Billie Maxwell

Billie Maxwell
Portrait of Billie Maxwell posed with a horse
Background information
Also known asBillie Maxwell, the Cow Girl Singer
Born1906
Died1954
GenresCountry music
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1929
LabelsVictor Records

Billie Maxwell (1906–1954)[1] was an American guitarist and singer. She is often said to be the first woman recorded in country music,[1][2] and the first recorded musician from Arizona[3] but she was actually neither: Rosa Lee Carson, the daughter of Fiddlin' John Carson (one of the first recorded country music acts) and professionally known as 'Moonshine Kate' cut the first recorded country music records by a woman during a June, 1925 session for Okeh records. Billie Maxwell played guitar with The White Mountain Orchestra and recorded six sides solo for the Victor Talking Machine Company in July, 1929 following the recordings made by the White Mountain Orchestra, which made her part of the first recorded country music act in Arizona, and Arizona's first recorded female country singer.