Henry Whitter and the Birth of Country Music
On Friday, March 20th at 6 p.m., the Museum of Ashe County History will host local historian and author Josh Beckworth, who will be giving a talk about the life of country musician and Ashe County resident Henry Whitter.
Whitter was a pioneering figure in early American country (or “old-time”) music. Born in Grayson County, Virginia, he learned guitar and harmonica at a young age and worked in a cotton mill before venturing into recording. In 1923 he traveled to New York to record for Okeh Records, laying down tracks such as “Wreck on the Southern Old ’97” and “Lonesome Road Blues.” These recordings marked some of the first commercial country-style records by a rural performer, helping to open the door for the genre.
Later, Whitter teamed up with the blind fiddler G.B. Grayson, and together as the duo “Grayson & Whitter,” they recorded numerous songs between 1927 and 1930 that would become standards in bluegrass and old-time repertoires, including “Tom Dooley,” “Nine Pound Hammer,” and “Little Maggie.” Whitter would later become a longtime resident of Ashe County.
Josh Beckworth is the author of "Always Been A Rambler: G.B. Grayson and Henry Whitter, County Music Pioneers of Southern Appalachia," which details the lives of Whitter and Grayson and the impact they had on country music.
Beckworth has also received the W. Amos Abrams prize from the North Carolina Folklore Society and is published in the North Carolina Folklore Journal. He has also been featured in the documentary "Short Life of Trouble: The Legend of G.B. Grayson."
If you're a fan of country and old-time music, then you won't want to miss this program! This event will take place at the Museum of Ashe County History, located at 301 E. Main Street in Jefferson, NC, and is FREE and open to the public. For more information, call (336) 846 1904.
