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The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers
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The Birchfield Family
The Birchfield family of Carter, Tennessee learned old time mountain tunes and ballads that their father and uncles played as part of the local mountain culture, Joe and Creed were born in the early 1900s and raised on Roan Mountain in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. That's Creed on the banjo and Joe on the fiddle. Bill is on the guitar and Janice on the washtub bass. Take a close look at picture. Bill plays the guitar upside down and backwards. The lady standing beside Joe is his wife Ethel. She traveled with group telling Appalachian stories and singing ballads.
Creed and Ethel are gone now and Joe at 89 is no longer playing but, you can still see Bill and Janice and others at festivals and concerts from time to time almost anywhere east of the Mississippi. Bill is doing the fiddling now with Janice still on the washtub and newer members are on the other instruments, but the last time I saw them they haven't slowed down a bit.
Media by The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers:
The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers "Down Home"
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