{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Betsy Rutherford | image = Betsy_Rutherford.jpg | caption = Betsy Rutherford | birth_name = Levera Elizabeth Wroten | birth_date = {{birth date |1944|02|11}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1991|03|12|1944|02|11}} Galax, Virginia, United States | origin = Galax, Virginia, United States | instrument = Vocals, guitar, autoharp | genre = Old-Time<br />Country | occupation = singer | years_active = 1970s–1980s | label = Biograph | associated_acts = Wade Ward<br />New Ruby Tonic Entertainers }} '''Betsy Rutherford''' (February 11, 1944 in Galax, Virginia – March 12, 1991 in Galax)<ref name=GalaxObit>"Betsy Coffey." Obituary in The Gazette, Galax, Virginia. March 15, 1991</ref> was a performer of traditional music from the Appalachian Mountains who was known for her powerful, authentic singing style. In 1970, she recorded an album, "Traditional Country Music," which was released by Biograph Records in 1971.<ref>"Here & There," Betsy Wroten Rutherford Coffey obituary (August 1991). ''Old-Time Herald'' 3 (1)</ref> For the album, she selected songs that she had collected, mostly from friends and relatives.<ref name=Coffey>Coffey, John (1971). "Traditional Country Music" liner notes. Biograph RC-6004</ref>
== Biography == Betsy Rutherford was raised in a musical family. She was related to acclaimed Galax-area musicians and early recording artists Fields, Crockett and Wade Ward, and Henry Whitter.
Her father, Clarence Wroten, was a singer and string band musician who performed with the Ruby Tonic Entertainers and had radio shows in Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Greensboro, North Carolina, in the 1930s. Her mother, Lola Montgomery Wroten, was a shape-note singer. According to Betsy Rutherford, "Mom sang hymns; Daddy sang traditional string band music and played either his guitar, autoharp, or mouth-harp. Somebody was singing just about all the time."<ref name=Coffey/>
Although she was born in Galax, Betsy Rutherford grew up in the Baltimore area. She recorded her album, "Traditional Country Music," with string band musicians who were associated with Old Joe Clark's, a music cooperative in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On December 17, 1971, she married John Coffey, a certified nurse anesthetist and string band musician, who accompanied her on the album and wrote the liner notes.<ref>Felts, Dea (1997). "The Blue Sky Ramblers." Carroll County Heritage Book, 1997, p. 40.</ref>
On November 20, 1971, the album received a favorable mention in ''Billboard Magazine'', which said that the record "showed a definite non-Nashville approach and would appeal to folk enthusiasts as well."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=5Q8EAAAAMBAJ&dq=betsy+rutherford+billboard&pg=PA13 Dove, Ian (November 1971). “Jazz Greats Piano Rolls Re-Released on Biograph.” ''Billboard'', 20 November 1971: 13]</ref>
She continued to perform during the next two decades, including a stint with the New Ruby Tonic Entertainers, named after her father's band. She performed frequently at colleges and music festivals, including the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. She concluded every performance with a rendition of "Amazing Grace," which she lined out in the Primitive Baptist tradition.<ref name=Coffey/>
She can be heard singing harmony vocals on "Rising Sun Melodies," a compilation of Ola Belle Reed songs released in 2010 by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.<ref>Place, Jeff (2010). Liner notes for Rising Sun Melodies, album by Ola Belle Reed. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings No. 40202.</ref>
Betsy Rutherford died at Galax Community Hospital on March 12, 1991. She was 47 years old. Survivors included her husband and three daughters. She is buried at Felts Memorial Cemetery in Galax.<ref name=GalaxObit/>
==Discography==
===Solo album=== *1971, Traditional Country Music, Biograph RC-6004
:<u>Track Listing</u><ref> {{cite web | title = Betsy Rutherford-Traditional Country Music | website = Cornbread, Molasses & Sassafras Tea – Folk and Vernacular Music | date = April 4, 2011 | url = https://longplayingrecords.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/betsy-rutherford-traditional-country-music/ | accessdate = October 22, 2016 }} </ref>
# Faded Coat of Blue # Rain and Snow # John Hardy # The West Virginia Mine Disaster # Tramp on The Street # Boys, Be Good to Dear Old Dad # Drunkard's Doom # Blue # Will the Circle Be Unbroken? # Amazing Grace
===As a Guest Singer=== *2010, Ola Belle Reed, "Rising Sun Melodies," Smithsonian Folkways Recordings No. 40202
== References == <!--- See Wikipedia:Footnotes on how to create references using<ref></ref> tags which will then appear here automatically --> {{Reflist}}
== External links == *[http://longplayingrecords.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/betsy-rutherford-traditional-country-music/ Betsy Rutherford on Cornbread, Molasses & Sassafras Tea] *[https://www.facebook.com/BetsyRutherfordMusic?sk=info Betsy Rutherford's Facebook Page] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120403140329/http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=66264 Betsy Rutherford on The Mudcat Café]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutherford, Betsy}} Category:1944 births Category:1991 deaths Category:People from Galax, Virginia Category:American folk musicians Category:Musicians from Appalachia Category:Folk musicians from Virginia Category:20th-century American musicians