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Thread: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

  1. #1
    Facing the Storm Duane Graves's Avatar
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    Default The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Not exactly a total mandolin post here I suppose (but could be)....I have been thinking that there are ladies who have made a significant or better contrbution to the music we love. Be that with mandolin or other instrument or could be as a manager but they contributed....any come to mind and/with a little history of their path. --dgg
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    The Whites, The Cox Family, Kim Fox, The Isaacs, Lori and Lisa Forbes, Claire Lynch, Molly O'Brien, the Lewis Family, Cherryhomes, Kristin Scott Benson, Alison Krauss, Alison Brown, Lynn Morris, Judy Marshall, Rhonda Vincent, Sierra Hull, Missy Raines, Sally Forrester, Bessie Lee Mauldin, Mrs. Monroe.

    Can someone else name the rest.

    Bob
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    The 2 ladies in The Good Ol' Persons. Heavenly Harmonies.
    Laurie Lewis.

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    Registered User CharlieKnuth's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    There wouldn't be many in the list if here weren't for Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard. They paved the way.

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    Registered User NickAlberty's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    No mention of Dale Ann Bradley? She's great!
    Nick Alberty

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    Facing the Storm Duane Graves's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Quote Originally Posted by re simmers View Post
    The Whites, The Cox Family, Kim Fox, The Isaacs, Lori and Lisa Forbes, Claire Lynch, Molly O'Brien, the Lewis Family, Cherryhomes, Kristin Scott Benson, Alison Krauss, Alison Brown, Lynn Morris, Judy Marshall, Rhonda Vincent, Sierra Hull, Missy Raines, Sally Forrester, Bessie Lee Mauldin, Mrs. Monroe.
    Any annecdotes or short bios.....got to be some illustrated stories with that list.....that's wher the interest lies....their stories...
    "....if you can't find a way out...go deeper in..."

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    Facing the Storm Duane Graves's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Quote Originally Posted by CharlieKnuth View Post
    There wouldn't be many in the list if here weren't for Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard. They paved the way.
    .....what was their niche, Charlie....how did they pave the way in your opinion?....
    "....if you can't find a way out...go deeper in..."

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  8. #8

    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Rose Maddox
    Kathy Kallick

  9. #9

    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    You can Google most any of those names and get information.

  10. #10
    Highly Lonesome Marty Henrickson's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Apparently, Earl Scruggs' wife (Louise, I think) was a very shrewd manager for Flatt & Scruggs.

    Sharon Gilchrist is a very good mandolin player who has picked with the likes of Tony Rice & Peter Rowan.

    Bryn Davies is a very good stand-up bass player who has also picked with the likes of Tony Rice & Peter Rowan.
    Last edited by Marty Henrickson; Jul-11-2011 at 1:29pm. Reason: Mike beat me to the google suggestion
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Mary Gibbons was a Bluegrass Pal with Laurie Lewis as well as an All Girl Boy...great rhythm guitar and bass player, and singer to boot!

  12. #12

    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Lorraine Duisit can play a mean mandolin. She can get a little bit "New Agey" but she has and can play bluegrass.
    The woman who sings in Joe Issacs' band -don't know her name.
    I've seen pictures of some version of Jimmy Martin's band on tour with a woman (Sunny Mountain Girl?) but never heard her in any recordings.
    The drugged out and jailed Tasha Harris was a great bluegrass singer and a star at Renfro Valley until she stumbled onto the Oxy-c.

  13. #13

    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    The was an all female band called "Sweet By and By".
    Martha Adcock
    Steven's Sisters
    Lorraine Jordan
    Missy Raines
    Rita Hosking
    Wilma Lee
    Lynn Morris
    Alecia Nugent
    Sally Van Meter
    Dolly Parton and Patty Loveless have both done bluegrass albums

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    Registered User Jon Hall's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch...but not exclusively bluegrass.

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    In The Van Ben Milne's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Maria Duff, bassist in Bluegrass Parkway, wife of Paul.
    Hereby & forthwith, any instrument with an odd number of strings shall be considered broken. With regard to mix levels, usually the best approach is treating the mandolin the same as a cowbell.

  16. #16

    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Now...we musnt forget all the wives...and girlfriends :0) of all those male players "Down through the Years". They..well some...sacrificed alot to allow their other half to persue their "dream" Just sayin

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    Registered User Paul Cowham's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Quote Originally Posted by Scotti Adams View Post
    Now...we musnt forget all the wives...and girlfriends :0) of all those male players "Down through the Years". They..well some...sacrificed alot to allow their other half to persue their "dream" Just sayin
    I agree Scotti.

    In the Uk, bluegrass bass players (in my experience) tend to be women. I have assumed that this is because their other half's tend to play a more macho "showey" instrument (e.g. banjo, mando, guitar), leaving their better halves to play the bass, possibly because that is perceived to be easier. Now the irony with that is that while the bass presents less of an opportunity to show off than a lead instrument, it is probably more physically demanding to play (and carry around) and I would suggest that it is more important that the bass doesn't mess up as that underpins the whole band.

    I appreciate that this analysis is something of an overgeneralisation but I suspect that there is some truth in it.

  18. #18

    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    or---the husband is a hound or a drinker, or becomes a hound if he drinks, or the wife figures that the family that plays together..... etc. The wife figures out a way to go along on the road rather than hang around the kitchen for the next 40 years. In circles of professional male musicians the percentage of guys that "used to be married" seems to exceed the general population.

  19. #19

    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Ms Ginger Boatwright!

    ...inducted into the Alabama Bluegrass Music Association's Hall of Fame - 2010.

    While Hazel and Alice pre-date Ginger by a few years (approx 7yrs apart on first album releases), Ginger was (imo) a bigger influence and a more innovative pioneer in Bluegrass.

    She not only gained national recognition as a front for an award winning band, but she made a name for herself playing a lot of songs that were not traditional bluegrass.

    And she was probably the very first to form an "all-girl" bluegrass band (The Bushwackers).

    And the folks that have recorded with her and played in her bands might surprise you - including The Dillards for a number of years.

    Yeah - the lady deserves to be recognized.
    Last edited by AKmusic; Jul-12-2011 at 12:00pm.

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    Highly Lonesome Marty Henrickson's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    And since an Alaskan mentioned an Alabamian, I (an Alabamian) will mention an Alaskan bluegrass band, Bearfoot. Can't recall all the names at the moment (again, google), but they have had some STELLAR female vocal harmonies, as well as 2 or 3 female fiddlers at various times. Very much worth checking out, especially the CD Follow Me.
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    bird and mando geek Rob Fowler's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    I'm surprised Laurie Lewis hasn't been mentioned yet! Here's her wikipedia page.

  22. #22
    bird and mando geek Rob Fowler's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Oops...nevermind...looks like I didn't read the posts as carefully as I should have. Thanks AlanN and Darren for mentioning her!

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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Tried to edit, but it posted again below... ???
    Last edited by resophil; Jul-12-2011 at 12:38pm.

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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Isn't the premise of this thread silly? If you want to know who the ladies of bluegrass music are, or were, start reading, researching, listening to music, reading old album covers, going to bluegrass festivals, going to the library, and yes, searching the internet (which would mainly entail reading...)

    So now we're going to name every female who ever held a guitar pick or a fiddle bow, and pronounce her as a mainstay in the field...? And now we've even gotten so far as to post about somebody we once saw on an album or at a bluegrass festival, can't even remember their names, but "they had stellar harmonies!"

    Such a list of posts won't tell you much; context and background will! This thread is almost pointless!

  25. #25
    I'll take it! JGWoods's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Ladies of Blue Grass, Past and Present....who are they?

    Quote Originally Posted by CharlieKnuth View Post
    There wouldn't be many in the list if here weren't for Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard. They paved the way.
    100% agree.
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