Cousin Emmy
Traditional Bluegrass
Cynthia May Carver, who performed as “Cousin Emmy,” was an American old-time and country singer and multi-instrumentalist, one of the first solo women stars in country music.
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- Born in 1903 in Monroe County, Kentucky, into a sharecropping family.
- Was a powerful singer and multi-instrumentalist, playing banjo, fiddle, guitar, and other instruments.
- Built a wide radio following in the 1930s and 1940s on stations including WHAS in Louisville and KMOX in St. Louis.
- In 1935 became the first woman to win the National Old-Time Fiddlers' Contest.
- Recorded the album “Kentucky Mountain Ballads” for Decca in the 1940s.
- Her song “Ruby, Are You Mad” became a bluegrass standard after the Osborne Brothers recorded it.
- Was rediscovered during the 1960s folk revival, recording with the New Lost City Ramblers; she died in 1980.
