MyGen Profile GeneratorRaised on a tobacco farm in Caswell County, North Carolina, Beth Williams Hartness began singing and taught herself to play the guitar at the age of twelve. Influenced by her mother's passion for early 1960s folk music, Beth's original inspirations included Peter, Paul & Mary and Joan Baez, followed by Emmylou Harris and Robin & Linda Williams during her college years. While a freshman in college, Beth started experimenting with fingerpicking the guitar and soon began to play fingerstyle exclusively.
In 1982, Beth was introduced to old-time music while living in Charlotte, North Carolina, and joined a local band. During this time, she was a founding member of the Charlotte Folk Music Society, serving as vice president and festival organizer. While attending fiddlers' conventions throughout the '80s, Beth discovered that her unique style of fingerpicking resembled that of some of the Round Peak guitar players in Surry County, North Carolina, such as Paul Sutphin and Chester McMillian. Chester in particular became a mentor for Beth.
Beth has been a member of numerous award-winning string bands, including the Moonshine Monsters and the Lightnin' Bugs, both first-place winners of the traditional band competition at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, West Virginia (2005 and 1995, respectively). Her playing is featured on several recordings, among which are two-finger banjo player Marvin Gaster's Rounder release, the second installment of the Young Fogies anthology, the Clifftop tribute CD, and Adam Hurt's newly-released second recording, "Insight."
Beth Hartness and Adam Hurt perform "New River Train" at the 2008 FOAOTMAD Festival in Gainsborough, England (video taken by Stuart Tod):
Beth Hartness and Adam Hurt perform "The Sinful Flirt" at the 2008 FOAOTMAD Festival in Gainsborough, England (video taken by Steve Wise):
