Read no. 13

Greetings!

With this issue, we begin our fourth year of publication.Talk about something that is hard to believe! People in highplaces are starting to know that we are around. Withoutsounding boastful, I hope, I can say proudly that Women inBluegrass was mentioned at the IBMA Awards Show as aplank (or would that be a “plink?”) in my writing career thatresulted in the Print Media Personality award. I am the firstwoman to receive this award, which makes me doubly happy.Thanks to all you friends who were screaming your heads offas I was trying to make my way to the stage without fallingdown and breaking my neck. (There was basically no aislefrom the audience seats to the stage, and I kept having tododge pocketbooks and tote bags placed at the end of the rowswhere the women were all sitting in case they had to get outand go to the bathroom. Good thing I wasn’t wearing heels!Gosh, I love being able to talk about things like this in WIB!)

MORE WOMEN ON THE AWARDS SHOW

And speaking of the Awards Show, I was very pleased tosee the number of women participating this year. TheTogether Tour—Lynn Morris, Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick,Markie Sanders, and Chris Lewis (who was ably substitutingfor San Van Meter)—performed True Life Blues; RhondaVincent sang a duet with Vince Gill and remained on stagewith her guitar for Foggy Mountain Breakdown; KatarinaMitteregger, the bass player for Nugget, from Vienna, Austria, played in the opening performance; Martha Adcock,Claire Lynch, Missy Raines, Dale Ann Bradley, VickiSimmons, Kati Penn, and Rhonda Vincent all served aspresenters; Laurie Lewis presented a Certificate of Merit;and Mary Tyler Doub received a Certificate of Merit. As far as women winning awards, we’ve still got a longway to go. Thanks to producer Todd Phillips, True Life Blues(unlike some “recorded events”) included three women:Laurie and Kathy playing fiddle and guitar and singing thetitle song, and also Mollie O’Brien. It won Album andRecorded Event of the Year. Vince Gill’s High LonesomeSound, with Alison Krauss, won Song of the Year, and ClaireLynch won Female Vocalist of the Year. Earlier in the week,Sue Meyer received the award for Best Graphic Design.

BUT FEW WOMEN NOMINATED

But, you can’t win if you aren’t nominated, and it is herethat the presence of women is severely lacking. Let’s take aclose look at the women nominated in all the categories: Banjo Player: no women

Fiddle Player: no women

Mandolin Player: no women

Guitar Player: no women

Bass Player: Missy Raines

Dobro Player: Sally Van Meter

Gospel Recorded Performance: Everything You Do bythe New Coon Creek Girls Instrumental Album: No women nominated

Song: High Lonesome Sound by Vince Gill with AlisonKrauss & Union Station Emerging Artists: The Fox Family (Kim and Barb Fox)

Album: So Long, So Wrong by Alison Krauss & UnionStation; True Life Blues with three women: Kathy Kallick,Laurie Lewis, Mollie O’Brien

Instrumental Group: Alison Krauss & Union Station

Vocal Group: No women nominated

Recorded Event: Drawing From The Well by the RenoBrothers (with Suzanne Cox); True Life Blues (see above)

Entertainer: Alison Krauss & Union Station

Total: Thirteen women nominated. We can do better thanthis, folks. How? First of all by joining IBMA. I am a strongbeliever in what IBMA is doing to advance the cause ofbluegrass. Women need to be a part of IBMA. Second, buythe albums of our compatriot women. Not just because theyare women but because they are putting out some damn goodmusic. Listen to them, and then, third and most important,vote for them—because they are good!

ESTROGEN-GENERATED BLUEGRASS

Wibbers were very visible at other IBMA functions.Below, you can see what a good time Gloria Belle and KatieLaur had when they teamed up to sing an impromptu versionof Mary Ann. Katie and I roomed together this year. Whata trip! "No matter if I live to be a hundred, there'll alwaysbe a place in my heart for Katie Laur.” And for all youwonderful bluegrass women. More inside! Enjoy!

Women in Bluegrass at IBMA: The Trade Show

“It’s a strange journey we've all chosen, and it’s so nice to get the opportunity to talk to your peers about similiarexperiences." —Rocker Sarah McLachlan, who organized the very successful Lilith Fair, a rock tour whose lineup waslimited to female performers or bands fronted by female performers.

Our efforts at IBMA were not quite so grandiose! However, on the Wednesday night of the Trade Show (October 15),the IBMA and Women in Bluegrass sponsored an hour-long gathering of women in the Collins Room of the Galt House. Theidea was for women to have an opportunity to meet each other, network, and visit. What it turned into was an impromptujam session! Women formed bands with women they had never played with before to pick one number in front of a delightedaudience of their peers. Forty-six women admitted they were there by signing a notebook that was provided. I've added severalother names to the list. Pretty impressive, eh?

Jean Bazzanella

Francine Michaels

Patricia Matheson

Lisa Kay Howard

Lorraine Jordan

Jeanette Williams

Janet Davis

Donna DeRuntz

Yvonne Walbroehl

Judy Austin

Helen Swanson

Amy Severin

JoAnn Sifo

Mickey Bagley

Heidi Severin

Kelly Erb

Monika Schwentner

Lisa Ray

Anne Abeel

Lonetta Essary

Gloria Belle

Ann Brock

Carol Lombardo

Mary Henderson

Kitsy Kuykendall

Armin Hadamer

Susanne Koehler

Christie McNeil

Peggy Olson

Shirley Mauch

Pooh Stevenson

Katie Laur

Martha Marsh

Janice Mohr-Nelson

Cathy Coakley

Nancy Mills

Dawn Watson

Sue Murphy

Sharon Bennett

Dede Wyland

Jo Severin

Brenda Lea Peterson

Carolyn Hegeler

Teri Chism

Mollie Cunningham

Andrea Roberts

Murphy Henry

Casey Henry

Claire Levine

Missy Raines

Karen Spence

Kathy Goode

Terry Boswell

Jean Cornett

Some of the music that was played:

Katie Laur insisted on getting up and singing Mary Ann with Gloria Belle (see the picture on page one); Gloria and Isang Prayer Bells of Heaven in D, Shirley Mauch picked Beaumont Rag on guitar with Kathy Goode on fiddle and PeggyOlson on banjo; Karen Spence sang Walk Softly On This Heart Of Mine in D, DeDe Wyland sang a beautiful version of AngelBand in E and invited the audience to sing along on the chorus, which we did.

Amy and Heidi Severin, who are fourteen-year-old twins from Oregon, and their bass player Kelly Erb had the audiencein stitches with their version of How Mountain Girls Can Love in B. Every time they would get to the line in the chorus “treather right,” they would nod their heads up and down “yes,” and on the next line “never wrong” they would nod their headsfrom side to side “no.” It was hysterical.

We closed out with Circle with several women singing lead on the verses.Somewhere in the mix Jean Bazzanella,Pat Matheson, and Janice Mohr-Nelsonstepped up to play bass; Dawn Watson,Pooh Stevenson, Lorraine Jordan, andFrancine Michaels played mandolin;Sue Murphy played dobro; and TerryBoswell, Casey Henry, YvonneWalbroehl, and probably a few othersthat I can’t recall right now also played.It was gratifying to see so many greatwomen pickers in one place. The energywas amazing. Thanks to all you womenwho pulled together on the spur of themoment to make this event a

rousingsuccess. The only complaint I heard wasthat next year we need a bigger room!

The Fan Fest

Women in bluegrass made a big splash two years ago atFanFest when seventy-three of us joined together to performthree songs during the supper break on Saturday. After takingthe next year off, this year wibbers were given a regular thirty-five minute slot on Saturday in which to showcase some of ourfinest professional pickers. Many thanks to Kitsy Kuykendallfor this opportunity.

To make best use of our time, I decided to pull togethereight different groups of professional women pickers toperform one song each. As it turned out, the core of almosteach of these groups had performed together before, but asa whole the groups had not played together. The quality ofthe performances was absolutely stunning. There was not aweak note played. We ended up with thirty-two women in thebands, with quite a few more joining us on stage for the lastnumber. The groups, and the songs they played, in the orderthey performed, were as follows:

Dixie Breakdown: Murphy Henry, banjo; Casey Henry,banjo; Lynn Morris, guitar; Gloria Belle, mandolin; KarenSpence, bass.

Little Birdie: Jan Harvey, guitar; Jill Harvey, bass; KristinScott, banjo; Amy Baker, lead guitar; Kati Penn, fiddle.

High On A Mountain: Kim Fox, guitar; Barb Fox, bass;Robin Roller, banjo; Dee Specker, fiddle; Francine Michaels,mandolin.

When My Time Comes To Go: Gloria Belle, mandolin;Pam Gadd, banjo; Terry Boswell, lead guitar; Jean Bazzanella,bass; Cindy Matheson, dobro.

Silver Bells: Sally Wingate, banjo; Holly Tashian, guitar;Christie McNeil, bass; Dee Specker, fiddle.

How Mountain Girls Can Love: Amy Severin, banjo;Heidi Severin, mandolin; Kelly Erb, bass; Murphy Henry,guitar.

Broken Hearted Lover: Suzanne Thomas, guitar; MaryJo Leet, guitar; Trina Emig, banjo; Andrea Roberts, bass;Lisa Kay Howard, mandolin.

You’ll Get No More Of Me: Hazel Dickens, vocals; LynnMorris, banjo; Chris Lewis, mandolin; Murphy Henry, guitar; Casey Henry, bass.

Banjo Picking Girl: Everybody! Katie Laur, SuzanneThomas, and Gloria Belle solo lead vocals.

**Special thanks to Teri Chism for allowing Kelly Erb totake her place on bass at the last minute Saturday morning toperform with the Severin Sisters. They were singing anumber in place of Kate McKenzie who had to leave unexpectedly. Thanks also to Carol Lombardo, the WIB backstagemanager, who saw to it that everyone was in their place ontime and ready to play.

We got a standing ovation!

A View from the Stage

A Joyful Moment

I enjoyed very much being a part of such an energeticassembly of women players. It was quite a joyful momentwhen Gloria Belle kicked into that mandolin solo with suchauthority. Equally exciting was jamming again with CindyMatheson on dobro. It’d been about twelve years since I’d lastjoined her and her dynamic playing. I loved singing withGloria Belle and Terry Boswell and being on stage with somany great musicians all at once. Thanks for including me.I’m proud to help carry on the tradition and thankful to thewomen players (so few there were) who left footprints for meto follow. —Pam Gadd

Nashville, TN

A Thrill in the Room

The whole event was wonderful, but the women’s eventswere special highlights of the week. When we first gottogether on Wednesday night it was fun to hear all of thespontaneous groups. I was surprised by the emotion I feltbeing with a large group of women making their own music.Women have usually been few and out of the spotlight atbluegrass events. There was more of a thrill in the room thanI had expected. The actual showcase had good variety, and I heardcomments from the audience that it was well organized. Theywere probably also impressed by the quality of the groups,because the gathering of so many women bluegrass musiciansis a rare event. Saturday night some of the performers met in FrancineMichaels’s room for a jam session. When it was over TrinaEmig and I talked about the different feel of a jam session withwomen. There was plenty of good bluegrass with lots ofdynamics, lots of listening to each other, and lots of encouragement for everyone to really participate. You would thinkthese elements would be part of any jam session, but afterexperiencing sessions of being mowed down by the fastest,loudest, most oblivious players at many festivals, this was acool drink of spring water.

—Terry Boswell

Ft. Mitchell, KY

More Views from the Stage

I Had a Blast

I had an absolute blast playing in the WIB set. It was great for Mary Jo and meto get to play without those old guys slowin’ us down <g>. Tina Emig really kickedbutt on the banjo, and Andrea Roberts was, as always, impeccable on bass. But thereal treat was getting to play with Lisa Kay Howard. We first started seeing theHowards (Judy, Frank, and daughters Shelly and Lisa) at festivals and feel like we’vebecome friends. Lisa has turned out to be one good mandolin player. It’s great to seeall these young women so dedicated to the music—and so good at it.

The whole day, which for me began backstage before the show, turned out to bea great time with a lot of wonderful women friends and fellow (?) pickers with whomI don’t get to visit as often as I’d like—Hazel, Lynn, Carol Elizabeth, MemphisBeck, Katie Laur, whom I hadn’t seen in quite a while, Lisa and Lori Forbes, and,of course, your lovely daughter and you, my dear. And I got to chat with Gloria Bellefor the first time ever. Wow! Does she look great, and sounds better than ever.

Most gratifying of all, though, was the audience reaction to the show. They lovedus all. Several people said to me (on Sunday, after everything was over, no less), thatit was the best set of music all weekend. ’Nuff said.

-—Suzanne Thomas

Hillsboro, Ohio

I Was Knocked Out

As for me……..it was such an honor to be part of the WIB set at IBMA in Louisville!!!! Thank you for the wonderful opportunity and, especially, for all the“front work” and organization that made such a rousing set of estrogen-generatedbluegrass music possible!!!........in retrospect, one of the big thrills was the opportunity to perform in front of such an illustrious audience!!!.....we don’t always geta chance to shine as individuals in front of so many of the businessmen and womenof the bluegrass community!!! I was also knocked out by the ease with which all these gals...each in theirrespective groups of player...could blend together and produce what was a trulyexciting bluegrass set!! What fun!!

—Mary Jo Leet

St. Paris, Ohio

Susi Gott is Back!

Fiddler Susi Gott has moved fromFrance to Johnson City, Tenn., to become assistant director of the EastTennessee State University Bluegrassand Country Music Program. She willshare teaching and administrative duties with director Jack Tottle. Susi wasonce part of the Eddie Adcock Band.Her husband Christian Seguret willalso be teaching guitar and mandolinat ETSU next year.

For the past eight years, Susi andChristian made a living in France withtheir music. In July of this year, JackTottle called Susi to ask her to take thisjob, which would start in August. Susisaid she had to make a decision in oneday, and that if she’d had longer tothink about it, she might havechickened out. Jack was looking for atop-notch musician with a college degree. Susi has a BS in environmentalstudies from Warren Wilson College.

Susi and Christian have two children—Alice, who is in kindergartenand Justin, who was born in February1997. Your plate sounds mighty full,Susi! Hang in there. We’re proud ofyou!

A View from the Audience

by Claire Levine

It was my first time at the IBMA (yes, it really does standfor I’ve Been Mostly Awake), and my first time in a city whereeveryone spoke with an adorable southern accent (is thatpolitically incorrect?). By the time the Women in Bluegrassset arrived on Saturday, I was overwhelmed and exhaustedbut not enough to miss this rare opportunity. What follows isa jumble of impressions and thoughts that have survived aftermy week of recovery.

While I'm disclaiming, I need to say that living in theNorthwest, my first-hand exposure to the greats of bluegrassis limited. When I walked into the exhibit hall and saw HazelDickens walking around like a real person I nearly fell over.And the number of people who play bluegrass out here ismuch more limited. So seeing a whole bunch of very finewomen players in one place was especially impressive.

Murphy brought together a stunning group of talentedwomen to show their stuff to the assembled FanFest audience.The performers were grouped in relatively impromptu ensembles, each of which played one song. Some of thesewomen performed on the same stage with their own bands atdifferent times throughout the weekend. The thing I remember most vividly is astonishment at thenumber of really solid women banjo players. They had it all:timing, tone, and taste. I was particularly impressed by RobinRoller, banjo player for Petticoat Junction, whose raunchy,bluesy kick-off to High on the Mountain was a fine counterpart to Kim Fox’s dynamite vocals. Kim’s wicked sense ofhumor carried us through the somewhat awkward transitionsbetween bands. A highlight of the set was Hazel Dickens’s introduction tothe song she would perform as a duet with Lynn Morris. Hazeldead-panned, “I’m going to sing a song that I wrote and LynnMorris recorded, only I’m going to do it more like bluegrass.”It was a thrill to hear Hazel sing, You'll Get No More Of Me.

Suzanne Thomas and Mary Jo Leet, long-time membersof the Dry Branch Fire Squad, were notable for their camaraderie and their remarkable stage presence, as well as theiroutstanding vocals.

Of course, I was rooting for my home-state favorites, theteenaged Severin sisters and their bass-playing companionKelly Erb. Their choreographed version of How MountainGirls Can Love won laughter and applause, and I’m sure thatI wasn’t the only

middle-aged woman in the audience feelingvery proud, very maternal, and somewhat envious that Ihadn’t started the banjo when I was fifteen.

Some thoughts after the fact: If the purpose of the set wasto illustrate the breadth of female talent in bluegrass, it wasa success. I flat-out had no idea there were so many greatwomen banjo players on the earth. The showcase also illustrated how much fun women can have when they performtogether.

In retrospect, the set begs a number of questions that werethe topic of women’s conversation throughout the tradeshow: Is it still as difficult as it once was for women to performwith mainstream bluegrass groups? Will women continue toform their own bands because, for various reasons, they aren’table to rotate in and out of existing groups the way men can?Does the presence of all these nationally-known performerson one stage simply illuminate the fact that women arealready integral to the business of bluegrass?

Back at FanFest, there didn’t appear to be any easyanswers to these questions. For the most part, the women whoperformed that weekend are in bands they themselves created(Laurie Lewis, Lynn Morris, Kim Fox, the members ofPetticoat Junction). Not visible were the growing number ofwomen side musicians who are recognized as skilled instrumentalists, as well as vocalists, and who can complement theexisting blend of a working band.

I’m sure that future WIB articles will investigate furtherthe progress of women in bluegrass, the demise of the “allgirl” bands, and what we can expect in the future. In themeanwhile, the Women In Bluegrass showcase was a highlyentertaining way to get us thinking about women’s roles inthe music we love.

Ratifications

Casey Henry

It is not often that two highlights of one’s life happen inthe same week. I was lucky to have that very thing happen tome the week of IBMA. I got a brand-new Stealth banjo, andI met Earl Scruggs. (I get excited just typing that!)

I have been saving my money to buy a banjo since I wasfifteen. My ultimate goal is a pre-war flathead Gibson, but Irealized not long ago that one of those is well out of my pricerange. So I began keeping an eye out for a banjo that spoketo me. I found what I was looking for in the Stealth. I’ve neverbeen one to follow the crowd (except for when I

found outLiberty overalls are the in thing with the Nashville crowd andrushed to the nearest Wal-mart to buy a pair) and the Stealthis a little on the edge as far as banjos are concerned. It has noinlays, which makes playing in B-flat exciting. The fifthstring tuner is on the peghead, and the string itself runsthrough a tube underneath the fretboard from the fifth fret tothe nut. It is sleek looking and always draws a second glance,which I don’t mind at all when I am the one playing it. Thefirst time I ever saw one I thought, “What the heck is thatthing?” But despite appearances, it is just a normal banjo andsounds great with a Tennessee 20 tone ring.

I ordered my pride and joy at the beginning of Augustfrom Scott Vestal, who designed the neck and assembles thebanjos. He said he could have it ready by the end of the month.Silly me, I forgot to ask which month. Turned out he wastalking about September. I picked it up Monday night atIBMA and lost no time in trying it out on the jamming scene.I trotted up to the California Bluegrass Association suite andproudly debuted my newest acquisition. I thought they werepretty open minded—they didn’t yell or scream or throw meout for playing a decidedly untraditional-looking instrument.It performed well, aside from the fact that I hadn’t quitefigured out how to keep it in tune. (Still haven’t.)

The jam was the first of many in which I participatedthroughout the week and—heads up, here comes the womenin bluegrass part—outside of the Women in Bluegrass gathering and practicing for the WIB Fanfest set, I only jammedwith one other female on a lead instrument. This doesn’tbother me at all— I didn’t even notice until well after the fact.Murphy asked me if I could possibly make my article aboutwomen, and I said that would be hard since I really didn’t payall that much attention to the women. Their after-hourspresence wasn’t strong enough to make an impression,although it probably should have been because I know therewere lots of really good women pickers there. Of course, it isentirely possible that I just gravitated to where womenweren’t and therefore have a skewed point of view.

Anyway, back to the banjo. I picked it so much throughoutthe week that people started to kid me about wearing it out.“Scott,” they said to Scott, “You’re gonna hafta make her anew one of those. She’s wearin’ that one out already.” Orsomething to that effect. I carried it around so much that I gotcallouses on my hands from my heavy case. For that reasonon a couple of nights I chose to leave it in my room andconcentrate on socializing. That is how I came to be at theWomen in Bluegrass gathering on Wednesday without myinstrument. Murphy decided that we needed music and sentme up to her room for her guitar and banjo.

As I was carrying the instruments back down to thesecond floor, I spied an elevator with the doors open so Irushed to get in. The person who had held the door open, thefirst face I saw as I stepped in, slightly out of breath, was theman himself, Earl. My gaze traveled to the back of theelevator to whom I correctly surmised to be his wife Louise.She looked right at me and said, “Casey.” Just like that. Me,being addressed by Louise Scruggs. “Louise,” I said. I stuckout my hand and we shook. “Nice to meet you,” I said. ThenI turned and shook Earl’s hand. I’m not sure exactly what Isaid, or even if it was intelligible, but Oh my gosh! I just shookEarl’s hand, the man whose 36 x 24 poster I have on my wall.

When we got to the second floor, I rushed into the WIBroom and told the first unoccupied person I saw, whohappened to be Claire Levine, “I just met Earl Scruggs in theelevator!!!” What a moment. Now I can die happy.

That Thursday at the Awards Show we were all treated tohearing Earl play live and in person. He played with VinceGill on High Lonesome Sound, the song that won Song of theYear. Then as we were giving them a standing ovation, Earlkicked into Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Most of the audience, I bet, had never seen Earl play live. Those who missedthe Flatt and Scruggs days, and those who missed even theScruggs Revue days, like me, never thought we would belucky enough to have that experience. Unfortunately thosepictures didn’t come out.

Fortunately, the pictures I took at the press reception didcome out. Since Murphy won Print Media Personality of theYear, she and I went to the press reception for all the winners.There Murphy and I each got our pictures taken with Earl(that one is definitely going in a frame), and I took Murphy’spicture with Louise. I thought it was cute that Rob McCourygot his picture taken with Earl, too, and that Jean McCourywas getting him to autograph something. I tend to forget that,even though the Del McCoury Band is about as famous as abluegrass band can get, Earl is just as much an idol for themas he is for the rest of us.

Earl and Louise came to the Winners’ Reception back atthe hotel and, as usual, Earl was swamped with requests forautographs. He is so nice to stay and sign them all because I’msure he knows how much it means to everyone to get a markfrom the master’s hand.

So I’m set, with my new banjo and my Earl picture.Anybody want to hire a banjo picker?

All-Female Bands:A Thing Of The Past?

After eighteen years of performing as an all-female band,the New Coon Creek Girls have reconfigured. For starters,they have added two men to the group, on mandolin and banjo.More startling is the name change. The group will now beknown as Dale Ann Bradley and Coon Creek. There areseveral reasons behind the change, but I hasten to assure youthat this was not a hostile takeover by Dale Ann! Everyoneremains friends, and Vicki Simmons, who has been the leaderof the group for eighteen years, is still playing bass. She willalso be doing the booking. I recently talked to Vicki on thephone about this startling change. She said the primaryreason for the change is the loss of Ramona Church Taylor onbanjo. Ramona developed complications with her

secondpregnancy and had to come off the road. Actually, Ramonahad already been planning to get off the road after this babywas bom due to the child care issues that concern everyworking mother. The complications only “speeded thingsup,” according to Vicki. Because Ramona was part of anextremely strong female vocal trio, Vicki said that “when athird of that was gone,” they decided, instead of trying toduplicate their current sound, that they would go for a totallydifferent sound. Hence, the addition of the men. But what about the band name? Why change that? Unbelievable as it may seem, that was Vicki’s idea. Since thechange, she has been surprised to find that some people thinkthere must be bad feelings between Dale Ann and her. No way,says Vicki. The way she explained it was this: She said thatDale Ann, who has been with the group since 1992, is “thebest singer I ever heard.” But even after five years with theNew Coon Creek Girls, audiences still did not know DaleAnn’s name—she was just the nameless lead singer with theband. Vicki pointed out that women who lead their own bandsdon’t have this problem: Claire Lynch, Lynn Morris, AlisonKrauss, Laurie Lewis. “Dale Ann kinda got lost in there”were Vicki’s exact words. Dale Ann also has a very successfulCD on the Pinecastle label, East Kentucky Morning. The titlesong, co-written by Vicki, Dale Ann, and Susan Tomes,reached number six on the Americana Chart. It is

numbertwenty-two on the Bluegrass Unlimited chart, and the CDitself is at number eight. The success of this CD was anotherstrong reason to make Dale Ann the focus of the band.

With the change of the band name and the new CD, Vickifeels that at last Dale Ann can get the visibility she deserves.This is a very gutsy move on the part of both Vicki and DaleAnn. They deserve the utmost respect for keeping the bandgoing in any configuration after losing Ramona, one of thelynchpins of their sound since 1991. Most of you know howdevastating and disheartening it is to lose a key band member.Many bands would have simply folded. Instead, Vicki andDale Ann have rallied to sing another day, another way!

Although Vicki did not say this, it would still have beendifficult to find another female with the seasoned combination of strong banjo playing, singing, personality and willingness to travel that Ramona brought to the group. I couldn’thelp but think of the Country Gentlemen and their successionof high quality mandolin-playing tenor singers: John Duffy,Jimmy Gaudreau, Doyle Lawson. Charlie Waller has alwaysbeen able to find strong replacements. But with women,although our talent pool is expanding, the choices are stilllimited. The question is: have our standards risen? Did Vickiherself provide the answer? In a WIB interview in the springof 1996, she said, “I wouldn’t want to let the music suffer justto have four girls up there.” Is this why, somewhere alongthe line, many of the best known all-female groups haveadded men to the mixture?

California’s All-Girl Boys are still “all-girl,” and KimKoskella’s Wildwood Girls, formed in 1979, are still allfemale. But the Good ol’ Persons, who came together in1975, “were infiltrated early on by men,” as Kathy Kallickput it. Sidesaddle, another formerly all-female group fromCalifornia now known as Sidesaddle and Company, addedmen to their group several years ago. And Petticoat Junctionplayed their last show on the Sunday of FanFest, October 19.

I talked to Andrea Roberts, the founder of PetticoatJunction, briefly at IBMA. She expressed the idea that all-female bands may have served their purpose and are now athing of the past. Basically she said that, in years past, whenwomen could not find jobs with all-male bands and whenthere were not many women band leaders (pre-Alison, pre-Lynn, pre-Claire), all-female bands provided a much-neededopportunity for women to perform at a national level. Sure,some people saw it as a gimmick, especially at first. And sure,there was always the problem of promoters saying “I'vealready booked my all-female band,” but still and yet, womenwere out there performing, in public, at some big festivals.

Now, women are successfully leading their own bands ata national level. And women are starting to appear as strongside musicians in all-male groups. Witness banjo playerKristin Scott with the Larry Stephenson Band. Gail Rudisilldid a stint on fiddle with an early configuration of Continental Divide. And there are quite a few others at the regionallevel. Gina Britt played banjo for New Vintage, and when sheleft she was replaced by Julie Elkins. Slowly, women arebeing incorporated into the ranks. Does this mean that all-female bands are a thing of the past, an anachronism? I’veasked a lot of questions, but provided few answers.

I hope we can look more closely at this question in thefuture. Do you play in an all-female band? Have you ever?Why all-female? Were there advantages? What were they? Isthe band still together? Are you still all-female? WIB welcomes your input on

this issue. And you don’t have to haveplayed in an all-female band to comment! Email me atnmhenry@visuallink.com. Or write to me at the addresson the back. —Murphy Henry

PUT DOWN THE DUCKY

by Nancy Pate

I’ve been in a bit of a songwriting groove lately. That putsme in mind that just three short years ago, when I had two girlsunder the age of four, my dream job in an alternate life wasto write songs for Sesame Street. The show’s writers comeup with some clever songs: Put Down The Ducky, I ThinkThat It Is Wonderful, Fourteen Carrot Love —the hits areendless.

Watching Sesame Street, I was continually amazed by thenumber of movie stars and entertainers who showed up to docatchy routines about the number four or the letter L. Afterall, the target audience was way too young and way too shortto be bellying up to the box office. I imagined that the starswere hoping grateful parents would remember them. “Remember when you had a life—when you went out to concertsand movies? Well, we’re still here struttin’ our stuff. We’ll bewaiting for you in ten years when you have free time anddisposable income again.” Now, however, I’ve figured outthat most of these stars have kids of their own, and they’relooking for ways to impress them. Academy Awards and goldrecords just won’t cut it with pre-schoolers.

Three-year-oldscan’t get in to see R rated movies, and they’ve probably beensaying, “Mommy, I hate your singing“ forever. No problem,just appear on Sesame

Street—instant star with your children! They probably even get to meet and tickle the realElmo.

That brings me to today’s point—has any bluegrassmusician ever made a guest appearance on Sesame Street? Inever saw one, but then we only watched the show for arelatively short two-year window, and it has been on fordecades. We saw lots of movie stars, pop singers ranging fromGloria Estevan to James Taylor, and two country singers:Johnny Cash and Randy Travis. (Only Dolly Parton hasreached the ultimate in cool; she actually has a puppet on theshow who spoofs her—country singer Polly Darton.)

Maybe the IBMA should set up an investigative committee to find out how to get bluegrass performers on. I mean,here’s a captive audience, ready to be influenced. Can youimagine the effect on child prodigies of seeing Earl Scruggscome into the Sesame Street Fix-it Shop, maybe have Luisunstick a tuner or something, then launch into Earl’s

Breakdown? Fantastic! He’s a Sesame Street natural. Shoot, theshow could have dedicated a whole story line to Hot Rize’stransformation into Red Knuckles and The Trailblazers.Little Roy Lewis fights with Oscar The Grouch. NashvilleBluegrass Band sings a version of Blackbirds and Crowswhere the worst thing that happens is the birds get baked ina pie. Kathy Kallick or Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer havebluegrass children’s songs hot to go for Grover and the gang.Polly Darton does a duet with Del McCoury. Ralph Stanleysings Dream of A Miner's Child to Prairie Dawn. No, strikethat. Also, forget about anyone singing Little Girl and theDreadful Snake or Please Papa Don’t Whip Little Benny.

The show’s soundtrack often uses fiddle and banjo toprovide dance tunes for the alphabet. But it doesn’t hurt todream bigger; I think bluegrass music should aspire for ahigher profile on the show. We could start the negotiationswith Ernie: forget Hoots the Owl and his jazz band, Em,forget your desire to play the saxophone; change the words toyour greatest hit to Put Down The Ducky If You Want To PlayThe Mandolin.

WIBLETS

Adverse Reaction to Blackbirds and Crows

I read with amazement Alan O’Bryant’s comments toClaire Levine that “there have been no negative reactions”to the song Blackbirds and Crows, and that women

especially“really liked it.” My reaction to this is that any woman whoreally likes that song either hasn’t listened closely to the lyricsor she has rocks in her head. While overall I think that the Nashville Bluegrass Band’s Unleashed CD is excellent, I find this particular selection sooffensive as to be unlistenable. This has nothing to do withbeing overly sensitive, politically correct, or lacking a senseof humor. Anyone who watches the evening news or America’sMost Wanted is aware that the crimes of assault or murdercommitted by men against their wives or girlfriends who triedto leave them are all-too-common occurrences and not anissue to be addressed “slightly tongue in cheek” as Alandescribes his delivery of the song. Those who find this songamusing should volunteer some time working in a batteredwomen’s shelter or in a juvenile facility working withchildren who have witnessed their mothers being beaten orkilled. I can’t imagine what was going on in the head of DonHumphries when he wrote the song, but if he was trying towrite a modem murder ballad in the spirit of Knoxville Girlor Banks of the Ohio, he fell short. At least in those songs(which I don’t care much for, either), the killers express someremorse and are held accountable for their misdeeds. So Alanmakes the astute observation that the guy singing the song is“nuts” and that “he screwed up.” How very sensitive of himto notice! There are far too many really great

songs worthy ofrecording to waste NBB’s considerable talent on this sort ofanti-woman garbage.

Since Alan O’Bryant claimed that there had been noadverse reaction to Blackbirds and Crows, I just wanted to saythat there is at least one bluegrass fan out here who wasappalled by the inclusion of this song on the Unleashed CD.I suspect that I’m not the only one who feels this way.

—Nancy Petrilla

Auburn, CA

Speaking of Banks of the Ohio...

The one murder ballad that I really hate is the Banks Ofthe Ohio. Such a great tune and chorus. They are both lostbecause of the verses. I always wanted to sing the song, butI could never bring myself to learn the lyrics.

—Mike Henderson

Shepherdstown, WVvia email on bgrass-l

[Mike is a great songwriter whose compositions includeAuction At The

Homeplace—Ed.]

Gender Issues: West Coast v. East Coast

Murphy asked me about a young [West Coast] femalebluegrass performer who was reluctant to identify herself asa “Woman in Bluegrass” by participating in the all-femalejam at IBMA in 1995. The young girl felt she wanted to beknown as a bluegrass musician, period. I completely understood her feelings.

I don’t have much experience with bluegrass attitudes inother areas of the country, but I sense that things are verydifferent for women on the West Coast, and especially youngwomen. We don’t seem to come up against nearly as muchresistance, and therefore we aren’t nearly as attuned to theissues women face “back east” (as we say) and in the south.For a lot of us, the best way to be accepted as women inbluegrass is just to be women, playing bluegrass, withoutacting as if that’s anything extraordinary. Generally, we’relucky enough here that it’s only an issue when we make it one. In Southern California I have never been shut out of a jambecause of my gender, and I have had no trouble playing inbands with men. Maybe it has less to do with geography andmore to do with the company I keep, but I’ve found that peopleof either gender are respected if they know and love bluegrassand “can hang.”

Women have been a strong presence in Southern California bluegrass since Rose Maddox started out. Here in SanDiego, Ida Denny has been fronting a mixed-gender

band forover 20 years. With these kinds of role models blazing thetrail, there was no question that people like Alison Brown,Lauren Ceapy, Chari Ann Gastineau, Sara Watkins, JanetBeazley or the Schankman Twins had a place in the bluegrassworld. Now I’m not saying that no bluegrass woman in SouthernCalifornia ever encountered a guy with a bad attitude, or hadto put up with an offensive joke. But, at least in the last tenyears or so, my experience has been that bad behavior isclearly outside of the norm, and so it’s not something that ismuch on our minds.

I had a chance to talk to Hazel Dickens about all the thingsshe went through as a young woman in bluegrass, and herexperiences are so foreign to me. I was amazed at what shehad to put up with! I thanked her for what she did—forworking so hard to build a staircase, so that the rest of us canjust run right up without thinking anything of it! My thanksgo out to everyone who worked on, or is still working on, thatstaircase. —Elizabeth Burkett,

editorinTUNE: Southern California Bluegrass News

San Diego, California

POLITICALLY CORRECT LYRICS?

Speaking of How Mountain Girls Can Love, theSeverin Sisters performed this number twice at IBMA.And they did it very well. But one of the things that struckme was the fact that they changed one of the words in thesong. In the second verse, the phrase “our hearts weregay and happy then” became “our hearts were young andhappy then.” I asked the Severins about the change, andAmy said that they had consciously replaced gay withyoung. They did this because when they performed thisnumber for their friends, their friends would alwayslaugh when they heard the word gay. Like it or not, thisword has taken on a whole new meaning to the youngergeneration. And the Severin Sisters are very young—only fourteen. They make the Schankman Twins, nowfreshman in college, look ancient. (Just kidding, Danaand Lauren!) Interestingly enough, it was from theSchankman Twins’ recording that the Severins originally learned the words to this song. The Schankmans,however, do use the original word gay on their recording.Amy said it was from someone else that they borrowedthe word young. As an old hide myself, I think I’ll stickwith Carter and Ralph on this one. But I’m not walkingin Amy and Heidi’s shoes. As I told them, you gotta dowhat you gotta do. You go, girls! WIB