Greetings!

Just when you were wondering when your next issue of Women in Bluegrass would appear, boom! Here it is! As I put this issue together, my daughter Casey is preparing to move to Nashville where she’s hoping to find a job as a banjo player in a full-time bluegrass band, whatever that is! She just wants to be out on the road touring. She recently released her first solo CD, Real Women Drive Trucks, so wherever she plays, she’ll have “product” to sell. As many of you know, when you’re a professional bluegrass musician, every little bit helps! (See ad back page!)

I had always assumed that Casey would also teach banjo lessons out of her apartment, as she did while she was in college. Ah, but in college, she had roommates. In Nashville, she will be living alone. As she pointed out, since she’s a woman, she can’t very well give lessons when she is in an apartment by herself, especially in an unfamiliar town. Never thought of that! So, from the git-go, Casey’s teaching opportunities are limited by her gender. If she wants to teach, she will have to teach in a music store. For a guy, teaching at home alone would not be a problem. So it goes. And speaking of banjo players, congratulations to Alison Brown who received two Grammy nominations for her album Fair Weather. The album is nominated for Best Bluegrass Album and the tune “Leaving Cottondale” (with guest musician Bela Fleck) is nominated for Best Country Instrumental Performance. Fair Weather was released on Alison’s own Compass Records label.

IBMA

We haven’t had an issue of WIB since the IBMA World of Bluegrass, so we have some catching up to do. First of all, congratulations to Bertie Sullivan, from Hattiesburg, Miss., who was elected IBMA vice-president. You probably already know who won all the awards, but it won’t hurt to mention the women again. Unfortunately the list is short. Missy Raines won Bass Player of the Year for the third year in a row! Go Missy! Dolly Parton won for Album of the Year, and seemed genuinely surprised and pleased to receive the award. Rhonda Vincent won Female Vocalist of the Year, and Nickel Creek, with Sara Watkins on fiddle, won Emerging Artist of the Year. Patsy and Roni Stoneman accepted the Distinguished Achievement Award for the Stoneman Family, and both made gracious and heartfelt acceptance speeches. And that was it, folks.

Once again, let me remind you that your vote can make a difference. If you’re not a member of IBMA, I urge you to join. And if you are a member, be sure to cast your vote on that very first ballot and remember the women!

INSIDE

Inside we have three thought-provoking articles about women’s participation at the IBMA World of Bluegrass. First-time attendee Leslie Kostrich sees women emerging as leaders in the IBMA and noted that she saw many women playing and singing. She did comment on the lack of female participation at the Awards Show, a subject I have been harping on for years. On the other hand, Fran Larkin noticed that few women were filling the roles of showcase MC, seminar moderator, and award presenter, roles she feels reflect power and influence. She conducted some research and presents her findings in the form of tables. Thank you, Fran, for your hard work here. One of my favorite World of Bluegrass activities was watching the Women’s Stories, Women’s Songs workshop led by Louisa Branscomb. I contribute a report on this. It was a powerful experience. Wish you could have been there!

As always, I am greatly interested in what you have to say about these articles and the questions they raise. After you read them, let me know what you think. Email is easy! I’m at [email protected].

I’ll be seeing some of you in Tacoma, Washington, at the Wintergrass Festival where I'm giving some banjo workshops! Come by and say hi!

—Murphy Henry

WIBLET: The IBMA World of Bluegrass

Women Are Doing Some of the Most Exciting Music!

Hi Murphy,

I thought about the question of women in bluegrass and women’s roles in the Awards Show for several days after we talked at the Trade Show. I find it interesting that Casey seems to be less upset about this than you are. From what I saw the week of Trade Show, I have to assume things have improved a great deal for women in the music in the last ten to fifteen years. After experiencing a full week at the Trade Show/Fan Fest, here are my impressions.

Women are emerging as leaders in both the music and the trade organization. While attending the Trade Show, I was impressed by the fact that women are serving on the Board and participating in the leadership program. My husband tells me that you once gave the keynote address at the Awards Luncheon and that you serve on the Board. Many women have been recipients of Distinguished Achievement Awards. I take that as an indication that IBMA leadership recognizes that the full participation of women has been and continues to be critical to both the health of the music and the health of IBMA. During the week of the Trade Show, I saw many talented women and many young girls playing and singing. To my (admittedly inexperienced) eye, they seemed to be participating in full. So some things are going in the right direction.

About the only place there was a noticeable lack of female participation was in the Awards Show. Some of the most exciting music in bluegrass these days is coming out of women-led groups and groups that include women as players and/or singers, but women were not well represented among Awards Show performers, and were

noticeably absent from many award categories. I would guess the reason there were few women performers in the Awards Show has less to do with bias on the part of the producers, but rather reflects the conservatism and attitudes of the voting membership. When choosing performers, the producers would naturally look for acts that are likely to be nominated or win major prizes. The women who appeared as performers in the show were all prize winners—Missy Raines, Rhonda Vincent, Sara Watkins, and Dolly Parton. If more women were nominated for awards, it seems likely we’d see more of them performing in the Awards Show.

So when is that going to happen? I noticed that four out of five groups in the Emerging Artist category included one or more women. That seems very positive. On the other hand, reviewing nominations in all instrumental categories, there was only a single woman nominated, and of the nominees for three major awards, Entertainer of the Year, Instrumental Group of the Year, and Vocal Group of the Year, only one includes a woman.

Reviewing award winners of this and past years, it is not unusual to see the same person or group winning in a category for many years in a row. The same group has won Entertainer of the Year five years in a row while another group has won Vocal Group of the Year seven years in a row. Is this because there are no other groups worthy of these awards? If so, that would mean there is little depth of talent in bluegrass! Since that is clearly not the case, the awards perhaps should be seen not as some objective measure of current merit but more as a reflection of the specific tastes of the individuals who vote. The voters may not reflect the broader tastes of non-professional members of the community, for instance fans and amateur performers.

If voting on these awards was opened up to fans, e.g., members of the Grassroots Club, then the results might very well be different.

During the Fan Fest, we were lucky enough to see Rhonda Vincent and the Rage perform on the main stage. Of all the performances I saw in my week at the Trade Show, it was easily the one that most electrified the audience. My husband said emphatically that it was the best set he’d seen anyone play in years. Later we ran into several people who remarked with excitement on this performance. The impression I took away was that women are doing some of the most exciting music in bluegrass and that fans know it and will support it with their dollars. Whether this will ultimately be reflected in nominations for IBMA’s annual awards remains to be seen, but the future for women should be brighter as more women participate in the music in a professional capacity. As far as the Awards Show goes, perhaps the producers should consider a more eclectic mix of musicians, highlighting a greater number of emerging artists, or consciously including several women in any ad hoc groups that appear as part of the show.

Regards,

Leslie Kostrich

Leslie Kostrich is a writer who lives in Alexandria, Va. Last October, she accompanied her husband, Al Steiner, a host of WAMU’s Bluegrass Overnight, to IBMA’s World of Bluegrass. Although it was her first time attending the Trade Show, Leslie is an old hand at staying up late to listen to bluegrass.

A Reflection on Women in Key Event Roles at the IBMA World of

Bluegrass 2000

By Fran Larkin

During key events at the IBMA World of Bluegrass 2000, a trend regarding women in perceived positions of influence seemed to be developing. I felt that the roles of showcase MC, educational session moderator, and award presenter reflect power and influence. It struck me that few women were filling these roles. So I conducted a little research as I attended these events.

Women were noticeably absent in the roles of MC, moderator, and award presenter for key events this year. The breakdown by key event may be seen in the table below. Please note that it was mentioned at the Town Meeting 2000, on Friday morning of IBMA week, that MC selection for Artist Showcases was not being done by IBMA, but instead had been made a privilege of the Artist Showcase sponsors. It was suggested

that the Board of Directors reconsider this new policy. Considering the dearth of women MCs for the Artist Showcases, reconsidering the policy is imperative.

Key Event

of

Sessions

Male MCs/

Moderators

Female MCs/

Moderators

Comments

Artist

Showcases

9+

Kitsy Kuykendall (introduced

1 band out of 24)

Songwriters

Showcase

Kim Fox (Asked to MC, as

Ronnie Bowman could not be

there)

Educational

Seminars

Trisha Tubbs

Storytelling

Sessions

Special Awards

Luncheon

Lynn Morris (presented 1

award out of 9)

Fan Fest

There were no women MCs

during the times that I was at

the Main stage

Awards Show

I did not attend, so couldn't

collect data on awards

presenters

Totals

Women represent 12.8%;

does not include Award Show

or Fan Fest

It behooves women in bluegrass to actively seek out these leadership roles and to encourage women colleagues to do the same. Once in these roles, women are then obligated, unfortunately, to perform better than the best, take an assertive stance, demonstrate exquisite command of the subject at hand, and avoid self-deprecation at all costs when speaking in public. And not be intimidated by this challenge! Women were better represented in the roles of education session panelists and presenters, primarily due to the Seminars and the Mentor Sessions, as seen in the table on the next page.

Key Event

of

Sessions

Male

Panelists

Female

Panelists

Comments

Seminars

Do not include young men and women

from youth groups

Crash Course

for Artists

Industry OneOn-Ones

Mentor

Sessions

Storytelling

Sessions

Teaching

Core Content

w/ Bluegrass

Music

This day-long session taught school

teachers how to use bluegrass music in

teaching academic subjects

Totals

Women represent 46.9%

The IBMA does an excellent job of providing pertinent career development opportunities during the World of Bluegrass. Having said that, I raise here a number of questions related to the ways in which educational topics, session moderators, and panelists are determined. Are educational sessions presented at IBMA because an individual suggests the topic? Does this person then become the moderator for that session? What is the process through which topics are suggested? Is there a selection process for educational sessions once IBMA has received suggestions from potential moderators? What is this selection process? How are panelists selected for educational sessions – is this the moderator’s responsibility? How are IBMA members notified of these processes?

The roles of moderator, MC, and award presenter at key IBMA events are roles of power and influence. When women fill these roles on a regular basis, and in substantial numbers, women as a group will be perceived more clearly as having power and influence within the bluegrass industry. A number of women were among the graduates of the first Leadership Bluegrass Program. I look forward to seeing all of those women included as full participants in key events at the IBMA World of Bluegrass 2001.

What Can You Do If You’re A Woman in Bluegrass?

● Encourage IBMA to change the MC selection policy for Artist Showcases at the World of Bluegrass

● Encourage IBMA to use women MCs for the Fan Fest Main Stage

● Develop topics for Educational Seminars, based on your knowledge and

expertise, and tell IBMA you would like to moderate a panel on one of those topics next year

● Develop your public presentation skills, if you feel they are inadequate (they probably aren’t, but you may need a little practice, which will increase your level of confidence)

● Do not ever put yourself down, particularly in public situations such as band performances

● If you are a woman bandleader, consider carefully whether to assign the role of MC to a male band member. Make sure your stage presence reflects that you are the bandleader. (This will not always be easy. It may mean flying in the face of everything you learned as a child about behaving as a female.)

● If you are a woman band member, honestly evaluate your on-stage persona, and correct it if necessary. (Ditto)

● Nominate women for something besides female vocalist of the year, for the IBMA 2001 Awards. Missy Raines was once again the only woman finalist in all of the instrumentalist nominations this year. Where were Barbara Lamb, Alison Brown, Beth and April Stevens, Sara Watkins, Kristin Scott, Rhonda Vincent and many more? Did you nominate them in Round 1? Did you vote for them in the earlier rounds? Is their playing really inferior to those whose names I saw in any of the nominating rounds? Did you nominate yourself, for heaven’s sake? And if not, why not? Does a presidential candidate vote for the opposition?

Can’t You Hear Me Callin’—The Life of Bill Monroe

Book Review by Claire Levine

When Lizzie first dances with Darcy in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, the heroine asks her partner a series of questions intended, as she says, to make out “the illustration of your character.” She says, “I hear such different accounts of you as puzzle me exceedingly.”

Much the same could be said of Bill Monroe, as it could be said of many brilliant innovators. According to Monroe mythology, the man who held grudges for years also passed out quarters to children, befriended young musicians, and battered a girlfriend with a Bible. Was he the kindly father of bluegrass, eager to teach and nurture the music

of others? Was he the haughty professional who took offense easily? Did his philandering mean he had no respect for women? Did his philandering mean he had a lot of respect for women?

Richard D. Smith’s fascinating biography of Bill Monroe, Can't You Hear Me Callin’, is the perfect resource to help us find the illustration of Monroe’s character. And one thing that stands out of particular interest for WIB readers will be that his character, his actions, and his music were greatly informed by the women in his life.

Smith sheds light on Monroe’s contradictory traits by showing how characteristics and actions were tied to events of Monroe’s youth. Shunned by brothers and neighbor children because of his appearance (one eye didn’t track), it was only the women in the family who had time for him. His apparent aloofness may have been a combination of shyness stemming from his isolated youth and poor eyesight—he simply didn’t recognize people. His long-time search for female companionship may have been because he only felt safe with women.

Most bluegrass histories present a world filled exclusively with XY chromosomes. In contrast, women fill Smith’s book, as they filled Monroe’s life. Smith details which Monroe songs emerged from specific encounters with wives and lovers. He depicts the influence of those women who acted as advisors and agents on Monroe’s bumpy career. He describes the abilities and strength of the women Monroe loved, several of whom were talented songwriters. One of these, Hazel Smith, eventually became a music journalist. She is credited with creating the term “outlaw music” to describe the works of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and others. Smith also notes that Monroe supported women in musical endeavors. Perhaps the most notable was Monroe’s participation in Rose Maddox’s classic bluegrass recording.

In a comment that should thrill our editor Murphy, Monroe is quoted as telling Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard not to adjust the keys they sing in to accommodate their backup musicians. “You make them play in whatever key you sing best,” he said. “If they can’t play in that key, get rid of them, get some other musicians.”

The book is filled with intriguing concepts and fascinating anecdotes, many of them focusing on Monroe’s lethal sense of humor. Smith offers a thoughtful discussion whether or not Earl Scruggs, rather than Bill Monroe, is responsible for the sound we think of as bluegrass today. Can’t You Hear Me Callin’ is a biography for people who don’t particularly like biographies. It’s a great read, regardless of one’s view of Bill Monroe and his music. And just for fun, it answers the question, “Did Bill Monroe really beat his girlfriend with a Bible?” The answer is no.

Women’s Stories, Women’s Songs

By Murphy Henry

Among the many workshops presented this year at the IBMA World of Bluegrass there was one that I made a special effort to attend. In fact, I wouldn’t have missed it. Put together by banjo player/songwriter/bandleader Louisa Branscomb, Women’s Stories, Women’s Songs attracted a standing-room-only crowd and provided some powerful entertainment. Louisa assembled an all-star cast of women: Ramona Jones and her daughter Alisa Jones Wall, Ginger Boatwright, Kathy Chiavola, Sharon and Cheryl White, Dale Ann Bradley, Vicki Simmons, Alison Brown, Missy Raines, Mindy Johnson Rakestraw, Frances Mundy, Pam Perry, and Dixie Hall. I managed to snag a front-row seat and was sitting with a couple of other wibbers, mandolin player Chris Lewis, formerly with the All-Girl Boys, and Gloria Belle, who worked with Jimmy Martin and now heads up her own band.

Louisa was introduced to the audience by Julie Koehler, former Associate Editor at Bluegrass Now magazine, which was sponsoring the Workshop Stage. With her opening remarks, Louisa cut right to the chase: was it appropriate, in this day and age, to have a workshop whose singular focus was on women in bluegrass? She pointed out that women had already proved that we could play, that we could sing, and that we could lead bands. This in itself is a change from the ’70s when women were constantly having to prove that, yes, by god, we can pick. Louisa knows; she and her banjo were there. But, as she noted, there is still a numbers imbalance in the bluegrass world, and as long as this is the case, workshops that spotlight women in bluegrass are always in order.

That got me to thinking. After the 1999 IBMA World of Bluegrass, I had wondered aloud in WIB if segregating women into their own slots was a good idea. I thought maybe it was time to start integrating women into the mainstream. And, in truth, I hope this will eventually happen. But Louisa spoke truly about the numbers imbalance. In spite of the inclusion of a few more women in the instrumental workshops—Lynn Morris on clawhammer banjo, Rhonda Vincent on mandolin, and Alison Brown, who was added to a guitar workshop—there were still three back-to-back workshops on Saturday that had no women in them. So I have to agree with Louisa, the times they are a-changing, but we’re not there yet.

Women’s Stories, Women’s Songs certainly showcased how talented and diverse women in bluegrass are. Every woman, or group of women, did one song and usually told a story to go with it. The song selection was incredibly varied, and many of the

songs were written by the women themselves. Men were not barred from participating, so occasionally “one of the guys” would join the women in song. Here’s what we heard: “Steel Rails” written by Lousia Branscomb and performed with her on banjo, Frances Mundy on bass and vocals, Mindy Johnson Rakestraw on killer rhythm guitar and vocals, Pam Perry on mandolin, and Alison Brown on lead guitar. Mindy told me later, “I couldn’t believe I was standing up there by Alison Brown!”

“Gonna Go Hunting For The Buffalo” a Jimmie Driftwood tune performed by Ramona Jones, fiddle, Alisa Jones Wall, hammered dulcimer, and Greg Davis, guitar. At age 76, Ramona is one of the true pioneers in old-time country music, so it was a real treat to see her at IBMA and hear her play.

“Home,” the Karla Bonoff tune, done by Sharon and Cheryl White on guitar and bass with their father Buck on mandolin.

“Sipsey” written by Ginger Boatwright (and the title of her new CD) and performed by her on guitar with Kathy Chiavola.

“Will You Love Me Still” written by Kathy Chiavola and Elizabeth Hill and performed by Kathy and Ginger, this time with Kathy on guitar. (Same guitar, they just traded!) They were joined by Corrado D’Angelo, from Italy, who borrowed Buck White’s mandolin to play with them.

“Granny Kat” written by Vicki Simmons and Dale Ann Bradley and performed by Dale Ann, guitar, Pam Perry, mandolin, Vicki, bass, and Michael McLain, banjo. This song was written about Vicki’s great-great-grandmother Katherine who left an abusive relationship right after the Civil War. Coon Creek just recorded this song for their new Doobie Shea CD, due out in March.

“Little Darling Pal Of Mine,” an instrumental performed by Alison Brown on banjo and Missy Raines on bass. My notes indicate at this point in the show there were some off-mike comments, probably in response to something Alison said about the song. Cheryl White said, “Don’t tell us we play good for a girl.” Louisa said, “Don’t call us ‘little darling.’ To which Ginger responded by saying, “If somebody called me ‘little’ now, I’d thank ’em!” (Just Ginger being her usual, earthy self. I hope you read Ginger’s cover-story interview with Julie Koehler that appeared in the October issue of Bluegrass Now. Undoubtedly the first time the word “hooters” has appeared in print in a bluegrass publication! Thanks to Managing Editor Deb Bledsoe for leaving that in there!)

“Stinky Pie,” a bass instrumental done by Missy with Alison on guitar. (The tune was named after Missy’s cat.) Missy said that two of her role models on the bass were Ruth McLain and Cheryl White. She also said she remembered seeing Sharon and Cheryl in matching jumpers and knee sox at the Watermelon Park Festival in Berryville, Va. Whereupon Sharon and Cheryl both chimed in, “That was the style! That was the style!” The audience loved it. Some of us could remember wearing jumpers and knee sox... “Follow Me Back To The Fold,” by Dixie and Tom T. Hall, was the grand finale. The song is a tribute to Mother Maybelle Carter whom Dixie called “the greatest lady of all time at the heart of the music.” It is also title cut of Mark Newton’s latest CD, which is a tribute to women in bluegrass. For this number, the women on stage were joined by Mark, on guitar, Tom T. (who sang bass A.P. Carter style), Sally Jones, and Gloria Belle. The audience, who had also been provided with the words, was invited to sing along. The energy and camaraderie and love flowing from all these women was overwhelming. I was so moved I couldn’t even sing—I was too choked up. And to me that’s what music is all about—feeling something. Louisa had put together a first-class production. My hat is off to her and all the women who participated. I went away with a song in my heart and a smile on my face.

Sally Ann Forrester: Forgotten Foremother

By Murphy Henry

In 1999, to complete my Master’s Degree, I wrote my thesis on Sally Ann Forrester, who played accordion with Bill Monroe back in the ’40s. Bluegrass Unlimited published a condensed version in June, 2000, and the Country Music Annual will publish a different condensed version this year. But I wanted to make the details of Sally Ann's entire life available, especially to other women in bluegrass. So, with this issue of WIB, I am beginning to reprint the entire thesis one piece at a time. Stick around for the next few years!

INTRODUCTION

Bluegrass music (hereafter referred to simply as bluegrass) “is a part of country music...a music in which singers accompany themselves with acoustic rather than electric instruments, using the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, five-string banjo, Dobro, and bass.” This definition was offered in 1985 by bluegrass historian Neil Rosenberg. But the earliest scholarly definition of bluegrass, formulated in 1965 by folklorist Mayne Smith, gives a considerably different slant on the music: “Bluegrass bands are made up of from four to seven male musicians who play non-electrified stringed instruments and who also sing as many as four parts” [italics mine]. In the twenty years that separate

these definitions, the face of bluegrass changed as a number of women entered the business. Still, as Bufwack and Oermann have noted, “Created in the mid-1940s... bluegrass music remained an almost completely male domain its first twenty-five years” [italics mine].

Because bluegrass was, indeed, a male domain in its formative years, there were very few women who were performing. Bufwack and Oermann postulate that “[i]ts emphasis on instrumental flash, aggressive vocals, and conservative social structure made it the most male-defined of all country’s styles.” I think one could argue that “instrumental flash” and certainly “aggressive vocals” are not necessarily male characteristics, but conservative social structure certainly kept most women off the road. In a Bluegrass Unlimited article about Wilma Lee Cooper, Wayne W. Daniel quotes author Steven D. Price as saying, “musicians have been associated with loose living, so playing in a band was considered too damaging to a woman’s reputation.” But, as Daniel also points out, “[i]f bluegrass and country music have been dominated by males, the domination has not been complete.” There were a few women who worked in bluegrass bands. But because they were wives, or girlfriends, or side musicians who played rhythm instruments, these musicians have been largely overlooked by scholars, writers, amateur bluegrass historians, and fans.

Sally Ann Forrester, who played accordion in the mid-’40s for Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass, is one of those women who has been overlooked. This omission looms large because, by virtue of being in Monroe’s band at that time, Sally Ann is the “original Blue Grass Girl.” As such, she occupies a unique position in the musical world: she is right on the border between bluegrass and old-time country music. In fact for women, she is the border. Because she was literally in the first band that played bluegrass music (before that term had even been coined), she is by definition the first woman in bluegrass. But, her background was solidly in early country music. And because she was raised in Oklahoma and did her first professional work in Oklahoma and Texas, her musical background, unlike that of many early bluegrass players, is western-flavored. Not only was her favorite group Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, but she worked at KVOO in Tulsa at the same time that Bob Wills did. One of the songs she performed early on was Patsy Montana’s “I Want To Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart,” which features a yodel. Her first stage outfit, in the persona of “The Little Orphan Girl,” was the fringed skirt and knotted neckerchief of the cowgirl, not the gingham dress of the simple country girl. All this makes her more akin to the women in early country music than it does to women in bluegrass. And that instrument, the accordion. Where does it fit in? The accordion is not considered a bluegrass instrument. In fact, after Sally Ann left, Monroe never used accordion again. In today’s lingo, “What was that about?”

Because Sally Ann first started her professional musical career in 1939,I found myself delving, not into the history of bluegrass, but into the history of early county music. I was startled at the number of women I kept running into: Ludie Harris, who played bass and guitar with Sally Ann in the Texas Roundup; the Three Young Maids, the Sooner Sweethearts (three women), and Little Johnny Leach’s unnamed Girlfriend (who, I found out, played guitar) who shared the stage with Sally Ann on the Saddle Mountain Roundup; Dixie Belle Buchanan who was with her in Jamup and Honey’s 1942 Grand Ole Opry tent show.

Sherrie Tucker, who writes about “all-girl” jazz bands of the 1940s, says that jazz scholars are “critically reevaluating some of the timeworn patterns of how mainstream jazz histories have been written.” She points out that “the jazz historical record is too reliant on the very small portion of music which gets made into jazz records.” Histories of bluegrass and country music have also relied, for the most part, almost entirely on that “small portion of music” that gets made into country or bluegrass records. And, to be sure, Sally Ann Forrester’s place in the history of bluegrass is due entirely to the eight sides she cut with Bill Monroe in 1945. But what about those other women who were out there playing: women who have been passed over by the historical record because they were not recorded; women who did not make it into Bufwack and Oermann’s Finding Her Voice because their voices, having never been recorded, are not there to find?

My research into Sally Ann Forrester’s life makes me question the statement “bluegrass music remained an almost completely male domain its first twenty-five years.” How do we know? Has anybody really looked? Margie Sullivan was there; Miggie, Janice, and Polly Lewis were there; Patsy, Donna, and Roni Stoneman were there; Peggy Brain was there; Wilma Lee Cooper was there; Gloria Belle was there; Bessie Lee Mauldin was there; Juanita Sheehan was there; Vivian Williams was there; Vallie Cain was there. And these are the easy ones—the ones that recorded. How many other women are out there that we don’t know about? How would knowing their stories change the historical record of bluegrass?

Or do we consider bluegrass “almost a completely male domain” because many of the women in the early days “only” played guitar or bass (or accordion), and not the flashier fiddle or banjo? How many times has the woman on bass been disregarded because she was merely the “banjo player’s wife,” and not a “real” musician? Why are men who play the bass not disregarded when they are the banjo player’s cousin or nephew or brother-in-law? Why has Sally Ann Forrester been ignored for so long? Is it because she was “merely” Howdy Forrester’s wife? Why have there been articles written about Tommy Millard, Pete Pyle, Jim Shumate, Clyde Moody, Chubby Wise, Stringbean,

Howdy Forrester, Art Wooten, Tommy Magness, and Cleo Davis, “the original Blue Grass Boy,” who all played in Monroe’s earliest bands? (Cousin Wilbur has a book.) Tommy Millard and Cleo Davis were with Monroe only for short periods of time and did not record with him. Sally Ann Forrester was with Monroe for over three years and cut eight songs with him. Why no article, until now, on “the original Blue Grass Girl?” I don’t think I would be far off base if I answered this question by saying “Until now, nobody thought she was important.” Not only was she a woman, she was somebody’s wife, and she played a non-bluegrass instrument. But she was there, playing with not just any band, but playing with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys.

If the historical record has been ominously silent about the presence of women in the early days of bluegrass, no one could fail to notice the influx of female players into the music in the early ’70s. As Bufwack and Oermann note, “Suddenly, as if from nowhere, there were women fiddlers, singers, banjo pickers, guitarists, and bandleaders at bluegrass festivals, on bluegrass albums, and in bluegrass clubs.” I was one of those women. I started playing bluegrass in 1972, when I was in college, as the bass player for Betty Fisher and the Dixie Bluegrass Band, one of the first bluegrass bands to be led by a woman. Not only was Betty head of the band, she also played lead guitar. Eventually, I “graduated” (as I thought of it) to the banjo and started a band, Red and Murphy, with my husband Red. We continue to play together today, although we no longer travel as much. So, you can see that my interest in women in bluegrass is deep-seated and of long duration, because, to borrow from an old joke, “I are one.” Since I was there in the ’70s, I know from first-hand experience some of the trials and tribulations of being a woman in what surely seemed to me to be a “mostly maledominated” music. I have played on stage while visibly pregnant. I have tried to combine performing at bluegrass festivals with bringing the kids along. (Not a success!) I have come back from gigs and paid the babysitter more than Red and I collectively made. And I have always wondered how our foremothers did it. My research into Sally Ann Forrester’s life has showed me how one woman did it. The original bluegrass girl played professionally for over ten years, and then she got out of the business. But she left us this legacy: the indisputable fact that women have been a part of bluegrass music since the beginning. Perhaps with this thought in mind, we can begin to reconstruct the history of bluegrass and give women the recognition that they deserve.

CHILDHOOD

To the bluegrass world, she is known as Sally Ann Forrester, the woman who played accordion with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys from 1943-1946. She has the distinction of being the first woman in bluegrass—the original Blue Grass Girl. She was

on the first recordings (eight sides) that Monroe made for Columbia Records in February 1945. These recordings included “Kentucky Waltz,” Monroe’s first big “hit,” on which the accordion was prominently featured, “Footprints in the Snow,” now a bluegrass classic, along with “Rocky Road Blues” and “True Life Blues,” now both bluegrass standards.

But when she was born on December 20, 1922, she was named Goldie Sue Wilene Russell. The Goldie Sue came from her mother’s older sister; the Wilene came from her mother’s father, George William Robbins (1878-1946). George Robbins had two daughters, but no sons, and desperately wanted a boy. When his first grandchild turned out to be a girl, he named her Wilene (pronounced Will-een), the feminized version of his own name, William. Goldie Sue Wilene Russell, however, was to be known by many names. Later in life, she would be called Billie. Her husband-to-be wrote his letters to “Bill.” Uncle Dave Macon called her “little bitty Billy.” And, of course, after playing with Bill Monroe she was branded forever as Sally Ann. Her son, Bob, said she would answer to any of these names.

In Avant, Oklahoma, (30 miles north of Tulsa) where she lived until she was 15 or 16, her friends and family called her “Wilene.” Here, however, she was known by two different last names. Because she was raised by her Robbins grandparents, she was known both as Wilene Robbins and Wilene Russell. Her grandmother, Susan “Sudie” Emma Watkins Robbins (1886-1965), whom she called Mother, gave her an autograph book for her thirteenth birthday and wrote “Wilene Robbins” on the front. Her report cards from grammar school list her as “Wilene Robbins.” Valentines from school friends are “To Wilene Robbins.” A valentine “To my dear mother” is signed “Wilene Robbins.” But Wilene also wrote her name as “Wilene Russell” in various autograph books and on the backs of pictures. One wonders if it was confusing having two different names. Perhaps this early double nomenclature made it easier to adjust to various names later on.

Although Wilene’s mother, Viola “Vye” Robbins Russell (b. 1905), and Vye’s parents were from Avant, Oklahoma, Wilene was born in Raton, New Mexico. (Raton is in northeast New Mexico, near the Colorado border on what is now Interstate 25.) Vye, like her sister Goldie (b. 1903), suffered from tuberculosis and had gone to Raton where the drier air was thought to be helpful to those with lung disease. Vye’s husband, Hobart H. Russell, had deserted the family before Wilene was born. “As soon as this boy heard she was [pregnant], he disappeared and they never heard of him [again]” wrote Vye’s cousin. Shortly after Wilene’s birth, Vye, 17, moved back to Avant with the baby to live with her parents. A few months after their return, in June of 1923, Goldie, who was engaged to be married, died of tuberculosis. She was 19.

Vye obtained a divorce from Hobart Russell on January 28, 1924, on the grounds of abandonment. But, on April 20, 1925, she remarried, this time to Earl Hargis. As her grandson Bob said, “She picked the two worst guys in the world.” They had a son, Johnny Carl Hargis, born on February 14, 1926. But the tuberculosis, coupled with flu and rough physical treatment from Earl Hargis, proved to be too much for Vye, and she died on August 5,1926, at the age of 21. Vye and Earl were separated at the time of her death, so this left George and Sudie with two young grandchildren. George Robbins tried to get Earl Hargis to pay Vye’s doctor bills and funeral expenses. “Earl, if you had played the part of a gentleman, a husband and father towards your family, I never would have charged a dime of this against you, but on account of your brutal treatment on Vye, she is in her grave today.”

We don’t know if Earl Hargis paid up or not, but he did return long enough to take his son away from George and Sudie, practically at gun point. This left Wilene to be raised as an only child, for she never saw her brother when she was growing up. She looked him up during World War II and they reunited briefly, taking pictures with each other, and exchanging a few letters. After the war, though, he showed little interest in keeping in touch, so Wilene just let it drop.

Tuberculosis had haunted Sudie’s life. Before the deaths of her daughters, she had lost all five of her brothers and sisters to the disease. Sudie also knew what it was like to lose a mother at a young age. She lost her own mother just before she turned nine. Nancy Rider Watkins, who was half Cherokee, died January 7,1895, in Catoosa, Oklahoma, three days after the birth and death of her seventh child. After the death of his wife, Sudie’s father, Cyrus Watkins (1854-1907), who was white, put the five remaining children in a nearby mission school. While Sudie was in this mission school, she met George Robbins. She was 16 and he was 24 when she went “over the wall” to marry him August 27, 1902, in Vinita, Indian Territory. (Oklahoma at that time was still called Indian Territory.) On the marriage license her age is given as 18. Because her mother was half Cherokee (her grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee whose last name was “Whitekiller”), Sudie and all her siblings were officially designated one-quarter “Indians By Blood” on the official Cherokee Roll. This, of course, would have made Vye one-eighth and Wilene one-sixteenth Cherokee “Indians By Blood.” George and Sudie Robbins made their home in Avant, Oklahoma, where both of their daughters were born. For those times, George was somewhat affluent. He owned both his own barber shop and a pool hall. These businesses gave him the extra money to provide a piano and piano lessons for both daughters. At a piano recital on December 15, 1921, at the local Baptist Church, Vye, 16, and Goldie, 18, both played solos and

duets. Vye also played piano for silent movies at the local movie house and was a violinist in the Avant High School orchestra.

But Vye and Goldie were not the only musical members of the family. George Robbins himself was a fiddle player as was his brother Joseph. The brothers, along with their fiddling friend Jimmy Wilson, the marshall of Catoosa, Oklahoma, posed with their fiddles for a photograph around the turn of the century. The picture shows the three men sitting down, dressed in their best clothes, with their hair slicked down and their mustaches waxed, holding their fiddles under their chins, hands on their bows, ready to play. Their cases are open on the ground in front of them. From this picture, I would guess that they were more than casual fiddle players. They probably played for dances and house parties in the local area.

Charles Wolfe and Patricia Hall have pointed out that many women in old-time music were introduced to music by their fathers. Although George Robbins was actually Wilene’s grandfather, he served in the father role and was most likely the one who introduced her to music, probably at a very tender age. A picture of Wilene, in her early teens, shows her holding a ukulele and standing beside her grandfather who is holding a fiddle. One would have to assume that her grandfather Robbins, whom she called Dad or Daddy George, was a very early influence on Wilene’s music.

Wilene is also pictured holding a guitar in two photographs. One of the photos appears to have been taken on the campus of Southwest Baptist College in Missouri, where she attended high school. She would have probably been about 15. The guitar is an “O” hole archtop with a slotted peghead. It looks like an early, inexpensive Gibson model, but since the name on the peghead is obscured by a bush, one cannot be sure. She is making a C chord and holding a flatpick. This is not the same guitar that she would later be holding in her publicity pictures.

Wilene’s grade school autograph books testify to the place of music in her life. In her sixth grade autograph book (1933-1934), on the page for “Social Activities” under the heading “music” she wrote “piano & violin.” In a second sixth grade autograph book (the books were almost identical), she wrote “piano, guitar, violin.” In the category “favorites” she wrote “piano” in both. By the next year, seventh grade, she wrote “guitar” for her favorite music. That year, incidentally, she was class reporter. She participated in the school orchestra and was proficient enough on the violin to play a solo, “Humoreske,” [sic] at her eighth grade graduation. In addition to her musical abilities, she was a smart student who skipped the second grade and received A’s and B’s in her classes. The teachers who signed her autograph books refer to her as a “good student” and a “sweet little girl” with a “sweet disposition.”

Although they had taken their granddaughter to raise, the stress of losing both of their daughters was too much for the marriage of George and Sudie Robbins. George wanted to resume a normal marital relationship, but Sudie would have no part of it. They separated, but never divorced. At some point, Sudie and George lived in the same house with separate bedrooms. Nevertheless, George remained a part of Wilene’s life. One of the things they did together was attend dances that Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys put on at Cain’s Academy in Tulsa. George would pick her up at Sudie’s house on Saturday, and they would ride the thirty miles to Tulsa on a bus, attend the dance, and then ride the bus back. Wilene loved these dances and later talked to her son about what great times she and her grandfather had had. Apparently Sudie was still keeping tabs on her husband because she would always question Wilene about whom George danced with. And, according to Bob Forrester, George “was pretty popular with the ladies and he was a good dancer so he danced with a lot of ladies.” But George would caution his granddaughter, “Now, don’t you tell Grandmother that I was dancing with some of the other ladies.” So Wilene would tell her grandmother, “He just danced with me.” She later told her son, “I kept my mouth shut because I wanted to go to those dances!”

Bob Wills had started playing at Cain’s Academy in 1935 and continued to play there until 1942. These dances were by no means small affairs—they often boasted crowds of up to fifteen hundred people. Bob Wills had also started broadcasting on KVOO in Tulsa in 1934. First, he had a morning show, then he had an evening show, but soon he had a prime time spot, lunchtime, 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. six days a week. Undoubtedly, Wilene listened to these broadcasts. Bob Wills’ dances were a big influence on Wilene, and Bob Wills and the Playboys were a favorite group.

Bob Forrester emphasizes that fact that his mother “came from very humble beginnings.” He does not hide the fact that Sudie was poor. One of the things Sudie did was raise chickens. “Mama said you had chicken for breakfast, chicken for lunch. In Oklahoma you had chicken and dust, that’s pretty much what it was.” Sudie also cleaned houses. In spite of being poor, Sudie somehow managed to send Wilene to Bolivar, Missouri, for two years of high school. It is unclear why Wilene went out of state to high school or where the money came from to send her. Bob thinks that Sudie either bluffed Wilene’s way in by saying she would pay later or got her a scholarship. (He also says that when his mother was about forty, she discovered that the college had never been completely paid off, so she finished paying them off.) Her grandfather did help by sending money.

In September of 1937, Wilene, who was just 14, entered Southwest Baptist College (now Southwest Baptist University) as an Academy student. In the next issue, we’ll read about Wilene’s experiences at SWBC. Here her love for music becomes apparent as we see her playing guitar, violin, piano, and singing. Stay tuned!

WIB

Great New CD!

CASEY HENRY

REAL WOMEN DRIVE TRUCKS

NEW EXCITING BANJO TUNES!

Casey’s debut CD, featuring 9 original banjo tunes (and 4 others) with Missy Raines, Jason Carter, Lynn Morris, Red, Murphy, and Chris Henry, and more.