Musicians
“A Distant Land to Roam” is credited to A. P. Carter. The Carter Family recorded it in Atlanta in November 1929, and Victor issued it on 20 June 1930 as the B-side of “Western Hobo” (Victor V-40255). Discogs lists Sara Carter on alto vocal and autoharp, A. P. Carter on bass vocal and Maybelle Carter on soprano vocal and guitar.
The singer remembers the dark day he left home for a distant land. His mother takes his hand, hopes to see him next year, and bids him farewell; she tells him that if they meet no more on earth they will meet at God’s right hand. He wanders far from home, but says he will soon be coming home and will roam no more.
Carl Story recorded it in May 1964 at Starday Sound Studio in Nashville, with Bud and Will Brewster on banjo and mandolin and Tommy Jackson on fiddle; it came out in 1965 on Sacred Songs of Life and the Hereafter (Starday SLP 315). Alice Foster and Hazel Dickens recorded it in 1965 at Mastertone Studio in New York, with Alice singing lead and Hazel the tenor, David Grisman on mandolin and Billy Baker on fiddle; it was issued in 1996 on the Smithsonian Folkways compilation Pioneering Women of Bluegrass. Dry Branch Fire Squad put it on Just for the Record (Rounder, 1993), with Ron Thomason singing lead.
Ralph Stanley recorded it as “Distant Land to Roam” in 2006 at the Sound Emporium in Nashville, with Jack Cooke on the harmony vocal, Mike Seeger on autoharp and Ralph Stanley II and James Alan Shelton on guitars. It is the closing track of his album A Distant Land to Roam: Songs of the Carter Family, which was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 49th Grammy Awards. Mighty Poplar—Andrew Marlin, Chris Eldridge, Noam Pikelny, Alex Hargreaves and Greg Garrison—opened their 2023 debut album on Free Dirt with it, with Marlin singing lead; BGD gives the recording place as the Tractor Shed in Nashville.
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