Ernest “Ernie” Olbert Carpenter (1907–1997) was a Braxton County fiddler who helped preserve West Virginia’s old-time music traditions. He learned tunes from his family and older musicians, including “Uncle Jack” McElwain, and later taught them to younger fiddlers across the country.

Carpenter lost his family home when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built Sutton Dam in the 1950s. The experience inspired his best-known tune, “Elk River Blues.” In 1988, he received the Vandalia Award, West Virginia’s highest folklife honor.