 The Sons of the Mountaineers briefly stopped playing during World War II because Mainer could not afford to squander the valuable gasoline required for the journey to the radio stations . One notable exception , however , came in 1942 , when they were invited to the White House by Eleanor Roosevelt . There in Washington D.C. , they played several tunes , including " Down in the Willow Garden " , a song personally requested by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt . During this time , they also appeared in a version of The Chisholm Trail in New York . At wars ' end , the band was reorganized and once again began to play at stations across North Carolina . Recordings at this time were sporadic , due to the declining popularity of the genre . In 1953 , after having renewed his commitment to Christianity , Mainer left the group and exited the industry for a time . 
