Bessie Lee Mauldin
Bessie Lee Mauldin (December 28, 1920 – February 8, 1983) was a bassist, singer, and songwriter from Norwood, North Carolina. She played bass and sang with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys from the mid-1950s until 1964, with Monroe often referring to her as "the Carolina Songbird." She played string bass on more than 30 of Monroe's Decca recording sessions between September 1955 and April 1964. Those recordings appeared on the albums Mr. Blue Grass, Bluegrass Ramble, Bluegrass Special, and I'll Meet You in Church Sunday Morning. She also helped write the verses to the gospel song "A Voice from On High," which Monroe recorded and which was later recorded by the Stanley Brothers and Ricky Skaggs. She later returned to Norwood and died in nearby Albemarle.