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Pretty Good for a Girl: Women in Bluegrass
The first book devoted entirely to women in bluegrass, Pretty Good for a Girl documents the lives of more than seventy women whose vibrant contributions to the development of bluegrass have been, for the most part, overlooked. Accessibly written and organized by decade, the book begins with Sally Ann Forrester, who played accordion and sang with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys from 1943 to 1946, and continues into the present with artists such as Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, and the Dixie Chicks. Drawing from extensive interviews, well-known banjoist Murphy Hicks Henry gives voice to women performers and innovators throughout bluegrass's history, including such pioneers as Bessie Lee Mauldin, Wilma Lee Cooper, and Roni and Donna Stoneman; family bands including the Lewises, Whites, and McLains; and later pathbreaking performers such as the Buffalo Gals and other all-girl bands, Laurie Lewis, Lynn Morris, Missy Raines, and many others.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
469 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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December 31, 2025
The book written by Murphy Hicks Henry tackles a subject no one before her had addressed—the participation of women in bluegrass music and their contributions to it. It must be kept in mind that this is a very traditional genre, born in the patriarchal environment of the Appalachian Mountains and played in a traditional way. Unlike most other musical genres, with bluegrass we know exactly who invented it. That was Bill Monroe, who in the early 1940s began experimenting with old-time music based on acoustic string instruments, adding elements of blues and jazz (instrumental solos, so-called breaks), as well as innovations in vocal performance (the “high lonesome sound”). According to the author, for a group of musicians to be called a bluegrass band, it must include someone playing the five-string banjo in Earl Scruggs’ three-finger style. Scruggs, it should be noted, was a member of Bill Monroe’s band, the Blue Grass Boys (after which the genre was named), at the very time bluegrass music was being born. Although for a long time it was believed that bluegrass was played exclusively by men, even in that very first bluegrass band—Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, and Earl Scruggs—there was one woman: Sally Ann Forrester, who played the accordion, an instrument that later disappeared from bluegrass. A classic bluegrass group consists of banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and bass, with the possibility of adding other acoustic instruments.
I won’t burden you with the names of the seventy or so women who, from the early 1940s until about a decade ago, were involved in bluegrass and are included in this book, but I will mention some of the better-known ones: Rose Maddox, Ola Belle Reed, Bessie Lee Mauldin, the Stoneman Sisters, Gloria Belle, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, Delia Bell, Kathy Kallick, Missy Raines, Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, and the Dixie Chicks (whose first three albums are not on Spotify). I should also point out that over the years, bluegrass has gradually “opened up” to women, so today it is possible for a woman to win an annual IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) award in one of the categories—even in the instrumentalist categories. Missy Raines has won multiple times as Best Bass Player, Alison Krauss and the Dixie Chicks have won for Songs and Albums of the Year, and Dolly Parton too (though she did not have a dedicated entry in the book since she is primarily a country artist). In recent years, male dominance in the instrumental categories has been further eroded: a few years ago Bronwyn Keith-Hynes won Best Fiddler, and Sierra Hull Best Mandolinist (I wrote about both in my Diaries), breaking a streak of male winners that had lasted since the awards began. How much Murphy Hicks Henry herself contributed to this opening toward women, I cannot say, but I do know that the female bluegrass musicians who won awards certainly deserved them.
The book was published in 2013, twelve years ago, so it could not mention Molly Tuttle, who has since become visible even beyond bluegrass, Sierra Ferrell, now a leading songwriter fully ready for a crossover into pop/country, or my favorites The Price Sisters, who with their band remain faithful to the scene they came from, as well as Martha Spencer, who perhaps belongs more to old-time music. The book will appeal not only to bluegrass fans but also to those who love roots music in general.
The most beautiful part of all this is that the woman who wrote the book, Murphy Hicks Henry, is herself an excellent bluegrass musician. She had a fine family band and could, with full justification, have included herself and her three sisters in a book about women in bluegrass—but she did not. That speaks to the modesty and good upbringing carried from home. Justice, however, was served by her son Christopher Henry, who devised an original gift for his mother’s seventieth birthday. He recorded, together with guest bluegrass singers—many of whom are mentioned in Murphy’s book—23 songs composed by his mother and released the album When My Momma Sang To Me. I myself added to my playlist, created from the book Pretty Good For A Girl: Women in Bluegrass, Murphy’s song The Darling Daughter, performed—what a coincidence—by The Price Sisters, whom I mentioned earlier in the text. If there is a new edition of the book, they will surely be included. My playlist contains 61 songs by female performers from the book that I managed to find on Spotify. A very modest selection of bluegrass, unfortunately. That is why books like this are so welcome—they promote and raise the visibility of this unjustly underrated musical genre.
I won’t burden you with the names of the seventy or so women who, from the early 1940s until about a decade ago, were involved in bluegrass and are included in this book, but I will mention some of the better-known ones: Rose Maddox, Ola Belle Reed, Bessie Lee Mauldin, the Stoneman Sisters, Gloria Belle, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, Delia Bell, Kathy Kallick, Missy Raines, Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, and the Dixie Chicks (whose first three albums are not on Spotify). I should also point out that over the years, bluegrass has gradually “opened up” to women, so today it is possible for a woman to win an annual IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) award in one of the categories—even in the instrumentalist categories. Missy Raines has won multiple times as Best Bass Player, Alison Krauss and the Dixie Chicks have won for Songs and Albums of the Year, and Dolly Parton too (though she did not have a dedicated entry in the book since she is primarily a country artist). In recent years, male dominance in the instrumental categories has been further eroded: a few years ago Bronwyn Keith-Hynes won Best Fiddler, and Sierra Hull Best Mandolinist (I wrote about both in my Diaries), breaking a streak of male winners that had lasted since the awards began. How much Murphy Hicks Henry herself contributed to this opening toward women, I cannot say, but I do know that the female bluegrass musicians who won awards certainly deserved them.
The book was published in 2013, twelve years ago, so it could not mention Molly Tuttle, who has since become visible even beyond bluegrass, Sierra Ferrell, now a leading songwriter fully ready for a crossover into pop/country, or my favorites The Price Sisters, who with their band remain faithful to the scene they came from, as well as Martha Spencer, who perhaps belongs more to old-time music. The book will appeal not only to bluegrass fans but also to those who love roots music in general.
The most beautiful part of all this is that the woman who wrote the book, Murphy Hicks Henry, is herself an excellent bluegrass musician. She had a fine family band and could, with full justification, have included herself and her three sisters in a book about women in bluegrass—but she did not. That speaks to the modesty and good upbringing carried from home. Justice, however, was served by her son Christopher Henry, who devised an original gift for his mother’s seventieth birthday. He recorded, together with guest bluegrass singers—many of whom are mentioned in Murphy’s book—23 songs composed by his mother and released the album When My Momma Sang To Me. I myself added to my playlist, created from the book Pretty Good For A Girl: Women in Bluegrass, Murphy’s song The Darling Daughter, performed—what a coincidence—by The Price Sisters, whom I mentioned earlier in the text. If there is a new edition of the book, they will surely be included. My playlist contains 61 songs by female performers from the book that I managed to find on Spotify. A very modest selection of bluegrass, unfortunately. That is why books like this are so welcome—they promote and raise the visibility of this unjustly underrated musical genre.
June 3, 2013
The genesis of Pretty Good for aGirl: Women in Bluegrass by Murphy Hicks Henry (University of Illinois Press, 2013, 456 pages, $29.95) grew from a comment intended as a compliment but experienced by women musicians as the ultimate put-down. Henry decided to create a data base of women in bluegrass as well as to begin distributing a newsletter on the same topic which continued to be published until 2003. Her master's thesis on Sally Ann Forrester, the first woman in bluegrass, became the basis for the first chapter in this cyclopedic account of the increased presence and influence of women in bluegrass from its beginning in (and before) 1945 to the present. Pretty Goodfor a Girl, ten years in the writing, provides the reader with a perspective putting the lie to the marginalization of women in the assertion that bluegrass was, and continues to be, largely a boys' club. Murphy Henry not only sets the record straight, she does so in a witty, engaging manner (sometimes with a slightly bighty edge) that entertains as it informs. For any student of bluegrass history, tradition, and culture, this book is must reading! Read the full review on my blog:
July 25, 2022
This book was a Christmas present, and I was pretty delighted. My first swish through was to determine if my three favorite and three second favorite women in bluegrass were represented. They were. The second swish was to consult the references and index to see if my dear friend, the late Bill Vernon was cited as a source. (He was, but more about that later.)
The introduction annoyed me. I still can't put my finger on why it did, but there was something missing and the tone was a little too "chippy." The fact that the author referred to Bill as a "lay historian" had already sent me over the edge.
But I worked my way through, chapter after chapter of the stories of the remarkable women who had peppered "our kind of music" throughout its history, and over and over I heard the same lament. Women in bluegrass were there primarily because they were in a family band, or they were playing because a brother, husband, father, uncle had brought them in. In other words, the author was hammering home (with a sledgehammer) the notion that women weren't welcomed into bands for their undeniable talent, but rather because they needed a bass player and so and so's sister or aunt or wife could adequately fill the gap.
To be sure, this is a very valid point to be made. But it appeared in nearly every chapter that involved a woman who played in a band with men. Where was the editor?
My other quibble, and probably one of the main reasons I allotted this tome 4 stars instead of 5 was the over-reliance on one source: Bluegrass Unlimited. I understand the author worked for BU and had access to their considerable archives, but this was to the exclusion of interviews she could have conducted with other people. She had been editing a newsletter, Women in Bluegrass for a long time, and I would have thought she might have interviewed some men who had a bird's eye view of the genre, and who had some pretty enlightened ideas about women musicians, and who referred to them as women musicians, not girls. (Yes, Murphy, you missed the boat by never having an extended conversation with Bill Vernon! And it was a serious oversight on your part because the man was a feminist from word go!)
Just to illustrate my own point, in the liner notes that he wrote for the now legendary Rebel Records CD compilation to mark their 35th anniversary, here is how he described women:
"...the lustrous voice of Claire Lynch..."
"...shimmeringly lovely singing of Lisa Forbes..."
"...Cindy West's high lead singing is perfectly complemented by..."
Note, all those refer to singing because guess what, only Rhonda Vincent had recorded with Rebel by that time. One has to ask the question, why didn't Dave Freeman actively recruit women musicians to his label?
And there you have the crux of the problem. Luckily, there were some independent labels, plus the wonderful Rounder Records, and they were producing some great albums featuring women musicians.
The chapters on my big three were good, for the most part. First up is Missy Raines, a bass player of very small size, with a very big sound. She is a beautiful human being, always growing and always pushing the envelope with her music. I think the chapter on her was adequate. The chapter on Claire Lynch was good in that it filled in some blanks for me regarding her hiatus from performing. For myself, her early recordings were good, but as she grew into her talent, they increased in power and she is, without a doubt, a force to be reckoned with. My last of the trio is Dede Wyland. I had heard her when she was with Grass, Food & Lodging. I don't remember exactly where I heard the band - just that it was in Chicago - and she was a stand out. Later, when she was with Skyline, she simply wowed. Following her departure, Skyline lacked. That's the best I can say, and given the caliber of musicians in that band, it went flat. Dede was the soul of it.
My next batch includes Lynn Morris, Allison Brown and Alice & Ruth McClain. All were given good treatments. No quibbles.
In the first half of the 1990s, my husband and I were invited to The Prism Coffeehouse in Charlottesville by Bill Vernon, who was hosting a monthly live radio show there. It was probably the best time we had for live music because we had an incredible line-up of musical shows, and we had Bill, who was the penultimate educator. That was where I first heard Claire Lynch. Missy was her bass player. What a band! Claire and her Taylor guitar... Missy was in the back just keeping that groove in place. It was outstanding! It was also the first time I saw Lynn Morris - and holy cow!
Some time later, I was whining to Bill that I missed Dede. Where the hell was Dede?! Not long after, he dropped by to tell me that he'd run into her at a festival he was emceeing, and that she was "just as gorgeous and darling as ever." He admitted he missed her singing. A lot. Felt her hiatus was a huge loss.
When Lynn Morris had her stroke, he marked her tragedy onstage by wishing her a speedy recovery because, "we need more of her and others like her."
So, here is my point, people. The anecdotes about the trouble women have had breaking into bluegrass are absolutely true. It has NOT been easy, and the idea that a woman cannot handle a banjo or a lead guitar is complete and utter balderdash. The author is absolutely correct in that observation. Bluegrass has been sexist and demeaning to women. BUT, there were exceptions to that, and it needs to be pointed out. The dismissive attitude, while in the majority, wasn't the only one. The men who championed women musicians need to be acknowledged for modeling an enlightened point of view. The author did some of that, but because she was so intent on making her central theme cast into concrete, she neglected a nuance that male readers needed to see.
Summary: this is a book for fans of "our kind of music" (yes, that is a Vernonism), and it is definitely a good start for compiling the list of excellent women musicians. Now I'd like to see an enterprising writer zero in on a couple of these fine women and really get into the weeds.
The introduction annoyed me. I still can't put my finger on why it did, but there was something missing and the tone was a little too "chippy." The fact that the author referred to Bill as a "lay historian" had already sent me over the edge.
But I worked my way through, chapter after chapter of the stories of the remarkable women who had peppered "our kind of music" throughout its history, and over and over I heard the same lament. Women in bluegrass were there primarily because they were in a family band, or they were playing because a brother, husband, father, uncle had brought them in. In other words, the author was hammering home (with a sledgehammer) the notion that women weren't welcomed into bands for their undeniable talent, but rather because they needed a bass player and so and so's sister or aunt or wife could adequately fill the gap.
To be sure, this is a very valid point to be made. But it appeared in nearly every chapter that involved a woman who played in a band with men. Where was the editor?
My other quibble, and probably one of the main reasons I allotted this tome 4 stars instead of 5 was the over-reliance on one source: Bluegrass Unlimited. I understand the author worked for BU and had access to their considerable archives, but this was to the exclusion of interviews she could have conducted with other people. She had been editing a newsletter, Women in Bluegrass for a long time, and I would have thought she might have interviewed some men who had a bird's eye view of the genre, and who had some pretty enlightened ideas about women musicians, and who referred to them as women musicians, not girls. (Yes, Murphy, you missed the boat by never having an extended conversation with Bill Vernon! And it was a serious oversight on your part because the man was a feminist from word go!)
Just to illustrate my own point, in the liner notes that he wrote for the now legendary Rebel Records CD compilation to mark their 35th anniversary, here is how he described women:
"...the lustrous voice of Claire Lynch..."
"...shimmeringly lovely singing of Lisa Forbes..."
"...Cindy West's high lead singing is perfectly complemented by..."
Note, all those refer to singing because guess what, only Rhonda Vincent had recorded with Rebel by that time. One has to ask the question, why didn't Dave Freeman actively recruit women musicians to his label?
And there you have the crux of the problem. Luckily, there were some independent labels, plus the wonderful Rounder Records, and they were producing some great albums featuring women musicians.
The chapters on my big three were good, for the most part. First up is Missy Raines, a bass player of very small size, with a very big sound. She is a beautiful human being, always growing and always pushing the envelope with her music. I think the chapter on her was adequate. The chapter on Claire Lynch was good in that it filled in some blanks for me regarding her hiatus from performing. For myself, her early recordings were good, but as she grew into her talent, they increased in power and she is, without a doubt, a force to be reckoned with. My last of the trio is Dede Wyland. I had heard her when she was with Grass, Food & Lodging. I don't remember exactly where I heard the band - just that it was in Chicago - and she was a stand out. Later, when she was with Skyline, she simply wowed. Following her departure, Skyline lacked. That's the best I can say, and given the caliber of musicians in that band, it went flat. Dede was the soul of it.
My next batch includes Lynn Morris, Allison Brown and Alice & Ruth McClain. All were given good treatments. No quibbles.
In the first half of the 1990s, my husband and I were invited to The Prism Coffeehouse in Charlottesville by Bill Vernon, who was hosting a monthly live radio show there. It was probably the best time we had for live music because we had an incredible line-up of musical shows, and we had Bill, who was the penultimate educator. That was where I first heard Claire Lynch. Missy was her bass player. What a band! Claire and her Taylor guitar... Missy was in the back just keeping that groove in place. It was outstanding! It was also the first time I saw Lynn Morris - and holy cow!
Some time later, I was whining to Bill that I missed Dede. Where the hell was Dede?! Not long after, he dropped by to tell me that he'd run into her at a festival he was emceeing, and that she was "just as gorgeous and darling as ever." He admitted he missed her singing. A lot. Felt her hiatus was a huge loss.
When Lynn Morris had her stroke, he marked her tragedy onstage by wishing her a speedy recovery because, "we need more of her and others like her."
So, here is my point, people. The anecdotes about the trouble women have had breaking into bluegrass are absolutely true. It has NOT been easy, and the idea that a woman cannot handle a banjo or a lead guitar is complete and utter balderdash. The author is absolutely correct in that observation. Bluegrass has been sexist and demeaning to women. BUT, there were exceptions to that, and it needs to be pointed out. The dismissive attitude, while in the majority, wasn't the only one. The men who championed women musicians need to be acknowledged for modeling an enlightened point of view. The author did some of that, but because she was so intent on making her central theme cast into concrete, she neglected a nuance that male readers needed to see.
Summary: this is a book for fans of "our kind of music" (yes, that is a Vernonism), and it is definitely a good start for compiling the list of excellent women musicians. Now I'd like to see an enterprising writer zero in on a couple of these fine women and really get into the weeds.
Want to read
July 14, 2014After trying to dutifully begin at the beginning and read straight through to the end, I found I couldn't resist skipping ahead to the chapters I most wanted to read: Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick, and Hazel & Alice. Since 99% of the very little I know about bluegrass comes from Laurie Lewis' and Kathy Kallick's concert remarks and album liner notes, I had no inkling of the historic prejudice against women in bluegrass that this book addresses. I'm grateful to have happened upon this thorough introduction to the topic and look forward to learning much more!
Read
May 30, 2014781.64209 H523 2013
August 24, 2015
Well documented
Contains much that is interesting. Hard to read straight through. Functions well as a reference book. I will certainly re-read parts of this book.
Contains much that is interesting. Hard to read straight through. Functions well as a reference book. I will certainly re-read parts of this book.
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