June Carter Cash Along the Crooked Road

The late Johnny and June Carter Cash in Bristol

While the already legendary status of American music icon Johnny Cash receives a huge boost from the new movie, Walk the Line, the movie also raises to new prominence the contributions of his wife, Virginia native June Carter Cash. As a member of the Carter Family, the “First Family of Country Music,” June Carter was part of the musical legacy that paved the way for Cash and all other country music performers. The sound that propelled the Carter Family to fame and influenced June Carter Cash as a musician came out of the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Alive and well today at museums and performing arts venues throughout the region, the sound attracts visitors from all over the world who want to experience for themselves the authentic mountain music that gave rise to modern country music. The “tie that binds” them all together is a driving trail called The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail.

Walk the Line follows the story of Johnny Cash’s often turbulent rise to fame in the 1950s-1960s and brings into focus June Carter Cash’s strength, faith and healing influence on her husband. A musical talent in her own right, June Carter Cash performed with the original Carter Family as a child and as an adult wrote one of her husband’s most popular songs, “Ring of Fire.” As a duet, Johnny and June Cash scored national hits with songs such as “Jackson” and “If I Were a Carpenter.” Through his marriage, Johnny Cash connected himself to the family whose early recordings were the catalyst in the development of the country music recording industry. June Carter Cash’s mother, Maybelle Carter, and her cousins A.P. and Sara – who had been singing together in their rural home area – traveled to nearby Bristol, a town bisected by the Virginia/Tennessee border, in 1927 and made their first commercial recordings. The records sold so well that by the end of the decade the Carter Family was a well-known national act. These “Bristol Sessions” marked the first global distribution of mountain music and gave birth to what is today one of the most popular art forms worldwide: country music.

The popularity of Walk the Line and its predecessor, O, Brother, Where Art Thou, has brought the music of Southwest Virginia into the American mainstream and created a new mass of devotees. Music lovers eager to “lend an ear” can get up close and personal with the Carter Family in a trip to Virginia that includes live performances, museum visits and even meeting the artists. The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, connects eight venues including the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons and the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance in Bristol. Other venues include the Rex Theater, Floyd Country Store, Blue Ridge Institute & Museum, the Blue Ridge Music Center, Country Cabin and the Ralph Stanley Museum.

The Carter Family Fold is located in the rural home area of the Carter Family and is operated by its descendents. On Saturday nights the 1,000-seat arena overflows with happy patrons as the sounds of guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin and upright bass fill the evening air. It was at the Carter Family Fold that Johnny Cash gave his last live performances in the summer of 2003.

In addition to its music, Southwest Virginia abounds in natural beauty and is a region noted for outdoor recreation. Breathtaking vistas are found around nearly every corner, making scenic drives a natural attraction. Those who enjoy active outdoor recreation take advantage of opportunities for hiking, bicycling, canoeing, kayaking, fishing and wildlife watching. The friendly people of the region are some of Virginia’s best tourism ambassadors. For information on planning a trip to the native region of June Carter Cash and experiencing the music and culture that shaped her as a person and musician, visit www.Virginia.org or www.thecrookedroad.org. For a free Virginia Travel Guide, call 1-800-932-5827. Remember, whatever you love in a vacation you can find in Virginia.

Walk the Line Wins Three Golden Globe Awards:

• Best Motion Picure (Musical or Comedy)
• Best Performance by an Actress (Musical or Comedy)
• Best Performance by and Actor (Musical or Comedy).

Walk the Line wins Academy Award for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. It was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Actress and Best Actor. Learn more about our region's living musical heritage by reading essays about this region's musical heritage and reading biographies of artists from the region, including the Carter Family Seeing the June Carter Cash exhibit on display at the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance Museum.