A.P. Carter's Grave

Cheria and I were able to make it to the Carter Family Fold last night for the first time since Janette passed away back in January, and we had enough time before the show started to visit the cemetery at historic Mount Vernon United Methodist Church.

The Mount Vernon Cemetery is the final resting place for Janette and several members of her family, including her beloved brother Joe and sister Gladys as well as her parents A.P. and Sara. Along with "Mother Maybelle" Carter, Sara Carter Bayes and A.P. Carter performed as the original Carter Family singing group, the trio credited with creating the musical genre that we know today as Country Music.

A.P. Carter was a prolific songwriter who authored many of the songs that we sing and listen to every day. His tunes have been recorded and performed by numerous acts over the years and they continue to be extremely popular even today. It's hard to imagine what the world of music would be like if there had never been an Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter!

As I walked through the small hilltop cemetery at Mount Vernon looking for the Carter Family graves, I was struck at how ordinary it looked. There was nothing really special about it that would lead passersby to believe that virtually the entire first family of country music was buried there (Mother Maybelle is buried in Hendersonville, TN).

But as I found one Carter grave after another I began to feel overwhelmed by a feeling of being among greatness. When I finally spotted A.P.'s headstone I realized that this small, ordinary graveyard perched on a hilltop at the foot of Clinch Mountain is a very special place indeed. Simple, yet powerful - just like all of those timeless A.P. Carter songs that we all still enjoy so many years after his passing.

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