SONGS OF THE CARTER FAMILY is a rootsy, intimate new offering from Pam Linton, a true troubadour of the road for decades, based largely in the upper Midwest.
Recorded in North Carolina, Pam is joined by some of acoustic music’s finest talents, including Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Corrina Rose & Jeremy Stephens, and David Johnson. This is an inspired album, direct from the heart. The 15-song collection is set for release on January 17, 2025, via New Folk Records.
Pam is an eloquent music historian, and her treatment of songs profoundly influential on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop, and rock music is masterful. The Carter Family, who recorded between 1927 and 1956, were additionally influential in the folk music revival of the 1960s in the United States. Their music has left a lasting legacy.
Pam Linton is part of the great tradition of troubadours, marking miles on the road and making fans one fair, festival, or venue at a time. Always dedicated to the art of music, she has a deep love for the great traditions of Americana music and a voice that tells these stories with sincerity. Her expressive vocals tug at the emotions, and she is both a stylist and interpreter. Her delivery is always genuine and heartfelt, touching deeply on the emotions woven into the lyrics.
“Conveying the story, emotion, and theme of the song is so important to me,” Pam says. “That’s what makes a musical performance memorable.”
Songs of the Carter Family (New Folk Records) features Pam's unique and respectful treatment of iconic melodies and relatable lyrics. These are songs that transcend generations. Pam has a deep respect for the Carter Family as musicians, innovators, stylists, and trendsetters of their day.
“I’m a music purist. I have a deep appreciation for music’s roots across every genre,” Pam says. “We are all inventors, but the true inventor is the one who blazes the trail. A.P. Carter truly had a passion for music. It fueled him. He was an adept listener, and the creative energy of A.P., Sara, and Maybelle forged the cornerstone of what we call Country Music today.”
Growing up in St. Stephen, Minnesota, Pam began singing and playing guitar with her younger sister during her youth. Mentored by their piano-playing Aunt Betty Jeanne, they learned the great pop and country standards of the 1940s and 1950s. The family’s appreciation for country music, spanning the 1950s to the 1980s, gave Pam a deep respect for traditionalists from Nashville to the West Coast. These classic songs provided fertile ground for the sisters' close harmonies, soon making them in demand throughout central Minnesota.
A family concert outing introduced Pam to popular entertainer Sherwin Linton. Nearly a decade later, Sherwin invited the singing sisters to perform with him. Still in high school, they began traveling with their parents throughout the upper Midwest to appear in Sherwin’s shows. “Patti and Pam” eventually became full-time members of the Sherwin Linton Show in the early 1980s, earning recognition from Nashville to Las Vegas.
Sherwin and Pam eventually found more than music in common and married. Pam became a devoted partner to Sherwin in both life and music, maintaining his show and business while developing her own career and style.
Pam’s career highlights include:
- 1994: A duet album with Sherwin, In a Nineteenth Century Lifetime.
- 1996: Driftwood on the River, featuring her soulful vocals.
- 2002: Contributions to The Last American Frontier Centennial, including a rare version of "Wildwood Flower" using its original 1860 lyrics.
- 2004: Her first solo CD, Looking Back.
- 2005: A 20-song anniversary collection, Pam Linton – 40 – Loves Ring of Fire.
Pam is a member of the National Traditional Country Music Hall of Fame, recognized for her decades-long dedication to preserving “Music Americana.”
Songs of the Carter Family is brimming with emotion, simplicity, stories, humor, and the timeless melodies that made the Carter Family iconic.
“There is so much that moves me about this music,” Pam says. “It was groundbreaking—from love songs to songs of jilted love, songs of cautious warning to deep faith. The earthy realism of these songs is unmatched.”
TRACKLIST:
Keep on the Sunnyside
Can the Circle Be Unbroken
Wildwood Flower
Foggy Mountain Top
I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes
Farther On
Wabash Cannonball
Jealous Hearted Me
I Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow
When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland
Give Me the Roses While I Live
Are You Lonesome Tonight
Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow Tree
You Better Let That Liar Alone
Walking in the King’s Highway
