“Mother” Maybelle Carter (born Maybelle Addington; May 10, 1909 – October 23, 1978) was an American country musician and originator of the ”Carter scratch.” She is best known as a member of the Original Carter Family act from the late-1920s until the early-1940s and was a member of the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle.

Maybelle Carter was born Maybelle Addington on May 10, 1909, in Nickelsville, Virginia. She was the daughter of Margaret Elizabeth (née Kilgore; 1879 – 1960) and Hugh Jackson Addington (1877 – 1929). According to family lore, the Addington family of Virginia is descended from former British prime minister Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth. On March 13, 1926, Maybelle married Ezra Carter. They had three daughters, Helen, June and Anita.

She was a member of the original Carter Family, which was formed in 1927 by her brother-in-law A. P. Carter, who was married to her cousin Sara, also a part of the trio. The Carter Family was one of the first commercial rural country music groups. Maybelle, who played autoharp and banjo as well as being the group’s guitarist, created a unique sound for the group with her innovative ‘scratch‘ style of guitar playing, where she used her thumb to play melody on the bass and middle strings, and her index finger to fill out the rhythm. Her innovative technique, to this day known as the Carter Scratch, influenced the guitar’s shift from rhythm to lead instrument.