The Winding Stream

An Oral History of the Carter and Cash Family

There is a stream that courses through American roots music. Its source is in the Appalachian foothills in a place called Maces Springs, Virginia. It was there that A.P. Carter, his wife Sara, and his sister-in-law Maybelle began their careers as three of the earliest stars of country music.

These three didn't just play the music emerging from their hill country upbringing. They helped invent it. The stream these three created turned into a rushing river and moved through several generations of musicians, most notably touching the life of one Johnny Cash who first heard the Carters —  including a young June Carter — over the airwaves. It was a wonderful twist of fate when Cash, as a Sun Records artist, first met Mother Maybelle and her girls. the Carter Sisters. and vowed to June that "I'm gonna marry you someday.''

The Winding Stream is an oral history that tells the tale of this important music dynasty. In their own words, family and friends, musicians and historians offer first-hand recollections and insightful observations that illuminate the Carter and Cash contributions to American popular culture.