. "It probably doesn't go on at another place quite like that."As the Fold prepares for this year's 49th annual Carter Fold Memorial Festival, set for Saturday, Aug. 5, Forrester is reminded of the work and hospitality she's seen for decades at the Fold. That includes offering shelter to frigid horses and riders braving the cold (with a little help from Johnny Cash)."I remember two girls came in the winter months and rode their horses," Forrester recalled. "They came in, and there was ice on the horses' manes. My mom got so upset she made her uncle, my great uncle, put the horses in his barn. Gladys (Forrester's aunt) took the girls and put them in a feather bed, and Mom fixed them breakfast. They were headed to Nashville, so she called Johnny Cash and told him, 'John when they get there, open up your barn.' And he did," Forrester said, laughing."Nowhere else would that ever happen. It's just unusual stuff that goes on at the Fold."Forrester also recalls an unusual amount of work that went into the music venue her mother and other family members built in 1976 on a hillside on A.P. Carter Highway in Hiltons. In fact, that work still burns in her mind, you could say, like a ring of fire."I saw the store renovated, the Fold built, we moved the cabin — I was hands-on for every bit of that," Forrester said, referring to her grandfather's childhood cabin that now sits on the property as well as the old store where Carter Fold performances were first held. "I was on the truck with the logs. It was hard work, I remember that."The Carter Fold Festival honors that work and the history of Forrester's family with a double dose of each band in the lineup. Festivalgoers can enjoy old-time music from Ronnie Williams and Friends, the Leftover Biscuits, Carson Peters and Iron Mountain and the Whitetop Mountain Band, all on Aug. 5."We've got a strictly old-time lineup," Forrester said. "That's what our audiences like. They like to dance. Carson would be our bluegrass, but the others are all old-time. But he'll have his fiddle and do dance tunes."The festival will also offer food trucks and vendors, including baskets, woodworking and much more. Music lovers are also invited to bring their instruments for a jam session at the picking tent.A journey rememberedThe festival is held each year to honor the famed Bristol Sessions that took place from July 25 through Aug. 5, 1927. Those recordings by the Victor Talking Machine Co. featured "hillbilly" artists, as they were often called, who served as country music pioneers. The sessions helped spark what is referred to as the "big bang" of country music and made Bristol the Birthplace of Country Music. That's when Forrester's grandfather (A.P. Carter), grandmother (Sara Carter) and great aunt (Maybelle Carter) made history."They just came home and didn't think anything about it until (Victor representative Cecil McLister) stopped my grandad in Bristol after it had been several months. He said, 'Mr. Carter, I have a 78 with your name on it. Do you want to see it?' He said, 'Well, yeah.' That was the first they knew they had been successful in having their cuts distributed. They had six cuts. That was more than anyone else at the sessions."It's no secret the Carter Family was the centerpiece of the Bristol Sessions. But the family's journey to the legendary recording session is a lesser known struggle.The family experienced three flat tires from Maces Spring to Bristol, a trip that took the family band an entire day with no road to follow, Forrester said. They spent the night with June Carter Cash's dad's twin sister, Vergie, in Bristol before heading back from the legendary recording sessions. And on the drive home, their car stopped in the middle of the Holston River with a pregnant Maybelle Carter inside, who needed a little help from the car."The cousins came and carried her out," Forrester said. "They carried her in their arms and over their heads so she wouldn't get touched by the water being eight months pregnant. There was no road.""And (Sara's son Joe) was a baby who was nursing, so they had to take him (on the trip) and my aunt, the oldest sibling, to take care of him. What they did was simply amazing. I think people don't realize how difficult it was for them."A history honored in HiltonsThe festival also celebrates the work that Janette Carter and the family put into building the Carter Family Fold.Janette Carter founded the Fold in 1974. The venue was built in 1976 and opened in 1979 after the Carter Fold founder hosted shows around the region and in the old store that now serves as the museum on the Carter Family Fold site.During the first-ever Carter Fold Festival in 1975, before the Fold building was constructed, Sara Carter traveled from California and Maybelle Carter from Nashville to perform on the stage — a covered flatbed truck — situated in the field where the Fold now stands. Patrons took to lawn chairs, blankets and timbers on the ground to take in the old-time and country music along the hillside in Scott County."It was a long time ago," Forrester said. "Next year will be 50. We are looking forward to it. We are planning special stuff. We've got some big stuff coming."For now, the Carter Fold will host the remainder of its regular season of shows through November with bands like the Hogslop String Band, Uncle Shuffelo and His Haint Hollow Hootenany and many more set to perform at the Fold.For now, Forrester's sights are set on carrying on the tradition of honoring family, bringing dance tunes to Hiltons and offering a good time for all in the form of a sort of family reunion — with a side of hard work."It's just a big celebration," Forrester said of the festival. "It's kind of like a homecoming. There are people who make it a tradition to come every year. We see people we don't see other times, and other musicians. We just want everybody of all ages to come and have a good time — and enjoy the music.""What they did was simply amazing. I think people don't realize how difficult it was for them." — Rita Forrester, graddaughter of A.P. and Sara CarterWhat: Carter Fold FestivalWhen: 12 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5Where: Carter Family Fold, 3449 A.P. Carter Highway, Hiltons, VirginiaAdmission: $20 for adults and kids over 11 years of age, $5 for kids 6-11 and kids under 6 get in free (tickets are only available at the gate the day of the event)More information: www.carterfamilyfold.org/12 p.m. — Gates open1 to 1:30 p.m. — Welcome by Rita with Carter Family music provided by Ronnie Williams and Friends1:45 to 2:30 p.m. — Leftover Biscuits2:45 to 3:30 p.m. — Carson Peters and Iron Mountain3:45 to 4:30 p.m. — Whitetop Mountain Band4:30 to 5:45 p.m. — Supper break5:45-6:15 p.m. — Welcome back by Rita Forrester with Carter Family music provided by Ronnie Williams and Friends6:30 to 7:30 p.m. — Leftover Biscuits7:45 to 8:45 p.m. — Carson Peters and Iron Mountain9 to 10 p.m. — Whitetop Mountain and end