She grew up the child of country music royalty, performed often with her mother and stepfather, June Carter and Johnny Cash, and built her own successful career over 30 years as a solo artist.
Carlene Carter, daughter of June Carter Cash and CountryMusic Hall of Famer Carl Smith, and stepdaughter of Johnny Cash, will perform in Monroe on March 8. But Carlene Carter, who will perform in Monroe next month, recalls a relatively normal upbringing. When she speaks of her past, she reveals a deep love and admiration for her family and its rich musical legacy, and she has no shortage of fascinating anecdotes, often followed by a hearty laugh.
When a reporter mentions clips on YouTube of Carlene singing with her elders, she excitedly brings up the oft-viewed, though poor-quality footage of her singing “Jackson” with Johnny Cash in the 1980s. Carlene was filling in for her mother, who was undergoing surgery.
“Isn’t that funny?” she asks, laughing about the video. “You can’t really see us, and I also had a lot of big hair, I think, but that was a really neat experience for me, because I’d seen [June and Johnny] do that so often together, and I wanted to do it.”
Carlene notes that she and her stepfather “had a good chemistry” and were very good friends. She toured with Johnny Cash and the Carter Family over the years, and was happy to stand in for her mother when needed.
Carlene was born in 1955 to June Carter and rockabilly pioneer Carl Smith. June was a popular country singer in her own right, and June’s mother, Maybelle, was part of the initial Carter Family trio, which began recording in the 1920s. As is famously depicted in the movie “Walk the Line,” June would go on to marry Johnny after he proposed to her on stage in 1968.
Carlene recalls a happy childhood, relatively insulated from the effects of her parents’ and stepfather’s fame.
“Apart from the fact that they were kind of eccentric, and superstars and stuff, they were really down-to-earth people,” she says. “I mean, my mom liked to cook, and John liked to fish, and we would all waterski when we were growing up. It was as normal as it could be, being their kids.”
Describing herself as a “cowgirl,” Carlene recalls being at her father’s ranch, riding horses often as a youngster.
“So I had a pretty down-to-earth upbringing. I mowed the yard ’til momma married John, and then it was just too big for me to mow,” she said with a laugh. “Plus, there were tourists standing outside our gate staring at me, and momma said, ‘You can’t do it anymore.’ I was going, ‘What about my allowance?’ ”
Carlene recorded several albums for Warner Bros. in the late 1970s and the 1980s, becoming a Top 40 artist. She toured both as a solo artist and with her family throughout the decade, and continued enjoying hit singles and achievements including a Grammy nomination for “Best Country Vocal Performance, Female” in 1991.
But Carlene began to keep a lower profile in the mid-1990s and through the early part of this decade, due in part to a changing music industry. It was also a period of legal and other troubles, and personal loss. Johnny and June died in 2003, as did Carlene’s half-sister Rosie.
In 2008, Carlene released “Stronger,” her first new album in 13 years. She laughs when asked about the lag between records, quipping that she “was doing research.”
The album was inspired partly by her relationship with her new husband, Joe Breen, while also paying tribute to Rosie in the title track. It also features “It Takes One to Know Me,” which Carlene wrote for Johnny one year as a birthday present, and which he later recorded. Critics have described “Stronger” as among her best work.
“I just wanted to share my experience that I’ve had in my life,” she says of the album. “I think that everyone can relate to some of the things that I’ve gone through, and hopefully it can help someone else see that they can pick themselves up off the ground when things aren’t going well or when they lose somebody, that life still goes on.”
Carlene will perform at 2 p.m. March 8 at the Richard P. Marasco Center for the Performing Arts, 1629 Perrineville Road, Monroe. Tickets, which are $20 for general admission, free for students, are available at the Monroe Township Senior Center, One Municipal Plaza; the Monroe Township Community Center, 120 Monmouth Road; and at the door two hours before the show. Visit www.MonroeTownshipCulturalArts. com or call (732) 521-4400, ext. 134.
In concert, Carlene mixes the new with the old, including a tipping of the hat to her family’s music.
“I do a little bit of everything. It’s like, when you’ve been doing it as long as I have, it’s kind of hard to figure out how to get all of it in there,” she says. Though she has a band, her upcoming shows will feature just her on guitar and vocals, accompanied by a keyboard player.
“I find it to be pretty intimate, and I get to talk a lot,” she says. “I’m pretty comfortable with it, the way this is. It’s not as showbizzy, but I’m having a good time with it. I think it presents itself well with the new stuff particularly.”
For Carlene, there is a sense of responsibility to help carry the musical torch for a family that has left an indelible mark on American music going back nearly a century. It was instilled in her from an early age, she says, to embrace the family’s work and continue making new music.
“I have a huge respect for my family’s legacy and I really want to carry it on gracefully, the best that I can. There are a few of us that still do it, but really it’s not the same as it was when the Carter sisters were singing together and grandma was still living.”
Of course, there is always a good laugh to be had, and Carlene notes that the backup vocals in her band are a bit different than the Carter sisters’.
“Although I try my best,” she says, “sometimes the guys just don’t sound like Helen or Anita.”