E-Newsletter

This year is the 50^th anniversary of the Carter Family Fold. The Fold has preserved the Carter Family legacy, its roots to Southwest Virginia and documented the family’s impact on Country music.

In August, I traveled to the Fold for their 50^th anniversary celebration. The event in Hiltons in Scott County featured A.P. Carter’s granddaughter, Rita Forrester.

Speaker Johnson recently prepared a celebratory event for another Country celebrity.

In late September, I attended a statue dedication ceremony in Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol. Congress unveiled a new statue to honor the “Man in Black”, Johnny Cash.

My very first musical concert was at the Roanoke Civic Center. I went to see the Johnny Cash Show, starring an all-time lineup of iconic Country music members of the Country Music Hall of Fame: Johnny Cash (from Arkansas), his wife June Carter Cash (from Maces Spring, Virginia, near Hiltons), the Statler Brothers (from Staunton, Virginia), and mama Maybelle Carter and the Carter Family.

Cash, representing Arkansas, is the first musician to ever be honored with a statue as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol.

Each state in our Union is granted two statues to dedicate to the Collection. Virginia’s “representatives” are George Washington and Barbara Johns.

Thomas Jefferson is also prominently featured in the Capitol.

At the unveiling of the Johnny Cash statue, over one hundred members of the Cash Family attended.

The ceremony included Joanne Cash, Johnny’s sister and the last surviving member of his original family. Although she has lost her sight, she was guided to her brother’s statue and touched the statue for a few moments.

A featured speaker of the event was Johnny’s daughter, Rosanne Cash. She discussed Johnny’s upbringing in the Mississippi Delta and its influence on his songwriting. His appreciation for America was notable and documented.

Speaker Johnson recounted Cash’s songs that told the story of the factory-line worker, our troops, the farmer, and other forgotten figures in American society.

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders detailed Cash’s ordinary beginnings in the land of pioneers. She commended the sculptor of the statue, fellow Arkansan Kevin Kresse.

Kresse strived to combine the various elements of Cash’s persona and create a presence as nuanced as the singer himself. A guitar slings behind his back, as well as a Bible in his right hand.

The statue reads “Arkansas Johnny Cash 1932-2003. Singer – Songwriter – Artist – Humanitarian.”

Congressman Steve Womack of Arkansas remarked he could actually see in the statue “the gravel in his gut, and the spit in his eye”, in reference to Cash’s classic “A Boy Named Sue.”

A key theme that the ceremony’s speakers highlighted was Cash’s compassion for the poor and the marginalized in society. Rosanne emphasized his work for the rights of prisoners and impoverished children, among other marginalized groups.

Cash was known to visit prisons and perform concerts. One recipient of his prison performances was Merle Haggard. Haggard struggled with the law during his early life. After a 1957 arrest related to an attempted robbery, Haggard spent time in the maximum-security San Quentin Prison.

At that prison on New Year’s Day in 1958, Cash performed his first-ever prison concert. His songs included “Folsom Prison Blues.” Cash’s tunes made a favorable impression on Haggard. Upon his release from prison on parole, Haggard pursued a music career of his own, writing many Country music hits.

A famous Cash tune, “I Walk the Line”, was performed by the United States Air Force Band towards the end of the ceremony.

It has truly been a special year. Since before I was able to go to the concert of the Johnny Cash Show, I loved Johnny Cash and the Statler Brothers and became a big fan of the Carter Family as a result of that show.

So to be at the Carter Family Fold’s 50^th celebration on August 3 was truly uplifting. And to see Johnny Cash recognized for all his contributions, and particularly his story of redemption, at the unveiling of this statute was meaningful.

I was struck by the fact that both the opening and closing prayer were given by clergy who were his descendants. Mike Garrett, nephew of Johnny, even brought a bible that Johnny Cash had given him.

But my favorite line about Johnny Cash is in a song by the Statler Brothers. In “We Got Paid by Cash” they sing: “And we were there when John remembered God was on his side.”

For me, Country music is about the struggles of the average American and the redemption of God.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office.  You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.

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