Today is the birth anniversary of Maybelle Carter...

On this day in 1909, Maybelle Carter, one of the most important musicians in American music was born in Nickelsville, Virginia. Thanks, David Steward, for linking me to this Writer's Almanac page which marks the occasion and describes Maybelle's role in the historic Bristol Sessions.

This image of Maybelle at the Bristol Sessions is actually the color layer (without the usual inked linework on top of it), exquisitely created by Frank M. Young, from our graphic novel "The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song."

-DL

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!).

A great new home for the Birthplace of Country Music Museum

I visited Bristol (on the VA/TN border) back in 2003, because I wanted to see where the Carter Family made their first recordings. A highlight of my visit was the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. But the museum was located NOT on historic State Street, where the Bristol Sessions happened in 1927, but outside of town, inside a shopping mall.  Though the location was disappointing, the museum was rewarding.

I was so happy to hear the news that the museum has opened in a new location, just off State Street, and its appearance has the blend of charm and authority that a visitor to the site of the "Big Bang of Country Music" would hope for. 

(photo borrowed from NPR's site)

This is the musuem's website:
http://www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org/

For added details, check out this NPR report...
http://www.npr.org/2014/08/02/336550368/at-the-cradle-of-country-music-a-monument-you-can-hear-as-well-as-see

The Bristol Sessions Chapter concluded

Today we conclude "The Storms Are on the Ocean," our chapter chronicling the Carter Family's audition and recording session for Victor, and their first meeting with Ralph Peer. 

Click here for a larger, more readable view.

Though the Carter Family did not meet Jimmie Rodgers at the Bristol Sessions, we couldn't resist giving him a cameo appearance here.

Look for the rest of the book, "Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song," wherever books are sold, starting October 1st!

The Bristol Chapter continued

We created a fictional conversation between AP and Peer to try and convey the complicated nature of music contracts and copyright in the early years of the recording industry.

Here is a larger version...

My Research Trip

Ten years ago, in the fall of 2002, my father and I drove from Alexandria, VA, down to Bristol VA/TN (it's right on the border).  It was something like nine hours of driving, across the state of Virginia.  It proved to be one of the best road trips I've ever taken. 

We went to the Carter Family Fold, saw and heard a great concert, and I had Janette Carter autograph a copy of her memoir, "Living with Memories."  (Thanks John Maeder, for taking this photo.)

 Near the CFF, there was a small (but concentrated) Carter Family museum, housed in the building that was once A.P. Carter's store.  We also made it to the church where the Carters' worshipped, and where A.P., Sara, and many other family members are buried.  I wanted to make comics about the Carter Family, because I had wondered where this beautiful, heartfelt music had come from, and who had made it.  It was very exciting to be in the place where they lived and worked.  I took photos.

We also visited the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance, whose museum was in the Bristol shopping mall at that time.  I'm excited to see that they are working on a Cultural Heritage Center. 
http://www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org/

Thanks, Dad, for taking me down to Maces Spring and Bristol!

Bristol Sessions: Baby Joe and Day Two

Here, Frank Young and I capture two aspects of the Carters' experience at Bristol that are a part of country music lore: Baby Joe interrupting the first session and being taken outside and fed ice cream, and then A.P.'s absence on the second day of recording.

 

Her is a larger version...

 

Bristol Sessions: The Recording Begins

In their first recording session, the Carter Family recorded a handful of songs that would become classics.
Here is a larger view.

Bristol Sessions: The Carter Family Auditions

Here is a larger, more readable version...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlasky/8004139127/sizes/o/in/photostream/

The quilts were hung on the walls to muffle and unwanted noise during recording.  I did research to insure that all the quilts are more or less accurate to the time and place.

Enter: Ralph Peer

Ralph Peer would prove to be the man who brought the Carter Family to listening public.  But right now, he's just an ambitious young field recording producer...

Here is the larger view:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlasky/8004140806/sizes/o/in/photostream/

The Bristol Sessions chapter -- a new page

Here is the larger view:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlasky/8004139491/sizes/o/in/photostream/

On the road to Bristol...

Here's the next page from "The Storms Are on the Ocean"...

For a larger version, click here...

"The Storms Are on the Ocean" continued...

click for a larger version of this image

"The Storms Are on the Ocean" title page

Here is the next page in the chapter that will send the Carters to the Bristol Sessions...

Here's a larger version of the page...

Beginning today: "The Storms Are on the Ocean" a full chapter online

Starting today, Frank and I will be posting one page a day from the longest chapter in the book, "The Storms Are on the Ocean," in which the Carter Family travels to Bristol (on the VA/TN border) to record their music for the first time. This is our way of counting down to early October and the release of the book. 

This chapter is dedicated to Dylan Williams, who died one year ago. I began drawing the chapter the day after returning from his funeral. My main thought was: 'Dylan would want me to keep on drawing.'

In this opening page, we see (my drawing of) the actual newspaper ad that was used to alert musicians in the Bristol area of the recording sessions that were being done by Victor.  These sessions would later be called "The Big Bang of Country Music." Click here for a much larger version of the page.

Sara Sings "Single Girl": Celebrating the 85th Birthday of The Big Bang Of Country Music!

To David and I, one of the great moments in Don't Forget This Song is when Sara and Maybelle record "Single Girl, Married Girl" on the second day of their very first recording session.

This took place at the epochal "Bristol Sessions," which is seen by many country music scholars as "the Big Bang" of country music. An entire chapter in our book is devoted to the Bristol Sessions, which also introduced the extraordinary Jimmie Rodgers to the musical world.

Above is Sara and Maybelle's exquisite 1927 original of "Single Girl, Married Girl." Take a few minutes and savor one of the finest performances in Sara Carter's career--she struck gold in her first recording session.