Roba Stanley was a country music singer who has been said to be the first woman to record country music
Background
She was the daughter of Robert Morland Stanley, an old-time fiddler who recorded with her on some of her records. She learned to play the guitar and sing in the home and by 1923 (at age 15) went with her father to square dances. Their home was "a mecca" for early country music near Atlanta, due to her father"s prowess as a fiddler.
Career
Others have pointed out that Samantha Bumgarner and Eva Davis recorded a session (including solos) three months before Roba recorded. However, she can still be said to be among the earliest of the women who recorded early country music Roba"s father was an old-time music fiddler and she was exposed to the music in the home.
= Recording = Performing = Family Either 14 or 16 years old There has been some concern over her age at the time she recorded.
One article that mentioned the concern said she was either 14 or 16, and probably was called the latter to avoid child labor laws. Another says that research revealed her to be born in 1910.
However the research itself was not identified. Evidence for age 16 at recording time Census records indicate that she would have been 16 at the time she recorded in 1924.
From the census, we know she was born between January 17 and April 28 of 1908.
That would make her 16 in the July 1924 recording session. Additionally, her family listed her birth date as February 11, 1908, which supports the census data. = Census specifics Roba was listed as being two years old in the April 25, 1910 United States. Census and eleven years old in the January 16, 1920 Census.
She had not reached her birthday in the 1920 calendar year when the census was taken.
She would have been 12 if the 1920 census was taken in the same month as the previous census. Roba Stanley playing Single Life on YouTube Roba Stanley playing Devilish Mary on YouTube Roba Stanley playing Railroad Bill on YouTube Stanley Trio playing Whoa Mule! on YouTube.