Background
Carpenter was born February 26, 1909 in Fries, Grayson County, Virginia and was raised in Pipers Gap, Carroll County, Virginia and Sparta and Cherry Lane in Alleghany County, North Carolina.
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Boyden Carpenter
Edit ProfileCareer
He died May 25, 1995 at Cherryville, Gaston County, North Carolina. In 1930, Carpenter was working in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina, as a musician in an orchestra. Billing himself as "The Hill Billy Kid," he began playing with several bands, including Wade Mainer"s Sons of The Mountaineers, Bill Monroe"s Monroe Brothers, and the Crazy Water Crystals-sponsored "Crazy Water Barn Dance" show band in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The William Leonard Eury Appalachian Collection at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina preserves a photograph of Carpenter with his guitar and "The "Hill Billy" from Alleghany County" guitar case found in a book titled Boyden Carpenter: The Old Gospel Singer.
A 1930s booklet entitled Boyden Carpenter: The Original "Hillbilly Kid", which relates his life story and lyrics to his songs, also survives.
