Hazel Dickens

Hazel Dickens comes across like the direct descendent of Mother Maybelle Carter with her big tenor and the crushing lonesomeness pouring out of her voice. She sounds like she is Appalachia. The modern glut of female-fronted Bluegrass acts have this pioneering woman to thank. Dickens and collaborator Alice Gerrard recorded the first female-produced Bluegrass records back in the Folk Revival boom of the 1960s. The pair was instrumental in bringing what was once considered "hick" music to colleges and coffeehouses, thereby exposing an entire generation to this timeless and dynamic music. Dickens' solo recordings are equally invaluable, filled with her dry, plaintive singing and ace musical backing. She relies heavily on the old styles and pays reverent homage to her influences from the high lonesome tradition with support from banjos, mandolins and fiddles.