Dutch Cove Old Time String Band

The Dutch Cove String Band, part of the Appalachian family string band tradition, is named after their home valley near Canton, North Carolina. Their family fiddling roots stretch back to Turner Smathers, who was a well known musician until his death in the mid-1800s. His nephew, Hack Timmons, and another relative, Aldie Winfield Smathers, were successful fiddlers in their own right. Quay Smathers (1913-1993) played with the popular Smather's Family Band (apparently no relation) in the 1930s and early 1940s. In 1973, Quay and his daughters—June, Cynthia and Liz—formed the Dutch Cove String Band. Liz's husband, Lynn Shaw, and June's husband, Zeb Jolley, also played with the band over its 20-year history. Quay Smathers received a N.C. Folk Heritage Award in 1991 and the band performed for a final time in 1993 at Carowinds, when the Charlotte Folk Music Society honored the band and gave an award to Quay for his preservation of traditional folk music