Read no. 3

Greetings!

I’ve got the kids off to school, a pot of soupbeans on the stove, and a load of laundry in the washing machine. Now, on to important things! Women in bluegrass! First of all, I would like to clear up a possible misunderstanding. This bulletin is for all women in bluegrass—for women who participate in the field of bluegrass in any way—booking agents, record producers, bluegrass business owners, festival promoters, and women and girls who are just learning to play. (See the letter from budding banjoist Fran Larkin inside.) Men are also welcome to subscribe and to offer their input. (Jack Tottle has graciously contributed an article for this issue.) It is only the database that is limited to women who play bluegrass, simply because I need to keep it to a scope and size that I can handle. So, for all you bluegrass women out there, this bulletin is for you! I will be running articles and stories on all aspects of women in bluegrass. It’s just that right now, in the beginning, I have to concentrate on what is available to me and what I know best. Hang with me, ladies!

Database Crosses 900 Mark

The database now includes 908 bluegrass women! Of the 439 questionnaires sent out, 201 have been returned. If you haven’t returned yours, it’s not too late. This database is an ongoing project. If you have lost your questionnaire, used it to line the hamster cage, or drained bacon on it, don’t be embarrassed to ask for another. I’ll be happy to supply one.

You may be asking what I am going to do with this database. That’s a good question and right now, I’m not exactly sure myself. However, one thing is sure. Specific information from the database is available just for the asking. For instance, Vicki Simmons from the New Coon Creek Girls was looking for a mandolin player to go on tour with them this winter. She called me and I gave her the names of several women who played the mandolin and might be interested. I don't know if any of them worked out but at least it was a starting place. So, keep the database in mind!

Letters

I crave and welcome your letters. (I love opening mail!) Unless you tell me otherwise, I will consider that all letters addressed to Women in Bluegrass are fair game to be included in this bulletin, wholly or in part, if deemed of general interest. However, if you want something to remain private, just tell me and I will not print it. Mum’s the word. You can’t believe how excited I get to hear from bluegrass women. I just got a letter from fiddling Ingrid Herman Reese (whom I knew as Ingrid Fowler). Until 1993, Ingrid was one of only three women I had ever jammed with who played a lead instrument! Can you believe that? She is now in Los Angeles running a computer-desktop publishing business and has recently picked up her fiddle again. She says that “although I still love bluegrass, I only want to play with people I enjoy, no matter what kind of music they play.” She also says, “...I was disappointed to learn from the newsletter that the good ol’ boy bluegrass jock scene is still flourishing and discouraging female pickers. I would have thought with so many more women succeeding both financially and artistically in bluegrass these days, those ridiculous attitudes would have faded away.” We wish.

On a positive note, here is an exuberant letter from Dee Specker, fiddle player from Cornerstone in New York: “I had the thrill of a lifetime at Wintergrass ’95. While Cornerstone was performing on the lobby stage, Bill Monroe entered and started buckdancing ...Then he joined us [on stage] and we accompanied him while he sang Blue Moon of Kentucky—twin fiddles (of which I was one!) and all! Does that make me a Blue Grass Boy?...Thank you for your help in tightening our circle of sisters.”

Subscriptions

Thanks to all of you who sent in subscriptions. There is a subscription blank on the back for those of you who missed it the first time. Thanks for your encouragement and support! —Murphy Henry

Women in Bluegrass: A University Perspective

by Jack Tottle

Things have certainly changed since I first fell in love with bluegrass in the mid-1950s. Sara and Maybelle Carter, Molly O’Day, the original Coon Creek Girls, Wilma Lee

Cooper, Martha Carson, and Rose Maddox were among the few women on record doing anything remotely resembling bluegrass.

Obviously the music today is vastly richer for the contributions of folks like Alison Krauss, Alison Brown, Kathy Kallick, Laurie Lewis, Sally Van Meter, Lynn Morris, Hazel Dickens, Alice Gerrard, and Emmylou Harris to mention only a few. What Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt have done deserves appreciation as well.

Casey Henry, in a previous issue of Women in Bluegrass, seems to worry that when she goes to college, she may not find support for her enthusiasm for bluegrass. This, however, may just depend on what college she chooses. At East Tennessee State University we have had a substantial number of women participants in our Bluegrass Program which is now completing its twelfth year. It offers course credit for group instruction, individual lessons, music theory and performance skills for acoustic players, history of bluegrass music, and several sections of bluegrass band. At present, about one quarter of the students enrolled in ETSU bluegrass courses are women. A very few advanced students have been offered the opportunity to serve as student directors of bluegrass band ensembles. As it happens, two have been men and two have been women. Jennifer McCarter, a country singer with a bluegrass background, was the first alumna of the ETSU Bluegrass Program to have songs in the top ten of the Billboard country charts. In May 1995, Bluegrass Unlimited will run an article on a band called Acoustic Endeavors. Two of the members, Kelly Green and Amanda Mathis, are alumnae of our program. Beth Stevens, another ETSU bluegrass alumna, and her sister April, have been on the cover of Bluegrass Unlimited [December 1992], They have recently signed with a top bluegrass label.

As to the discrimination issue, I'm sure it won’t go away. As the Women in Bluegrass Bulletin pointed out in the last issue, some women report frustrating experiences, although others do not. Clearly, many, many people who do important things in life, from civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks to the Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe, have been looked down on by major sectors of society because of things about themselves which they could not change even if they wanted to. These people face a choice: Do I adopt a victim mentality, become cynical and give up, or do I embrace the challenge and press on despite prejudice? (Recently Nelson Mandela was asked why he was not bitter after more than twenty years of imprisonment for advocating a society of equality for all in South Africa. He said, “I don’t have time for bitterness. There is too much to do.”) I think it is worth emphasizing that there are a great many men who welcome women into bluegrass. I’ve seen quite a few banjo players struggle with fierce determination to

play songs in D that were originally recorded in G so that female singers could sing lead on them. I’ve seen male singers work hard to reach a baritone vocal part beneath a high female lead voice, so that their band could do a trio containing two female voices. I’ve heard male students express awe about the musical abilities of some of our more talented female musicians. In sum, if the guys where you are give you a hard time, come to East Tennessee. We’d love to have you!

Jack Tottle is Director of the Bluegrass and Country Music Program at East Tennessee State University.

And now a word from Amanda Mathis herself who, at age twenty, has been playing bluegrass fiddle for ten years: “The ETSU program is a very good experience for students who are interested in bluegrass. One great aspect about the program is that it doesn’t matter whether you are a woman or a man. Gender has no bearing on the treatment or musical opportunities that you receive through the program.” However, outside the ETSU program, she has encountered her share of rude remarks: “One time I was playing fiddle in a jam session and, so that I could be heard, I was playing about as hard as I could possibly play (without making treacherous noises come out of the fiddle). I was the only female in the session. Then an elderly man who was just listening to the jam started fussing at me for “playing like a girl” because he didn’t think I was playing hard enough.

“As for being the only girl in a jam, for a long time when I started playing that was often the way jams ended up when I played around where I grew up. I didn’t ever think too much about it unless everyone in the jam kept saying something about “the girl. ” I never really thought that people in a jam had a problem with it for the most part, although the elderly man wasn’t the last to say something to me about “playing like a girl.” I found that for the most part the people who made comments like that were older men. I learned to just laugh it off and go on.

“I can relate to the comment made in the last newsletter about men thinking they can’t sing harmony with a woman. I have found that men who aren’t used to playing with women look at you like you’re an alien if you want to sing a song above B. For a long time I was so discouraged by this that I quit singing lead altogether.”

Ratifications

By Casey Henry

When someone told me that J.D. Crowe had an interesting pose on the front of the first New South album, I was intrigued. I got it out. I laughed. At the time, I was interested only in the cover. Although I played the banjo, all the great playing was lost on me as it sailed right over my head.

Recently, while I was looking for some new and interesting music to listen to in my truck, I stumbled across the album and decided to slap it on a tape. Little did I know that it would open a new door into the world of banjo playing. Ever since then I have been plagued with songs—complete with banjo backup—running through my head in World Cultures, where I sit writing this and pretending to take notes, and at night as I fall asleep singing Summer Wages in my mind.

Finally, last week I broke down and put the record on to learn the break to You Are What I Am, along with the really cool backup lick J.D. does near the end of the song. In the process, I discovered that the record player in the living room and the record player in my bedroom run at two slightly different speeds,

which means I have to re-tune my banjo when I go to my room to slow the record down. As a result of learning this break, I have discovered things that I can add to many songs in my repertoire, including Old Joe Clark. I recommend trying this at home. I guarantee it will spice up your life (and playing).

P.S. I would like to pass on the strangest combination of compliments I have ever received (from two rather inebriated young men at the recent SPBGMA convention). I am gratified to know that people do notice my banjo playing and am amused to see what sort of impression of me they carry away. They said, “You’re a good banjo player. You have a great right hand. And pretty teeth, too."

Spotlight on... Lynn Morris

Surely Lynn Morris needs no introduction. Heading up the Lynn Morris Band since 1988, she is just now finishing work on their third Rounder album, which she produced. A cover story in Bluegrass Unlimited (October 1993) detailed her background and her rise to the top in the bluegrass world This interview focuses on her position as a woman in the business.

I've heard you say that being the leader of a bluegrass band is the hardest thing you've ever done.

Oh, it is. (Laughing.) Unless it’s playing well in the studio.

What do you think is the hardest thing about leading your band?

How many hours have you got on the tape? Well, it’s two things. The first thing is addressing the issue of being a leader as opposed to a follower. Depending on how you’ve been raised, women in my generation and my part of the country [Texas] grew up being told we would marry a man who could support us and we’d probably all have children and live close to home. I remember my mother—although she certainly was a brilliant woman, very well-read, a businesswoman, and strong-willed, opinionated— whenever a male opinion presented itself, she would defer her own opinion most of the time. I think I definitely was raised to defer to male opinion and not to make waves, and to try to be accomodating, and get along.

That was emphasized in my childhood not so much from the male point of view but just to get along.

That’s precisely the point. We were raised to get along and of course the first thing you learn when you are around a bunch of guys—and if you’re going to play bluegrass you’re [going to be] around a lot of guys—the first thing you learn is how much they dislike women who disagree with them. And especially women who want to boss them around and tell them what to do. So the hardest thing is to find the middle ground where you can be an effective leader. Trying to be a “good woman” and a good leader at the same time is not easy. You’ve got to be fair, you’ve got to be assertive, you’ve got to be on top of your game without a doubt because, if you’re not, you don’t deserve the respect of your team whether you’re a man or a woman.

Have you found in the different men you've had in the band that some are more accepting of your leadership as a woman? Or they all about the same?

Oh, no, they’re not all the same. In fact, absolutely every person who has ever been in this band has taught me not just one but many lessons that I wished I’d known ahead of time. By the time I die maybe I’ll have it together.

I was just wondering if younger players found it easier to accept the leadership of a woman?

I think the main difference between the younger players and the older players is that the younger players are more eager to please and they have less experience. They really want to play more than anything and even if that means working real hard at doing some things that a woman asked them to do, you know, that’s okay with them. Have you ever had anybody who was not a problem, who just accepted you as a leader?

Oh, yeah. I can honestly say that there have been some who could not have been better. Who have been supportive even. And real willing to work at it. And then there have been some who tried to make it more difficult.

You are such an exceptional player. Do you think, if you weren't as good, people would respect you less, it would be harder?

Gosh, usually I feel like I ought to be a lot better.

Is that because you’re kind of a perfectionist?

To some degree. To some degree, too, I feel pressured to be. You know we’ve had some really outstanding musicians in this band. And I can’t claim to be as good, I really can’t. So I have felt many, many times lots of pressure to measure up. And of course you know there’s never been any rule against saying something in this band if somebody feels the music isn’t tight enough. Or, if I make a mistake, I surely don’t discourage people from telling me. If I’ve really improved since I started this band, and I believe I have, I'll have to credit the guys who have been in the band with having pushed me to do it. They have made me more aware of what it takes to do it. Don’t you think it says something about you as a band leader that you always look for the best musicians?

Well, in a way it’s selfish because I’ve noticed that unless I have a certain caliber of a sound going on around me, I find myself being so distracted that I can’t do my job. When we get on stage, I’m doing a share of the front work and playing three different instruments [banjo, clawhammer banjo, and guitar] and singing lead and harmony. Not only that, but I’m writing the set list before we start, tuning three instruments before we get on stage, talking to promoters, and doing the sound out front for the band. I’m really busy. If we get on stage and there’s a bunch of stuff going on that is distracting to me, I forget the words. Neither Marshall nor I feel like we can do our job without a certain

caliber of individual working with us. And it’s tough to find folks who are good enough. I’m realizing that this band is tough to work with because you have to have a good feel for traditional music—that’s the soul of our music. However, we’re playing all the time in F#, G#, D# and a lot of the material we do it is original, a lot of it is “the more obscure the better,” and there isn’t any way you can walk into this band relying on what you know, if you don’t know our material.

What’s the reaction of the musicians' having to play in those odd keys?

Well, it depends. The better players don’t have any difficulty with it but a couple of times someone has given me a sideways glance and said “F#? Can’t you do it in F? Can’t you do it in G?” But overall, the response has been pretty positive. That’s just one of the things you have to do to play in this band.

You say that there were almost no women playing the music when you came along except Mary Stribling who played bass with you [in City Limits, the first bluegrass band Lynn played with in Colorado], Who else besides Mary did you ever see playing? There were two women actually. Neither of them were lead players but one, Ginger Boatwright of the Red, White and Blue (Grass) band was a fearless, outspoken, entertaining front person and a natural, excellent singer. And just one of my dearest friends. She’s unique with a heart of gold. The other woman I remember seeing, and this was really infrequently, was Claire Lynch of the Front Porch String Band. One of the finest singers in this world.

Did they influence you musically in any way?

Well, by the time I saw either of those bands I was just eat up with the banjo and in the Red, White and Blue (Grass) band, Dale Whitcomb was just one of the best and I was absolutely in awe of his playing. I couldn’t take my eyes and ears away from... So most of your attention was focused on that.

I’m afraid so...although you can’t ignore Ginger Boatwright on stage!

Or Claire either...

No, no, no. Claire’s music and Claire’s M.C. work is a lot more understated and all designed to bring her vocals to the forefront. I certainly believe I was influenced, at least

subliminally, by both those women because they were both very good, effective, front spokespersons and they both are great singers and both those things I’m trying to do today so I surely would say that there was some influence there.

Is there anything else you would like to talk about or address?

Well, I’ll tell you something real interesting has happened in the last couple of years. Musicians who have heard that we’re looking for an instrumentalist of some sort are calling me now. They hear by word of mouth. I think there’s not quite this stigma for working for a woman that there used to be.

That must make you feel good.

Very good. And it’s a sign of changing times...

I remember that hard time when you were between bands and you were looking for a job as a banjo player. I think that was kind of a hard time because nobody would let you have a job.

I kind of, gosh—how can I say?—just kind of laid myself open to some pretty serious rejection by asking for things that I knew I would be denied, really and truly, but I was desperate. My relationship with Marshall was about to hit the skids...

...because he was playing and you weren’t...

Right, and it was just the demoralizing aspect of not being able to play when I knew I could and I really wanted to and just kinda being relegated to groupie status was not agreeing with me very well. And it was not going to last.

Did you ever consider working with one of the all women bands?

You know, at the time, what I was really looking for was not particularly that sound... and I think I was also determined that I didn’t want to be [in an all-woman band] because when I was being denied jobs in some of these all-male bands the first thing people were saying was, “Why don’t you just get an all-woman band together?” And that was not the point. The point was, I was being denied because I was a woman. And playing with an all-woman group was not going to fix that.

Gina Britt is playing banjo in an all-male band, right? [New Tradition. And now Julie Elkins has taken her place.] That was basically a door that wasn’t open to you eight years ago, right?

Yes, but I was able to get into Whetstone Run and that was simply because Lee Olsen absolutely was open-minded about that kind of thing. He was not prejudiced against women and still isn’t and he allowed a situation to happen right there that I think compromised the rest of his band and he had band members leaving after that. After you joined the band?

Uh-huh. But he was able to keep me and Marshall in the band together for four years so it worked out OK too. But most bands wouldn’t even let me try out with them. At the time I really did attribute it [not getting the job] to [the fact that] I just wasn’t good enough and maybe I wasn’t. Although I don’t think that was the only reason I didn’t get the job. I think I could have gotten an audition for the job if I hadn't been a woman. I think you could have GOTTEN the job if you hadn’t been a woman...

Well, maybe, maybe not. I know enough about personnel now that I know that how good you are is only part of what gets you a job. The other part is how well do you fit this group. And I’ve sure learned a lot about timing since we put this band together as far as how many different kinds of timing there are and what kinds of timings do and don’t fit together. You just can’t know till you get together and play and maybe things fit and maybe they don’t.

But you didn't have a chance.

I didn’t have a chance.

Louisa [Branscomb, interviewed in WIBB1] said that she thought in the future that there might be a Women's Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Do you think there ever would be? O-o-o-o-h. I’ve never heard it mentioned. I remember Laurie Lewis’s comment at the Women in Bluegrass seminar [a panel discussion hosted by Lynn at the IBMA in 1989], was that, hopefully, in a few years, they would just say, “Why was there ever a seminar about women in bluegrass?” That it would just be a non-issue. And I think to make it an issue in a way presumes that women can’t stand equally with men and that’s a perception that I certainly don’t believe. So I really want to be careful about ever doing

anything that presumes that women can’t stand equally with men...I’ll admit I’ve always run backwards to get away from anybody ever thinking that I would ask for (Continued from Page 6)

any preferential treatment. However, I will come out and say “you bet I am a feminist!”—someone who doesn’t believe that women should take a backseat because they’re women.

Exactly! I had never thought of the idea of a Women’s Bluegrass Hall of Fame but when Louisa said it I thought, “H-m-m-m. ”

You know, it’s kind of a neat idea. The more I think about it, the better I like it. Do you consider Alison [Krauss] to be a generation removed from us?

Yes. Because of her age, obviously, and because I don’t believe she grew up with any of the unfortunate attitudes about women that were part of my upbringing such as trying to please everybody all of the time.

Is that because she was so young when things started happening to her?

Partly, but she’s also incredibly gutsy, talented, and ambitious and probably always has been. I personally had a professional career of being kept in my place for twenty years and then we got two albums out with Rounder. I could not believe the difference in the amount of respect that people showed me...But, you know, I think Alison started off being a success and I think no small part of it is the fact that she is a creative genius. I think she had a talent vocally that brought her a lot of success early on and that was encouragement to go on and do more. I remember being scared to death to sing. I just put it in the background for a long, long time and didn’t try to get any better until I got out of school and into a band situation.

So, you sang but it just wasn't an important part of the deal?

I just didn’t think I was any good. And I didn’t know how to get better and was real embarrassed about it. I never just went around singing for the fun of it... that just wasn’t me at all. I never had been encouraged to do it and didn’t really feel comfortable doing it. I did it on stage because I had to do it but never really thought I would be recognized as a singer. I thought if I ever got any recognition it would be for the banjo. I have a lot

of respect for Alison Krauss. I think that she’s played a big part herself in creating her own opportunities and she’s been strong and yes, she’s had some advantages I didn’t have, I’ll admit that...

Do you have any advice for women coming up in the business?

Yes, I do. I’m not sure how to phrase this so it doesn’t sound trite but you need to Study Your Instrument. Absolutely study that instrument. Do pay attention to your tone, do pay attention to your timing, and do learn to pay attention to what’s being sung—try to make your playing fit the music. The idea is not just to be a crackerjack player that can play in any key, that can play at any speed... those are all wonderful things to be [able to do] but if you still can’t manage enough perception and taste to fit in with what’s going on, you’re not a musician, you’re a player. And there’s a difference. And practice your singing with the same determination you give your instrument. Take voice lessons. Learn how to properly use and take care of your vocal instrument. And a word about professionalism: Be a problem solver, not a problem. A positive and determined attitude and the ability to make constructive use of criticism will carry you a long way. Enjoy yourself and good luck!

Bluegrass With A Feminine Touch: The Plight of a Lady Banjo

Picker

by Sandy Crisco Hatley

For four years I performed as banjoist with the Happy Hollow String Band, a teenage all-girl group, billed as “bluegrass with a feminine touch.” Our T-shirts, business cards, and photos proudly bore the motto proclaiming our gender. We gained fame throughout central North Carolina, being somewhat of a novelty, perhaps more an oddity. (Not your typical five-piece bluegrass ensemble.)

The group has since disbanded and the ladies have gone their separate ways, doing so-called girlish things: marrying, bearing children, etc. I myself have followed a well-worn path of my sex and teach elementary school, but I have never laid the banjo aside. In my heart, I am a banjo picker first and foremost and always will be. However, there have been some rather trying moments while striving to exist in a predominately male-oriented field.

For example, there was the time we were booked on a large mid-summer festival when a sudden cloudburst occurred. Everyone made a mad dash for the nearest shelter as the torrents of rain came down. For many, the hallowed halls of the backstage area offered refuge. This failed to meet with the approval of one of the festival’s M.C.’s, who began to usher all those “not appearing on stage” back into the driving rain. Grabbing my elbow, he rather forcefully headed me toward the exit. Caught by surprise, I stammered, “But we’re booked on the festival!” (We had performed the previous hour.) “Sure, honey, sure,” he sneered and thrust me out into the wall of water. Then there was the time we competed in a fiddlers’ convention at a local high school. We were assigned to the boys’ locker room as our practice area. When I protested, the band runner shrugged it off. “There’s a regular men's restroom in the lobby. Go ahead and use this area. You’ll not have any problems.”

If he only knew. Throughout the evening, we were the butt of many jokes and jeers. Then, as the hours waned, a couple of patrons strolled in apparently well under the influence of alcohol and made use of the urinals at my right elbow.

Restrooms have always posed a problem. Recently, while jamming in a local picking parlor, I inquired as to the location of the ladies’ room. The fellow picker scratched his head, blushed, and smiled. “Most of them just step out back. We, uh, don’t get too many ladies.”

I’m not really complaining. Most are fun-filled anecdotes at which I can laugh now, and share with my grandchildren someday. The misfortunes are the results of ignorance, not prejudice...in MOST cases. Once after a competition, as the lights dimmed and the clean-up crew began their duties, I sat back disillusioned with yet another loss. “You certainly picked the fire out of that banjo tonight,” came the hardy voice of one of the judges. “You’d have placed, if you weren’t a girl.”

Through gritted teeth I sustained a growl and whispered hoarsely, “How’s that?” “Ah, you know these pickers. Some of them would get pretty upset to let a little lady beat them.”

I bit my lip, counted to ten, and held my tongue. Luckily, such situations have been the exceptions rather than the rule. Like the song says, “the good times outweigh the bad.”

Times like having Ben Eldridge personally teach me Joshua at a festival and coming back later to make sure I had it; or Carl Story calling me on stage to pick a number; or jamming all night with Jon Walmsley (Jason of the TV program The Waltons); or playing for the governor; or having Hub and Nancy Nitchie asking me to write an article for Banjo Newsletter.

I am proud of my femininity. I am also proud of my accomplishments on the banjo. I love bluegrass music and accredit my happiest times and closest friends to it. Fellows, always appreciate your female counterparts in the music business. Chances are, they may have had a rough time getting there. Bluegrass can use that “feminine touch.” God bless you, Janet Davis, and all other lady pickers.

Reprinted from Banjo Newsletter August 1983 with the permission of Editor Donald Nitchie and Sandy Chrisco Hatley.

Update: Now 38, married with two little girls and another due any day now, Sandy teaches third grade and plays Dobro in the Hatley Family Band with her husband Gary in Asheboro, N.C.

What She Said...

Dear Murphy,

The excerpts from other women regarding how they were/are treated in jam sessions are tremendously helpful. I appreciate knowing that I’m not alone. They’re also helping me to understand what is really going on—I thought the guys were trying to hear better when the circle got smaller and smaller! Keep those horror stories coming please! When the “circle closers” aren’t around, I think I’m treated as anyone whose playing is still in the beginner stages.. I’m learning to figure out what keys are good for me to sing in and am politely insisting that’s where we’ll do them. Much of the time I am the only woman at our jam...Thanks for the encouragement.

Fran Larkin, 49, beginning banjo player

Beverly, Mass.

Women in Bluegrass is a quarterly publication. Editor, publisher, and HWICC, Murphy Henry. Layout and Computer Consultant, Red Henry. Address all correspondence to: Women in Bluegrass, POB 2498, Winchester, VA 22604.

Book Review

Come And Go, Molly Snow

by Mary Ann Taylor-Hall

A hardback book about a woman who plays fiddle in a bluegrass band? Written by a woman who apparently knows more than a little bit about our music? Right. In your dreams. Well, wake up and smell the coffee! In fact, grab a cuppa and listen to this. I’m reading along in this book about a woman fiddle player when, on page 26, I read, “If you’d asked me what I wanted... I would have said, ‘Please God, let me play almost as good as Kenny Baker.’ ” Kenny Baker mentioned in a novel from Norton Press? Then she says, “All I want is pure music. Pure free girl music, woman music.” Girl music? Women music? And me just starting a Women in Bluegrass Bulletin? I read on. By now I’m almost beside myself but I finish out the chapter. Good thing. She plays the fiddle at her high school graduation banquet giving them a “lowdown, growly girl version of Salty Dog.” (Probably in the key of C or D.) Then she cuts loose with some wild fiddle playing, “mainly bluff and bluesy slurs, but they couldn't tell the difference and neither could I, back then.” By now I’m ballistic. This writer knows the bluegrass. Excitement is pounding through my veins. I fire off a letter to tell her I love the book, to request some biographical information, and to ask bluntly, “How do you know all this stuff?” I even enclose a Women in Bluegrass Bulletin so she will know I am serious. I haven’t heard from her yet but hope springs eternal. I’ll keep you posted.

This book is the story of Carrie, a young woman whose life is focused on one goal: to play the fiddle in a bluegrass band. She moves to Lexington, Kentucky, (which she thinks is the center of bluegrass, silly her) and proceeds to arrange her life to fit her vocation. Along the way, she forms an all-woman band, gets a bad case of the hots for a guitar player in whose band she ends up, and has a daughter—but not by him. At age five, her daughter gets killed in an accident and the remainder of the book revolves around what is going on in Carrie’s mind as she deals with this tragedy. The ending of the book did not deliver the promise of the beginning but reading a well-written book about one of my favorite subjects was plenty for me. If enough of us buy it (hint, hint), maybe the publisher will recognize a market for good novels about bluegrass. Wouldn’t that be wonderful, Marty?—MH

The WIBB Board

by Nancy Pate

The Women in Bluegrass Bulletin (WIBB) announces the addition of a new column. We hope it will become a regular feature of this newsletter. We’re also hoping our subscribers will write it for us!

What we have in mind is creating a space for women to share news of ongoing recording projects, news of great live music you’ve heard, or the discovery of a recording that “set your fields on fire.” We don’t envision this column as a review of performances, but rather as a place to share experiences and swap sources of inspiration.

Face facts—it takes a long time from production before a record is reviewed. And it takes a long time for word of mouth to get around about an act worth catching. So until we’re all surfing on the Internet, WIBB would like to create a bulletin board of sorts. We encourage you to contribute—anything from a brief one line announcement to a short, enthusiastic paragraph.

For starters, I have had three exciting musical experiences recently. First, Louisa Branscomb recorded a tape of children’s songs, and I was privileged to be a small part of that endeavor. She was commissioned to write a series of songs to accompany a set of children’s books about the magical creatures living in a mythical forest called Whimple Wood. The songs run a musical gamut—bluegrass, spiritual, lullaby, pop—and are wonderfully well-crafted. The recording sessions I attended were

hair-standing-up-on-the-back-of-the-neck exciting. The first tape, due out this spring, is called Songs of the Whimple Wood, Vol I, by Chinky-Po Tree, Inc., Atlanta, Ga. Okay, that paragraph was a little long. I hope, however, that it served to give you the drift of the new column. My second inspiring experience will be more quickly told. I was fortunate to hear a performance by Claire Lynch and the Front Porch String Band at The Freight Room, in Decatur, Ga. The music was righteous, as hot as I’ve heard FPSB in a long time. Claire’s voice was “ooh-la-la” perfect as always, and the new songs and arrangements were a treat. And it was great to get out especially in midwinter when I was feeling house-bound. (Read that “small child bound.”)

H-m-m-m. I can see that it might be hard to keep these news items short and to the point. Well, just send them in, and we’ll see how the column evolves.

Last, but not least, I fell in love with Alice Gerrard’s Pieces of My Heart, old-time music with a real roots of bluegrass feel on Copper Creek Records. (Now that’s short and sweet!)

These are just some examples. Let us know what you, your friends, or your idols are up to, and we’ll pass it on. Who knows, your muse may well become another’s.

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“I’m putting my money where my mouth is—also my heart.” (Scotty in Alaska) Keep in touch with what other women in bluegrass are thinking and doing!! Subscribe to the Women in Bluegrass Bulletin. Not a rehash of the same old bluegrass stuff, but women’s stories that no one is telling. To subscribe for 1 year (four issues), just fill out this form, and send $10.00 to this address (make checks to Women in Bluegrass): Women in Bluegrass

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Change of Life

Perhaps many of you know that Patty Shove, formerly the bass player with Stoney Lonesome, was diagnosed with M.S. in November. In a letter Patty says, “That led to my decision to leave [the band].The doctor suggested cutting back on stress and that I should get plenty of sleep. I was working a full-time job along with the band. A big part of the decision was for the band’s sake. With this disease, you don’t know when an attack is going to happen. I didn’t want to leave them without a bass player right before a show. It was a hard decision to make... It should be an interesting year. I have a lot to learn and some big changes to deal with.” We're pulling for you in a big way, Patty. Our very deepest sympathy to Markie Sanders who lost her husband Bob Alekno in a tragic automobile accident in January.