Food and Music at the Carter Family Fold

In 1927, A. P. Carter, his wife, Sara, and Sara’s cousin Maybelle, who happened to be married to A. P.’s brother, made the 30-mile trek from their home in Hiltons, Virginia, to Bristol, Tennessee, to record a few songs. The resulting Bristol Sessions not only marked the commercial debut of the Carter Family, they catapulted country music into the American canon. Almost 50 years after those first recordings, Janette Carter, daughter of A. P. and Sara, established the Carter Family Fold. It was A. P.’s dying wish that the Carter Family’s legacy be carried on, so Janette opened the small concert hall to celebrate her family and its contribution to country music, as well as the rich musical traditions of Appalachia. Janette played host to music fans every Saturday night for more than 30 years, opening shows with her brother Joe and son Dale and singing the songs like “Keep on the Sunny Side” and “Wildwood Flower” that her parents made famous.

Meanwhile, Janette’s homemade soup beans and cornbread were flying out the concession stand window. That’s because the Carter Family Fold is not just about music. It’s about family. And when you’re entertaining family, you want to keep them fed.

Today, Janette’s daughter Rita Forrester welcomes friends, family, and music fans to the Fold. When her mother passed away in 2006, Rita took the helm and never looked back. Still, not much has changed. Rita sits in with the band each Saturday night to welcome the crowd and pay tribute to her family through song. But before the music even starts, Rita, other members of her family, and a smattering of friends work in the kitchen at the Fold, cooking the food that will be served that night. The traditional Appalachian staples of soup beans and cornbread are still at the top of the menu, but so is egg salad that’s made from Janette’s recipe and a menagerie of cakes that are baked by women in the community. A night at the Carter Family Fold is like a reunion—a reunion of music, family, and food.

Amy Evans

Upcoming SFA Events

The SFA calendar is full and running over with food-focused events. This summer, we’ll travel the South (and beyond) as we document, study, and celebrate local flavor. Won’t you join us?

Begin your summer with the SFA and the State of Mississippi on June 12 at the Astor Center New York for a discussion and celebration of the life and work of Craig Claiborne, the Sunflower, Mississippi, native who, over the course of a 25-plus-year career at the New York Times, catalyzed and catalogued an American culinary renaissance. Wake up Saturday morning, June 13, in New York and follow your nose to Madison Square Park for the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party. Look for the debut of SFA filmmaker Joe York’s North Carolina BBQ film. Listen as SFA members Lolis Eric Elie, Calvin Trillin, and Fred Thompson hold forth on all things barbecue. And, of course, eat a little (or a lot) of the BBQ offered by one of the 14 pit masters who will line the streets around the park.

Travel to the Appalachian South June 26–28 for The Mountain Empire: Fast Cars in Bristol and Cornbread at the Carter Fold, the annual SFA summer Field Trip. Explore the foodways and musicways of northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia as we travel to the birthplace of country music.

Say goodbye to summer in Athens,Georgia, for Potlikker: Athens, August 22, 2009. The Potlikker Film Festival is an opportunity to showcase SFA documentaries, alongside local food films. Expect an evening with live music and short films, refreshing libations, and SFA snacks (including a potlikker shot with cornbread, handed as you walk in the door).

Mississippi Shows Well at the 2009 James Beard Awards

Winners were announced on Monday, May 4, for the 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards, the nation’s most prestigious recognition program honoring professionals in the food and beverage industries. During a ceremony hosted by Cat Cora, Emeril Lagasse, and Stanley Tucci at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, John Currence of Oxford, Mississippi, owner of City Grocery, Bouré, Big Bad Breakfast, and Snackbar, was named Best Chef: South. Martha Hall Foose of Pluto and Greenwood, Mississippi, took home the award for the Best Cookbook about American Cooking for her book Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook. John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, contributing editor for Gourmet, and monthly columnist for the New York Times, was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America. Though members represent a diverse cross section of the food and beverage industry—from chefs to journalists to farmers to business executives to scholars—each has been identified by his or her peers as having displayed remarkable talent and achievement. Every member of the Who’s Who has contributed in some substantial way to America’s constantly evolving culinary scene.

Melissa Booth Hall