Read no. 28

Greetings!

And Happy New Year! I do apologize for the lateness of this issue. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to get these WIBs out on time!

IBMA Awards

It is quite late to be talking about what happened at the IBMA World of Bluegrass way back in October 2001. However, there were some important happenings concerning women that need to be noted.

At the Awards Luncheon, Alice Gerrard received a much-deserved Distinguished Achievement Award which was presented by Laurie Lewis. We talk extensively about that inside. Of the seventy Distinguished Achievement Awards which have been given out since 1986, eleven have gone to women. Is the glass half empty or half full? The only other award presented to a woman at the Awards Luncheon went to Sue Meyer for Best Graphic Design. This is the third time Sue has won this award. I would also mention that Sherry Boyd and Traci Todd were two of the three finalists for Broadcast Personality. Maybe next year, ladies.

During the evening Awards Show, Sara and Maybelle Carter became the first women to be inducted into the IBMA Hall of Honor. A.P. was, of course, also included. The roster now reads two women, twenty-five men. Sara and A.P’s daughter Janette was on hand to accept the honor. Janette is a powerful performer in her own right and has worked hard to keep the Carter Family Fold in Maces Springs, Va., open as a performing venue. It was a pretty good year for women as far as the performance awards went. Missy Raines won Bass Player for the fourth year in a row! She said, “You think I would get more composed, but it seems to get worse.’’ We’re just happy to see you up there, Missy. You can say anything you like. Rhonda Vincent won Female Vocalist for the second year in a row. Along with her band the Rage, she also won Entertainer of the Year. This is the first time a woman has won this award since Alison Krauss did it with Union Station in 1991 and 1995. Follow Me Back To The Fold: A Tribute To Women In Bluegrass garnered Recorded Event of the Year while Gospel Recorded Performance went to “I’ll Fly Away” by Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch from the O Brother CD.

Nickel Creek, with Sara Watkins on fiddle, won Instrumental Group. This is the first time a woman has played in a group that won this award.

Grand Finale

Over the years, I’ve had lots to say about the Grand Finale at the IBMA Awards Show because frequently there were few, if any, women included in this prestigious closing. This year, I’m happy to say, things were different. It was mostly women! The finale was a tribute to the new Hall of Honor members, the Carter Family. On stage were twelve women from the Follow Me Back To The Fold CD whose title song is a tribute to Mother Maybelle. Rhonda had the autoharp, Lynn Morris the banjo, Missy the bass, and Mark Newton the guitar. Also on stage were Dixie Hall and her husband Tom T., co-authors of the song, Laurie Lewis, Gloria Belle, Gina Britt, Kim Fox, Sally Jones, Sharon and Cheryl White, and Louisa Branscomb. After host Steve Wariner kicked things off with a little “Wildwood Flower,” the group broke into “Follow Me Back To The Fold.” When Gloria Belle stepped up to the mike and energetically belted out her lead vocal lines, the audience broke into applause. And once again I choked up on the powerful line, “When you see Mother Maybelle on heaven’s bright shore, say hello from the rest of the girls.” Janette Carter then joined the group, and Rhonda tried to give her the autoharp, but Janette declined. Rob Ickes came on stage with Buck White for the Whites to close out with “Keep On The Sunny Side.” I can’t tell you how inspiring it was to see all those women up there, many playing their instruments. Perhaps in the future, we will actually start to see a balance of women and men on all portions of the Awards Show and in bluegrass in general. Wouldn’t that be great?

—Murphy Henry

Laurie Lewis Presents Alice Gerrard with Distinguished

Achievement Award

At the IBMA Awards Luncheon in October 2001, Alice Gerrard, of Hazel and Alice fame and now the editor of the Old-Time Herald, was presented with a IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award which she certainly has earned. Laurie Lewis made the presentation and gave a moving synopsis of Alice’s career to date. Laurie was kind enough to provide us with the text of her remarks, printed below. As part of her speech, she quoted from Neil Rosenberg’s liner notes to the second Hazel and Alice album. The quote provoked a somewhat negative response from the crowd, as I’m sure Laurie knew it would. On page three, Neil himself provides the historical background for the quote and generously allows us to reprint that entire section of his 1973 liner notes. As you will see, the dialogue about women in bluegrass was already under way.

I wish I could also print Alice’s acceptance speech, but she spoke off the cuff from scribbled notes and I did not record her. (What was I thinking?) She did make a passionate plea for old-time music to be included as part of IBMA. “It belongs here,” she said. “It is still vital.” As you can see, the personal is always the political with Alice. Below is the speech Laurie gave before she presented Alice with the Distinguished Achievement Award.

Alice Gerrard first came into my life about 1974, on a bootlegged copy of Who’s That Knocking, her first Folkways album with duet partner Hazel Dickens. That set of songs was the only recording of real straight-ahead Monroe-and Stanley-inspired bluegrass sung by women that I had ever heard, and I was an instant fan. Hazel and Alice didn’t shy away from the visceral, gritty aspects of the music that were what attracted me as well. At the time, I was a fledgling singer and fiddler in the San Francisco Bay Area, and regularly jammed and played in bands with both women and men, and it didn’t hit me until years later how truly ground-breaking that record was—and it was recorded in 1965!

Neil Rosenberg originally wrote the liner notes for Hazel and Alice’s second album in 1967, but it wasn’t released until 1973. In his original notes Neil wrote (and I quote): “Few women seem to possess the necessary skill to play bluegrass instruments properly, and few women can sustain the punch or drive so essential for the successful presentation of bluegrass vocals.”

Bless his heart.

Alice wrote to him suggesting a rewrite:

“Neil—I feel and I think you would agree in this year, 1973, of growing consciousness, that one reason most women in bluegrass or even country music have tended not to possess the above-mentioned skills is not for lack of inherent ability, but more because they have not been encouraged to develop these skills and qualities; or have felt and been made to feel that the skills were not in keeping with their oft-defined roles as women.”

Alice went on to name a short list of women musicians, and I am happy to say that now, 28 years later, that list is growing daily. Thanks, in no small part, to the recordings of Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard.

Aside from blazing a trail for women in bluegrass, I am struck with the duo’s song choices. Their songs didn’t portray women as victims but as whole beings—maybe hurt plenty sometimes, but never defeated. Thank you also for that.

But that was only the beginning of Alice’s career: one that has been devoted to promoting, preserving, and creating music that she loves passionately. Raised in Oakland, Calif., Alice discovered traditional music in the mid ’50s while in college in Ohio and Washington, D.C. After recording four albums with Hazel, she went on to work with Hazel, Tracy Schwarz, and Mike Seeger in the Strange Creek Singers, in a duo with Mike, and a trio with the Harmony Sisters. She played and studied old-time music with Matokie Slaughter, Otis Burris, and Tommy Jarrell, to name a few. Alice worked with filmmaker Les Blank on Sprout Wings And Fly, a film about Tommy’s life and music—which happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies. And all of this while raising four children!

I have subscribed for years to the Old-Time Herald, a magazine which Alice founded and edits. This publication is chock-full of informative articles about old-time music and musicians, both historic and current, and intelligent, insightful reviews—and it doesn’t shy away from earnest discussion of controversial issues. With this forum also she has enriched my life.

In 1995, Alice finally got around to recording her first solo album, Pieces of My Heart, which showcased her as a thoughtful, intelligent writer capable of making up a song that sounds at once ancient and modern—firmly rooted in tradition, but bearing beautiful new blossoms. I think you might call it “Old-Timely” music.

Most recently, Alice has joined forces with Tom Sauber and Brad Leftwich to perform and record music that often bridges the gap between old-time and bluegrass. Together they’ve recorded three CDs as Tom, Brad, and Alice which are treasure troves of great songs and tunes.

Time will tell what Alice Gerrard will be most famous for after we're gone. I’m just glad that I am living now so that I can benefit from the fruits of her seemingly tireless creative energy. She has been and is now a great role model for me, and for any woman who is striving to follow her heart, and I can hardly wait to see where we’re going next. I give you Alice Gerrard.

Neil Rosenberg: Those Intriguing Liner Notes

When Laurie Lewis introduced Alice Gerrard at the IBM A Awards Luncheon and quoted from Neil Rosenberg’s liner notes (see page 2), a groan went upfront in the crowd. It was like a collective “Neil, how could you?" Since I know Neil to be very supportive of women in bluegrass, I asked him later about what he had written. After our conversation, we both thought that reprinting those liner notes would explain the matter best. So with Neil’s permission and the permission of Smithsonian-Folkways, here they are with an introductory paragraph newly written by Neil.

These were my very first album notes. I wrote them in 196. I'd always wanted to do liner notes (as we called them then) for a bluegrass album so I was excited about the project and put a lot of effort into making them complete. I researched each song, created biographies of the musicians, and included a section on bluegrass music publications and research. Hazel and Alice’s first album was released on Verve/Folkways, a label that Folkways owner Moe Asch had put together with the aim of reaching the folk revival market during the boom years of the mid-sixties. The second album was supposed to be on the same label, but Asch’s collaboration with Verve ended and so that second album sat “in the can" until 1973. When Alice wrote suggesting that I needed to rethink some of what I’d written in 1967, I tried at first to incorporate her suggestions into my own writing. But that didn’t seem as honest or direct as simply quoting from her letter, making the notes into a dialogue about feminist perspectives. Now, nearly three decades later, judging by the response to the portions of it that Laurie Lewis quoted in her introduction of Alice at the IBMA awards, the dialogue still resonates. Afterwards people asked me how I felt about being quoted this way. I jokingly replied with Samuel Goldwyn’s famous saying, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity!” But seriously, as a writer, I was happy to know that what I’d written had an impact, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to share these notes with the readers of WIB.

Neil Rosenberg’s 1973 liner notes to Won’t You Come And Sing For Me? by Hazel Dickens and Alice Foster:

Chronologically, this is Alice and Hazel’s second record; it was recorded in 1967. However they have recorded several times (for Arhoolie and Rounder) since the recordings in this album were made. When Folkways recently decided to release this material I took a look at the notes which I prepared for the album in 1967. Unlike the music, they were rather out of date. At that time I stated that “although performances by the Carters, the Poe Sisters, Molly O’Day, Martha Carson, Kitty Wells, Wilma Lee and Rose Maddox (there are of course many others) have greatly influenced bluegrass repertoire and style, there has not been a strong tradition of female singing in bluegrass. In fact, L. Mayne Smith, in his article, ‘An Introduction to Bluegrass’ (Journal of

American Folklore, 78 [1965], p. 245) states as a ‘defining trait’ of bluegrass that ‘Bluegrass bands are made up of from four to seven male musicians . . .’ (emphasis mine).” I went on to suggest that “Perhaps this has been for two reasons: Few women seem to possess the technical skill necessary to play bluegrass instruments properly, and few women can sustain the, ‘punch’ or drive so essential for the successful presentation of bluegrass vocals.”

Alice has written me suggesting I might wish to modify my notes in light of current thought on the role of women in our culture. I think her own writing points out the flaws in my reasoning quite concisely:

“Neil—I feel and I think you would agree in this year, 1973, of growing consciousness, that one reason most women in bluegrass or even country music have tended not to possess the above-mentioned skills is not for lack of inherent ability, but more because they have not been encouraged to develop these skills and qualities; or have felt and been made to feel that the skills were not in keeping with their oft-defined roles as women. Women instrumentalists are few and far between in country and bluegrass music—Roni and Donna Stoneman, Cousin Emmy, Gloria Belle are a few—although more and more women, especially from the cities, who have become interested in traditional and country music have taken up instruments—in particular fiddle and banjo. Carol McComb from California has even integrated the pedal steel (into her music).” Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard (this is her maiden name; the previous Folkways LP used her former married name of Foster) have been in the vanguard of this latter trend with their performances at concerts and folk festivals throughout the U.S. and in Canada. They have participated in “Women’s Music” workshops at the National, Philadelphia, and Mariposa Folk Festivals. There is no question that they are outstanding bluegrass musicians—listen to Alice’s inventive backup work on the guitar, and Hazel’s solid bass playing—they provide a splendid rhythmic foundation for the group. Alice is, in addition, an accomplished banjo player; listen to “Train On The Island.” As for their singing, the music in this album speaks for itself. From the delicate feel of “Won’t You Come And Sing For Me” to the bluesy harmonies of “The One I Love Is Gone,” they demonstrate their mastery of bluegrass vocal techniques.

Alice and Hazel’s first record, Who’s That Knocking (Verve-Folkways FV/FVS-90O5) included biographical information; I give only a brief sketch here. Alice, who sings the lead (or lower) parts, is from Oakland, Calif. She came to country and bluegrass music through an interest in folk music acquired at college; in fact, she was banjo picker for one of the first (if not the first) collegiate bluegrass bands, the Green County Stump Jumpers of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Hazel, who sings the high tenor

parts, is from West Virginia. Folk music was an integral part of her childhood, and county and bluegrass music were well-liked in her home. Her father, H. N. Dickens, can be heard on Folkways album FA 2315, Old Time Tunes of the South. Alice has written movingly of Hazel’s life in “Hazel Dickens: As Country As I Could Sing,” (Sing Out, 21:1 [1971], pp. 2-7; reprinted in Mountain Life and Work, Dec., 1972). She is an able song writer, as “Won’t You Come And Sing For Me” on this record shows.

They met in Washington D.C./Baltimore—an area which has been a bluegrass stronghold since the early 1950s, due to the enthusiasm of people such as the late Don Owens, a disc jockey, collector-performer Mike Seeger, and producer-performer-writer Pete (Roberts) Kuykendall. The Washington/Baltimore scene is notable for its mixture of “city” derived and “country” bred musicians and the resulting exchange of repertoire and concepts. By “city” I mean coming to bluegrass from a prior interest in the folk music revival—Alice’s background. By “country” I mean coming to bluegrass from a prior interest in hillbilly (or country-western) music—Hazel’s background. The two terms describe opposite ends of a spectrum, and are meant only to describe the musical orientation or training of a person prior to his [or her] interest in bluegrass music. It is curious, and I think significant, that this music should appeal to people of such divergent backgrounds in our culture. The appeal lies partly in the inherent excitement and beauty created by the music, with its jazz-like instrumental interplay, compelling rhythms (somewhat similar to those of early rock & roll) and the rich modal feeling of the older Anglo-American folk tunes in its harmonies. But there is also a basis for common ground in the words of the songs of Alice and Hazel. These are songs which are meaningful to “country” people because they express the conflict and tension generated by the move of rural people to the city and urban values to the country. Economic necessity has dictated the abandonment of the familiar scenes and security of the country home (listen to “A Tiny Broken Heart,” “Won’t You Come And Sing For Me,” and “A Distant Land To Roam”); in the new urban context, loneliness and frustration loom large (listen to “I Just Got Wise,” “Weary Lonesome Blues,” and “The One I Love Is Gone”).

The attempts of “country” people to find ways to ease the tensions of this new and difficult life often have tragic results (listen to “Mommy Please Stay Home With Me”). For country singers and audiences, the very act of singing or listening to these songs constitutes a way of coming to terms with the change, of coping with reality. The meaningfulness of such songs to “city” persons lies in their expression of rural values which appeal to people living in an urban environment which is increasingly characterized by pollution and social and physical deterioration. In this sense, Hazel and Alice’s songs talk of an alternative way of life and remind young city people that

technological change and “progress” do not automatically lead to a better quality of living.

Neil V. Rosenberg, Memorial University Of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, April 15, 1973

These liner notes were originally printed in Won’t You Sing For Me? by Hazel Dickens and Alice Foster (FTS 31034, © 1973, Folkways Records & Service Corp). Check out Smithsonian Folkways Recordings’ 1996 CD release of Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, Pioneering Women of Bluegrass (SF40065). Watch for the spring release of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings’ Bluegrass Sampler in stores and on

www.si.edu/folkwavs.

IBMA Honors the First Generation: Men and Women

Back in April, 2001, Sonny Osborne came to the IBMA Board of Directors and presented us with an idea. He was concerned that the “first generation” of bluegrass players was dying and that soon no one would remember their contributions to the music. He knew that most of these players—many of them side musicians—would never make it into the IBMA Hall of Honor. He also knew that bluegrass music wasn’t created solely by the “big names” of bluegrass but also by other hard-working musicians from that time period. He suggested that we somehow recognize these “first generation” musicians. The Board was enthusiastic about the idea and by the time the World of Bluegrass rolled around, a committee had come up with a list of over 200 names. Their only concern was that they might have missed someone. To date, this list is not complete—other names can and will be added as they are remembered. The names of these first generation players will be engraved on a special plaque and displayed adjacent to the IBMA Hall of Honor to recognize the accomplishments of these pioneering men and women.

The criteria by which the musicians were selected is as follows: They must be widely considered to be “first generation” artists as evidenced by their work between 1940 and 1954. Evidence of such work will be judged to exist during the time period if any or all of the following are determined:

1. They were a creator or recognizable early professional practitioner of the distinct sounds which would become known to the world as bluegrass music.

2. They made significant artistic contributions to the earliest recorded examples of bluegrass music.

3. They established the vocal, instrumental, or other entertainment styles that make up the bluegrass sound.

On the night of the Awards Show, Eddie Stubbs read the entire list of names (in segments) as they were shown on screen. The following commentary was printed in the IBMA Awards Show Program:

Tonight’s tribute to bluegrass music’s “First Generation” is in honor of the individual artists who were the first creators and practitioners of bluegrass music. Between 1940 and 1954, every person whose name we’re recognizing helped to establish the vocal, instrumental, and entertainment styles of bluegrass. Their artistry, in live performances and on the earliest recordings of the music, would set the standards for the music’s distinct sounds.

This special honor is in recognition of their collective contributions and achievements which have proven the foundation for the music’s success and a special plaque identifying all of these names, and others to be added, will be dedicated adjacent to the Bluegrass Hall of Honor to recognize their accomplishments.

From the beginning of the project, I was so hoping that the women would not be overlooked. And, yes, I did make suggestions! I was pleased, therefore, to find a number of women’s names on the list. I present them below. Again, please keep in mind that this is not a final version of the list. IBMA welcomes your recommendations. Drusilla Adams: co-founder Blue Ridge Records, song writer and possibly performer with Church Bros.

Evelyn Bryan: bass player/singer with Bailey Bros.

Vallie Cain: guitar player/singer with Benny and Vallie and the Country Clan Ola Belle Campbell: guitar/clawhammer banjo/ singer with Alex & Ola Belle & the New River Boys and Girls

Wilma Lee Cooper: guitar/clawhammerbanjo/singer with Wilma Lee & Stoney

Cooper & the Clinch Mt. Clan

Sally Ann Forrester: accordion/singer with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys Bessie Lee Mauldin: bass player/singer with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys Molly O’Day: guitar/clawhammer banjo/singer with Molly O’Day and Lynn Davis Elanor Parker: guitar/singer Rex and Elanor Parker

The Stoneman Family: Donna (mandolin), Roni (banjo), Patsy (guitar, autoharp) Are you surprised that the list is so small? Are you wondering why I’m making such a big deal about it in WIB? I feel that this list of names is important for several reasons. First of all, it honors the few trailblazing women who were visible in the early world of bluegrass. Second, the inclusion of these women, some of whom are certainly not well

known, indicates that the IBMA committee was aware of the importance of including women. And finally, the very sparseness of the list lends credence to Bufwack and (Hermann’s assertion that bluegrass was “an almost completely male domain during its first twenty-five years.” Or at least during its first fifteen years. Yet one can’t help but wonder about the women who weren’t “seen”—the ones who played at home, at church, in family groups, on local radio. Sure, they didn’t make the bluegrass big-time (whatever that was), but how many were there? We simply don’t know yet. And what kept them and still keeps them from being visible? So many questions, so little time. Still, this list is a start.

Those Amazing Young Girls

By Murphy Henry

This year, Those Amazing Kids, the kids’ workshop held at the IBMA World of Bluegrass, was very different. Scattered across the stage were six young musicians and five of them were girls. Kudos to John Laswell, the workshop coordinator, for making the effort to find these young women. Naturally, I sat through the entire performance. Things started off with a bang when Maggie Beth Estes, 10, played Beaumont Rag on the fiddle. She was followed by Christina Furtado, 9, and Amanda Kowalski, 18, playing some boogie woogie bass solos on their basses. Michelle Porter, 11, played Kentucky Mandolin on the mandolin, and Sierra Hall played Lonesome Fiddle Blues on her mandolin. They were accompanied by Michelle’s dad Gene on guitar, and Amanda on bass. Fourth on the program was Evan Ward, 13, the lone male player, who played Salt Creek on the banjo, accompanied by Amanda on bass. After that, Evan’s bluegrass band (all male) joined him for a couple of numbers. Then all the kids banded together to play Bill Cheatham, on which Sierra took a guitar break, Jerusalem Ridge, on which Michelle took a guitar break, and Julie Ann, with Sierra on mandolin and lead vocals. Following that, Michelle sang Company’s Coming. Sierra didn’t have her capo in the right position, but Michelle didn’t stop for her to fix it. Sierra just had to catch up. During the song Sierra also dropped her pick, but she just kept on playing without it. Very gutsy. The show closed with Michelle playing Bill Cheatham accompanied by her dad on guitar.

All the kids were good, but I would have to say that Michelle and Sierra stole the show by playing complex lead breaks on both mandolin and guitar. Their flat-picking abilities on these two instruments surely put to rest the argument that women don’t have the muscular strength to play lead guitar or mandolin. Maybe the key is to start young.

Even more amazing to me than the workshop was the fact that Sierra was asked to pick a mandolin tune with IIIrd Tyme Out during their Friday night set. She was cool as a cucumber playing alongside Wayne Benson. Her choice of tune? Bill Monroe’s Wheel Hoss, not an easy instrumental.

Perhaps Sierra's appearance with Third Tyme Out and Michelle’s appearance with Chris Thile the year before signal a sea change in the recognition and acceptance of young female players. In the past, when I would see young boys being invited on stage to pick a tune, I was often in despair, wondering where the young girls were and whether they would ever get their shot in the limelight. Now, I feel somewhat reassured. The question is, why are there now more young women playing lead instruments? I am certainly teaching more young girls than ever before. Why is this happening? The answer, I’m sure, is complex but among the things I see in the mix are Alison Krauss, O Brother Where Art Thou?, and Nickel Creek. Maybe even the Dixie Chicks. I also think that this generation of parents (who are, egad!, younger than I am) is an equal-opportunity generation. If kids are going to get music lessons, then both the boys and girls will get them on whichever instruments they prefer. Banjo is not just for boys anymore. It is also interesting to note that all my young students are homeschooled. Obviously, their parents think that music lessons are important. But why bluegrass? Perhaps part of the reason is that the very nature of bluegrass music allows it to be a group activity right from the beginning. After learning a few chords and a song or two people can actually play together and have fun. Festivals can also provide a safe, fun, wholesome outing for the entire family. For parents that are concerned with nurturing children and togetherness, bluegrass offers a wealth of opportunities.

Two Teens View the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend

Tina and Marie Miller are two of the young women who have been taking banjo and mandolin lessons from me for the past year. When they told me they were attending what I jokingly called the “all-boy” Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend, whose instructors drawn from the all-male AcuTab roster, 1 knew that they would be among the few females attending. I asked them to write about their experiences for WIB.

Tina Miller’s Report

I recently attended the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend Conference with my father, Joe, who plays guitar, and my younger sister, Marie, who plays mandolin. The conference was held November 8-11, 2001, at the historic Roanoke Hotel in downtown Roanoke, Va. I had signed up as both a banjo and guitar player, which gave me the freedom to float back and forth between both groups. There were roughly 40 banjo players and

perhaps twice that number of guitar pickers. Because I have been to similar camps, it did not surprise me that the members of both groups were almost all older than I was and nearly all male. Being a female fifteen-year-old bluegrass player seems to be a bit unique, and sometimes can be a little intimidating, but being around these more experienced players always challenges me to try and improve my own playing. My goal is to be recognized simply as a good player, regardless of my age or gender. I believe that experience (or lack of it) is actually my biggest obstacle. Some of these guys seem to know every bluegrass song and every fiddle tune ever written and I am struggling to get a dozen or so down solid. My teacher, Murphy Henry, is helping me to build a bluegrass repertoire and we are adding a couple of new tunes every month, so that hopefully by the summer camp and festival season, I will be able to join some of the better jam sessions and hold my own.

The only negative that I would mention is that some of the classes were too large to receive any kind of personalized instruction. On the guitar side we had enough instructors to break into small groups, but the banjo classes were always large. Overall though, I thought that the camp was great. The staff was really nice and kept things running smoothly.

Some highlights: I did catch a couple of hours of Chris Thile’s mandolin class, which was awesome. I also got to see some excellent performances by the conference faculty. I think my favorite was the Jim Hurst and Alan Bibey duo. These guys had never played together before but they seemed to be able to read each other's musical thoughts. In closing, because I believe that I have benefited from the experience, I would recommend the camp to other girls my age.

Marie Miller’s Report

Last weekend, I attended the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend. Being a mandolin player, I was most excited about attending Chris Thile’s mandolin class. Because of Chris’s schedule, he had to squeeze his entire weekend of teaching into one, six-hour class. Actually this worked out fine, because after the initial feeling of, “Wow, I can’t believe that Chris Thile is really teaching this class,” I was able to really soak in all the information he was giving us. Even though Chris Thile was amazing, I also learned a lot from my other talented instructors, especially Alan Bibey. He was a great teacher and I learned tons from him.

In my class of about 50 mandolin players there was one woman and two girls (including myself), but that didn’t really bother me. I already knew that being a twelve-year-old girl who is really into bluegrass music is rare. My idea is to take my differences, put them

aside and simply be good at what I do. I conclude with the thought that I had an awesome time and learned a lot!

Ladies Only Flatpicking Guitar Workshop

By Patsy Kline

As a new picker my exposure to the experience that is bluegrass has tempted me to write down some of my perspectives. I hope you find these wet-behind-the-ears views of recent events interesting. Please remember anything I write is just fertilizer...for discussion.

Which do you prefer? A closed room full of estrogen-laced, creative nurturing or hallowed halls permeated with phosphor-bronze versus flat-wound competitiveness? Well, both I say. I had the extraordinary opportunity to experience virtually the same flatpicking guitar workshop in two totally different situations. Steve Kaufman held an exclusively female event one month prior to holding the same seminar—which was open to all—in my hometown four states over and a world away.

On September 28 and 29, 2001, the first Ladies Only Workshop (LOW) for Guitar Flatpicking was held in Alcoa, Tenn. This was a room full of spit and vinegar. Eighteen women from upper New York, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania Dutch country, and all parts of Tennessee thought it important enough to gather and make headway towards being tough and independent. Steve Kaufman, the only three-time winner of the prestigious National Flatpicking Championships in Winfield, Kans., conducted the seminar. The ability levels ranged from competing guitarist to a mandolinist (me) with only five weeks on guitar. Most of the participants either performed in an existing band or were involved in jamming regularly.

Campbelltown, Pa., was the location of the second workshop on November 9 and 10. This was held at Robert and Nancy Kain’s Country String Shop and Academy thanks to banjoist Nevin Jackson’s Pennsylvania Bluegrass Academy. Twenty-two people including four women attended. Steve Kaufman made every effort to include the four women in this seminar. At first he wanted all the women in the front but he didn’t force it. As a progressive teacher Steve gets an A-plus.

The awareness and insight Steve has for beginning pickers was the key to the environment that made both weekends a success. He also worked with players at all levels. Because of that I would recommend his guitar seminars for any picker. There were some astounding guitarists at both workshops. Steve has an ability to inject

high-level information within the rudimentary lessons without disrupting the explanation or interest. With this approach he challenged every taste. The Ladies Only Workshop was at a more basic level only because of fewer average years of experience. We need to change that.

At one point the seminars allowed everyone an opportunity to show off or stretch their limits when a simple melody was being performed en masse. Only two of the four women at the mixed session braved playing a break, while eighty percent in the Ladies Only Workshop took the opportunity to perform on the spur of the moment. The “hot seat,” an opportunity to play a song in front of the group, was offered at both sessions. At the women’s workshop, I volunteered to play the classic “Wildwood Flower” with Steve to demonstrate the melody/chord style of break. Steve was asked to follow my speed, comotoso scaredioso. He cheerfully agreed and enhanced my beginner’s melody and runs with alternating breaks making my beginner’s effort palatable. It was noted that the number was done in the sacrilegious and evil key of G and not the traditional Carter C. The 1965 Mel Bay book was produced to prove the G tab existed. Whew! We all had a good laugh. There were a couple of guitarists in this session that could have whaled on this number but they did not volunteer. I would not have tried this in Pennsylvania.

A notable wibber there was Carol Stober, the autoharp lady. She wanted to advance her guitar skills for use in her group, the Maiden Heaven Band. She teaches autoharp, guitar, and dulcimer. Carol has produced two instruction videos, three Mel Bay autoharp books, and recorded four CDs. Also present was Edna Reddick, a songwriter/singer, who has been involved with the Kaufman Enterprises organization since the early ’80s. Edna published a song “Pray for Peace” which was incorporated into a patriotic concert video shown in venues around the United States.

Jamming was part of the Friday evening wind down in Tennessee. Cheryl Lunsford, Kina Lee with her husband Dave Lee, a local picker, and I (on mandolin) made sure the lobby of the Hampton Inn had entertainment. Some of the women held their own yet others had difficulty in the freedom of the jam. Mistake making with a nice flowing cover is an essential habit we must all cultivate. The little boyish “I meant to do that!” attitude is essential. In Pennsylvania, Friday night jamming was also available. This time, however, there was no lobby. This makes a choice inevitable when it comes to unaccompanied women pickers. Etiquette encourages demure caution or restraint but the music demands forwardness. As the lone mandolinist and gal, there were plenty of breaks to be had in this group. Thank you!

In Tennessee, Saturday night included a concert at the Maryville Palace Theater, Steve’s acoustic venue. The show was hosted by Donna Dixon, Steve’s wife, who introduced him as one “who travels so much he never plays here.” Cheryl Lunsford, LOW participant, had the pleasure of being invited by Steve to share the stage. It has been said that unforgiving passion is what you need to be good. This Roanoke native has just that kind of passion for her guitar. She introduced herself at the workshop as wanting to be the first woman to win the flatpicking championship at Winfield. At the workshop Steve had said, “There must be a couple of “Bill Cheatham’s” in here.” Knowing that “Bill Cheatham” is a guitar competition tune, Cheryl stepped up to the plate. She not only owns “Bill,” but can knock him out and spin him around on his head. The boys wouldn’t take her seriously when she was a youngun’, so now she has a “very big pick to grind!” Cheryl remembers playing a song and a man whispering, “I am going to have to break your fingers!” She says that she still keeps one eye open after a break, just in case!

Cheryl had both eyes open as she took off on lead and twinned “Old Joe Clark” with Steve on stage. Her chimes in “Blackberry Blossom” drew applause as the duo tossed the tune back and forth. The set ended with Cheryl asking Steve if he wanted “a little whiskey” before breaking into a Winfield-winning rendition of “Whiskey Before Breakfast.”

In Pennsylvania, Saturday’s concert hosted the music academy and included Nevin Jackson’s youth bluegrass ensemble known that night as the Bluegrass Mountain Girls even though there were two young men in tow. Steve did a nice show with the kids, set off by two fiddle players, Brittany Jones and Rachel Bailey, whose bluegrass version of “Ready For The Time To Get Better” was well received. A certain amount of bravery is needed when playing with better players. These kids were prepared and willing. So why was there such a discrepancy in the two sessions in the willingness of women to interact? The reluctance shown in the Pennsylvania session was a striking contrast to the interaction and contributions between players during the Ladies Only Workshop. There were more noticeable advances with newfound confidences and the benefits promise to be far-reaching from that October weekend. My headfirst plunge into both pressure cookers changed my view of the learning process as a WIB and a BIB (Baby/Beginner/Babe In Bluegrass). We can’t stay in a cocoon forever. Now we need to break out and take the breaks!

The Second Annual Steve Kaufman LOW is scheduled for early September 2002. Also Campbelltown will resurface in 2002 with wibbers in the front row! See you there!

Patsy Kline (honest!) is a student of bluegrass music at the Pennsylvania Bluegrass Academy in Campbelltown, Penn., where she sings and plays mandolin and hacks at the guitar and fiddle.

The Continuing Story of Sally Ann Forrester, the Original Blue

Grass Girl

When we last looked at Sally Ann’s life, in WIB 26, she had just joined her future husband Howard in Wichita Falls, Texas. In this section of her story, she and Howard finally hook up with Bill Monroe. Remember, at this time Sally Ann was known as Billie.

JUST MARRIED

On June 29, 1940, Billie and Howard were married by a Justice of the Peace in Walters, Okla., just across the line from Wichita Falls. On the marriage license Howard gave his age as 21. He was 18. Billy gave hers as 19. She was 17.

Billie then joined the Tennessee Valley Boys at KWFT in Wichita Falls, performing once again as the Little Orphan Girl. Billie, Howdy, and Joe also had a trio, with Billie taking the lead, Howdy taking the baritone under her, and Joe taking the low tenor. Sometime after Billie and Howard got married, Herald Goodman, who was now working at WFAA in Dallas, wanted the Tennessee Valley Boys and the Little Orphan Girl to join him. They did so for about a month, but it didn’t pan out.

Around this time, the Penn Brothers, Red and Chuck, had broken off from the Tennessee Valley Boys. Red had gotten married, and Chuck went back home. In early fall of 1940, Billie, Howard, and Joe went to Kansas City, Mo., and auditioned at a station there. They were told that they sounded better in person than they did on the demo recording that they had sent, but there were no sponsors available, so there was no spot.

They started looking for another place to play. Curt Poulton, a former member of the Tennessee Valley Boys, had found work at WDZ in Tuscola, Ill. The station had live talent all day long, with commercials, sponsors, and salaried musicians. Curt got Howard, Billie, and Joe a job there, and they worked through the winter, up until early 1941. Billie was still performing as the Little Orphan Girl, Howard was still “Big Howdy,” and Joe was still “Lespedesa.” Howard and Joe sang duets, and with Billie they sang trios. They had a program at noon, and also worked some personal appearances at night. One of the numbers Billie performed was Patsy Montana’s “I Want To Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart.” While at WDZ, they also often worked in different combinations with other acts on the station.

By April of 1941, the Tennessee Valley Boys and the Little Orphan Girl were back at KWFT in Wichita Falls. The station manager had asked them to come back, promising them a salary and sponsors. They appeared on “several programs a day.” Howard said the reason they left Illinois was the weather, but Joe said at WDZ they “couldn’t do much, but played programs all day long.” But on May 26, 1941, Joe received his draft notice. “It was just supposed to be for a year,” Joe said with a laugh. He had a couple of months before he had to report for service, so he dropped Howard and Billie off in Dallas with Gus Foster and Slim Rutland and the Texas Roundup and headed back to Nashville by himself.

This job also turned out to be short-term, as Gus Foster “got to gambling” and would not pay the band. By mid-November, Howard and Billie had left the Texas Roundup and had gone to KTSA in San Antonio where they were with a group for a short time. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, Howard said, “I told my wife—we’ll pack everything and let’s go home.”

BACK TO NASHVILLE: THE TENT SHOW

Surely they both knew it wouldn’t be long before Howard was drafted. Back in Nashville, they lived with Howard’s mother, Emmie, and brother Clyde. There Howard signed up with the Navy, his preferred branch of the service, and then waited for them to send him his draft notice. It came on August 8, 1942. But Howard did not go into service until the spring of 1943.

While Howard was waiting for the Navy to call, he and Billie found work playing music in Nashville. The Devil’s Box notes, “They [Howard and Billie] worked with Jamup and Honey, Bill Monroe, and Uncle Dave Macon until Howard was called into service.” After much investigation, I have determined that both Billie and Howard worked on the 1942 Grand Ole Opry tent show which was headed up by Jamup and Honey. Opry veterans Jamup and Honey (Bunny Biggs and Honey Wilds) were blackface comedians who managed one of the first Opry tent shows. An Opry tent show was a touring package show that featured a number of groups that were members of the Opry. These tent shows worked long distances from Nashville during the week, then made a mad dash back to town to play the Opry on Saturday night. They frequently headed right back out after the Opry ended at midnight. The show carried its own tent and frequently a tent crew to set it up. Tent shows usually ran from around May through November. Neil Rosenberg points out that these country tent shows are best thought of as “an idealized family ‘get-together.’” The total ensemble was symbolic of a small community or an extended family. David Wilds, son of Honey Wilds, described a tent show as being “like a circus.” He said his dad “just crossed a carnival with the Grand Ole Opry and hit the

road.” He paints a raucous picture: “And you know what happens when anything like that is on the road. There’s a mentality, a camaraderie, that’s untouchable. Within that, though, there’s a lot of spare time, lifestyles are broken up, things are knocked around, and there’s a tremendous amount of joke-playing and rude, coarse humor.” No matter what the identity of the tent show was, “[w]ithin this aggregation... were smaller identifiable units.” These smaller units often included a brother duet, a religious quartet, male and female solo vocalists, fiddle tunes which might feature a solo clogger, and a comedian.

In 1942, Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, Uncle Dave Macon, and Dixie Belle and Goober Buchanan were all part of Jamup and Honey’s tent show which started around April of that year. Tommie Thompson was with the show in June.

THE KENTUCKY SWEETHEARTS

Thanks to Goober, we have a firsthand report. Dixie Bell (guitar) and Goober (bass and comedy) were a husband and wife team who worked on the 1942 tent show from March 30 until June 2. Goober’s real name was James Gilbert Buchanan and Dixie Belle’s birth name was Moore. Goober tells the story this way: He says that he and Dixie Belle were working at WHOP in Hopkinsville, Ky., when Jamup and Honey were on their way to a job at the Princeton Theater in Princeton, Ky. [March 17, 1942]. Billie and Howard were along because they were playing with Jamup and Honey. The whole group was listening to Dixie Belle and Goober on the radio in the car, and when Billie heard Dixie Belle sing, she started singing along and said, “We could make a good duet.” It just so happened that Jamup and Honey, who had taken out a tent show in 1941, were looking for a female duet for their 1942 tent show. They stopped by the radio station and hired Dixie Belle on the spot. Naturally, they had to take Goober, too, but Dixie Belle was the performer they really wanted. The pair joined the tent show on March 30 in Colquitt, Ga. Billie and Dixie Belle performed on the tent show as a duet called the Kentucky Sweethearts. Billie played guitar and sang harmony, and Dixie Belle played bass and sang lead. They were backed up by none other than Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, who were also a part of the show. A photograph from this time period shows Dixie Belle and Billie, in matching flowered dresses, perched on Uncle Dave’s knees. Interestingly enough, Goober says that Art Wooten was still the fiddler with Bill Monroe during the time he and Dixie Belle were with the tent show. So what was Howard doing? According to Goober, Howard was playing fiddle on the tent show with Tommy Thompson, a guitar player and singer. Howard and Tommy (and Goober, who was doing his Grandpappy comedy act) played on what was called the “after show,” a short, thirty-minute show that was held right after the main show and cost an extra 25 cents. The performers from the main show, including the Kentucky Sweethearts, also appeared on the after show, doing

a different selection of songs. So, it appears, at this point in her career, that Billie actually had a higher billing than Howard. As Goober said, “They [Jamup and Honey] took Howdy to get Billie.” Much as they had taken Goober to get Dixie Belle. So when did Howard actually join Bill Monroe? I can only guess that sometime after June of 1942, Art Wooten was called into service, and that Howard, who was already on hand, became the fiddler for Blue Grass Boys, staying with them until he went into service. When Dixie Belle and Goober left the show in June, Billie continued on, probably as a solo act. We know from a letter Uncle Dave Macon wrote to Goober [November 1942] that Billie and Howard were both still with the tent show through November. He says, “Billy, Howdy, and I worked on two more weeks with the show, after Jamup and Honey’s time was out. Then I worked on with Bill Monroe until the close of the season, which was December 18th.” That Jamup and Honey’s time would be out is puzzling, since they were in charge of the tent show. David Wilds, in an article about his father, mentions that tent show season ran “[f]rom the first of April to Labor Day,” so perhaps Jamup and Honey were only with the tent show until Labor Day. But Billie was not yet a member of the Blue Grass Boys; pictures of the band at this time include only Monroe, Howard, Stringbean, Clyde Moody, and Cousin Wilbur.

Postcards indicate that Howard was playing on the Opry as early as February 1942. Joe Forrester asks, “Is Howard going to be on the Grand Ole Opry Saturday night?” The second reference is implied. Friends in Tulsa say, “Hi, Howdy, We heard you Saturday night...” It is unclear who Howard was playing with. I had always assumed it was Monroe, so perhaps Howard was filling in on fiddle. Notice that neither postcard mentions Billie. I think this is because Billie was not yet playing with Monroe. If she had been with Monroe, they would have heard her, too, because when she did go to work in Monroe’s Opry band, she had a solo number almost every Saturday night at the Opry. Whenever Howard started with Monroe, he worked with him for the rest of 1942 and the early part of 1943. (In 1943 he made just $405 working with Monroe.) He was gone for sure by April 17, 1943, as Clayton Forrester now addresses his postcard to Mrs. Howard Forrester alone.

BILL MONROE

Perhaps a word about Bill Monroe is now in order. Bill Monroe (1911-1996), known as the Father of Bluegrass, had been playing music professionally ever since he and his older brother Charlie began performing as the Monroe Brothers in 1934. Bill played the mandolin and sang tenor; Charlie played the guitar and sang lead. They broke up in 1938, and Bill formed his own band. He named them the Blue Grass Boys after his home state of Kentucky. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1939. In 1939, Bill Monroe did

not have a crystal-clear vision of what he was doing with his music. He was still experimenting, trying to figure out what would sell (within certain limits) so that he could make a living. In 1942, when Howard joined the band, the other members were Wilbur Wesbrooks on bass, Bill Monroe on mandolin, and Clyde Moody on guitar. According to Charles Wolfe, Stringbean (David Akeman), who played on old-time clawhammer banjo, was added in July 1942.

We can now begin to unravel the question of when Billie started to work with Bill Monroe. I am going to offer support for the idea that, although she worked in Jamup and Honey’s tent show in 1942 and was working in Monroe’s tent show in May 1943, she started playing accordion with Monroe probably around October 1943. When Tex Logan asked Howard “did your wife ever work for Bill Monroe?”, he replied, “Yes, both of us worked together, and she worked with Bill while I was in the service.” I believe the phrase “we worked together” refers to after the war, or possibly to their working on the 1942 tent show together. I will be covering the question of exactly when Billie started with Monroe in detail because of its importance. I will refute the rumor that Billie was hired as a “favor” to Howard when he went into service. As you can see from that rumor alone, Billie’s presence in the band raises all sorts of questions and brings into the foreground all sorts of assumptions about bluegrass. But we’ll have to get to that in the next issue. Stay tuned!

WIB NOTES

Jenee Keener is now the fiddle player for Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time. To my knowledge, this is the first time Larry has had a woman in his band. She is now one of the few women in an all-male band.

And speaking of Alice Gerrard, the winter issue of the Old-Time Herald features “A Banjo On Her Knee,’’ part one of an article about Appalachian women and the banjo. Written by Susan A. Eacker and Geoff Eacker, it digs deep and is thought-provoking. One of their contentions is that since so many old-time and bluegrass male musicians have been influenced by a female in the family, this should “force us to rethink the ways in which banjo music has been promulgated and preserved.” They also point out that “evidence suggests that it was women who have historically kept old-time music...alive in the...Southern mountains.” Check out the OTH at www.oldtimeherald.org.