On This Day in 1979, We Said Goodbye to the Hall of Fame Lead Singer of the First Family of Country and a Pioneer of “Hillbilly Music”

On this day (January 8) in 1979, Sara Carter, the lead singer and autoharp player on many of the Carter Family’s recordings, died in Lodi, California. She was 79 years old. She was a member of the First Family of Country Music, who recorded during the Bristol Sessions and helped introduce the “hillbilly music” of Appalachia to the rest of the United States.

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Born Sara Dougherty, she became interested in music as a child. By the time she was 12, she had worked and saved enough money to buy an autoharp and began playing and singing whenever she could. As the legend goes, when she was 15 years old, she was singing “Engine 143” when a salesman named A.P. Catrer heard her. They were married the next summer.

[RELATED: Born on This Day in 1891, the Founding Member of Country Music’s First Family Who Brought Early Country Music From the Mountains to the Masses]

Together, A.P. and Sara Carter performed at picnics, church gatherings, and singing conventions for a decade after they tied the knot, according to Encyclopedia Virginia. They sang love songs, ballads, and other folk tunes accompanied by her autoharp and his fiddle.

In 1926, Sara’s cousin, Maybelle Addington, married A.P.’s younger brother, Eck Carter. Maybelle, later called Mother Maybelle, was an accomplished guitarist whose style is still emulated today. She was also a tenor vocalist. Together, she, her cousin, and her brother-in-law formed The Carter Family. In 1927, they traveled to Bristol, Tennessee, to take part in a recording session for the Victor Talking Machine Company. The Bristol Sessions led to a decades-long career for the group.

Sara Carter Leaves the Band

The Carter Family became incredibly popular after their initial recordings were released. This led to more recording sessions and tours. This all wore thin for Sara Carter. She was increasingly uncomfortable on stage. At the same time, they needed more material to record and perform. As a result, A.P. Carter frequently went on song-hunting trips through the Southeast, capturing folk songs to be arranged and recorded by the trio.

These factors put a strain on their marriage. They separated in 1933 and were legally divorced three years later. However, the Carter Family continued even after she married Coy Bayes, A.P.’s cousin, in 1939. They finally went their separate ways in March 1943.

She returned for several reunion performances over the years. According to the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, Sara and Maybelle performed together for the last time in 1977 at the Carter Family Fold in Maces Spring, Virginia.

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