Guitar, Songs

Raised on a tobacco farm in Caswell County, North Carolina, Beth Williams Hartness began singing and learning to play the guitar at the age of twelve, influenced by her mother's passion for early 1960s folk music. As a self-taught musician, Beth developed a unique finger-picking style of old-time guitar accompaniment. Beth began playing in her first old-time band while living in Charlotte, North Carolina in the 1980s, and during this time she was a founding member of the Charlotte Folk Music Society, serving as vice president and festival organizer. Beth has been a member of numerous award-winning string bands and has won ribbons of her own in competitions for backup guitar. Her playing is featured on a number of recordings, including several with Adam Hurt, Ray Alden's The Young Fogies II, and Jim Childress' Fly Away, among others.