

The Carter Family
The Carter family has interested me for some time. I delved into their history, where they came from, how they evolved into a grass roots folk group. Their origin started in Maces Spring, Virginia. Maces Spring was called ‘Poor Valley’ with a small number of houses close to the Clinch Mountains. Maybelle Addington Carter, her brother-in-law A.P. Carter and his wife, Sara Dougherty Carter made up the first family Carter group and developed an incredible list of music over the


What Does a Train Track and a Stringed Instrument Have in Common?
This is not going to be a “Tool De Jour” article but it might sound like it because there are some basic fundamentals about the materials from which our instruments are constructed that we would do well to remember. As I have told you before, I am not a luthier but I do know about wood and woodworking and construction techniques. The two materials we need to understand are wood and iron. Rather interesting when one thinks about it; that is, two totally dissimilar substances w