1988

ERNEST CARPENTER

Fiddler Ernest "Ernie" Carpenter was born in 1909 in rural Braxton County near the Elk River town of Sutton. Descended from a long line of musicians and pioneering river men, Ernie's fiddling echoed the stories, legends, and musical styles passed on to him by his forebears. Many of Ernie's tunes, which he later passed on to a new generation of fiddlers, commemorate important events in the history of his family and other early settlers in central West Virginia. Ernie Carpenter passed away in 1997. Photograph by Michael Keller.