Saturday, December 12, 2015

About "The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song"





“The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song” is a graphic novel that tells the true story of one of the earliest and most influential recorded country music groups. At the heart of the story is Alvin Pleasant Carter (known as A.P.), a farmer born in a lonely valley in Appalachia who has dreams of making a living with music, his great passion in life. And amazingly, his dreams do come true – but at the price of his marriage and the stability of his family.

A.P.'s wife Sara, orphaned at a young age, lives with a permanent sadness that colors her haunting singing voice. Sara has little desire to be a celebrity, but follows the whims of her husband.

Sara's teenage cousin Maybelle is a guitar virtuoso who would become as innovative and influential with her acoustic Gibson as Jimi Hendrix would later be on the electric guitar. 

Together, the three Carters changed American music in ways that would touch, among others, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash (who would become Maybelle's son-in-law through his marriage to June Carter). 

The “Carter Family” graphic novel was co-plotted by Frank Young and David Lasky. David drew the art, assisted by a small team of background inkers. Frank wrote all the dialogue, and also colored the entire book in a palette that beautifully evokes the great newspaper comic strips of the 1930's. They've attempted to capture the in words and pictures the heartfelt honesty heard in the music of the Carter Family.

This book will make an excellent gift for anyone in your life who loves a good story. Please ask for it by name at your local general store. Or, if you must, order it from a reputable online merchant.




Thursday, December 3, 2015

Bristol Sessions Movie is Filming Now


Thanks to Ron McConnell, I just learned that a movie about the Bristol Sessions, the historic "big bang of country music" (which is depicted from the Carters' point of view in "Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song"), is being filmed right now in Bristol, TN/VA!

Here's a link to an article on the subject.

The film is a celebration of the sessions themselves, and the new album "Orthophonic Joy" (which I have not yet heard, but am going to seek out!) on which contemporary artists cover Bristol Sessions songs (acoustically, of course!).



Sunday, October 18, 2015

Janette and Joe Carter, 1983


This video has apparently been on the Internet for a few years, but this is the first time I'm discovering it... A stirring performance of "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone" performed by Janette and Joe Carter at the Carter Family Fold, filmed by Alan Lomax!



Janette and Joe, of course, appear as children in our graphic novel, "Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song."


There are a lot more wonderful field recordings and films available in the Alan Lomax archive on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/user/AlanLomaxArchive/videos

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Soundtrack


Congratulations to our friend Beth Harrington, director of the moving Carter Family documentary 'The Winding Stream'... The soundtrack to the movie has been named one of the best country music albums of 2015!




The release date is Oct 16...
http://omnivorerecordings.com/music/the-winding-stream/

The film itself is currently touring the country...
http://www.argotpictures.com/film/the-winding-stream/

Monday, August 31, 2015

Meanwhile, in Music City...


If you're shopping for comics in Nashville, "Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song" is on the shelf at Brainfreeze Comics!




Monday, July 27, 2015

Spotted in Paris...


Sarah McIntyre (who is a superstar children's book illustrator in London) spotted "La Famille Carter" in the bookshop of the Centre Pompidou in Paris!  She sends this photo:


And if anyone reading this is flying Air France in August of 2015, please look for a comic by me in their in-flight magazine!



Wednesday, February 4, 2015

If I was in Bristol, I'd do this...


See Dale Jett (who is the grandson of A.P.) and Wayne Henderson with A.P. Carter's Martin guitar!
http://www.tnvacation.com/events/45587/




I am told by Ron McConnell (who heard from Dave Lewis) that the Birthplace of Country Music Museum's Carter Family exhibition can only be seen until the end of this month.