Musicians Alice Gerrard, Laurie Lewis, Amythyst Kiah, and artist manager Traci Thomas are featured in the Blue Ridge Music Center’s second release of interviews from its online series, A Place in the Band: Women in Bluegrass & American Roots Music. The four videos will be released on Tuesday, January 19, and are part of a 10-episode series exploring the triumphs and struggles of prominent women in the music industry.
In this video series, North Carolina singer-songwriter and social justice activist Laurelyn Dossett speaks with musicians and additional music industry leaders. During these conversations, the women share behind the scenes stories, reveal their role models and mentors, discuss issues they’ve encountered specific to women in the industry, and highlight changes they’ve seen over the years. The individual stories show the collective strength and possibilities for women in bluegrass and American roots music.
The new episodes cover the following women’s experiences in the music industry.
Alice Gerrard of Durham, North Carolina, started her musical career singing with Hazel Dickens as the duo, Hazel & Alice. She’s gone on to have a long and varied career as a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, recording as a solo artist, playing in several bands, and collaborating with many musicians. In her interview, Gerrard discusses her path to making a living through music, diversity and gender issues in the industry, and she gives advice to young musicians entering the field.
Laurie Lewis of San Francisco, California, has been at the forefront of the west-coast bluegrass music scene since the 1970s. A cofounder of the Good Ol’ Persons, she has fronted her own bands, including the Grant Street String Band, and currently Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands. In her interview, Lewis talks about her mentors and inspirations, pathways and roadblocks in her career, inspiring young women playing today, her role in producing records, and how the pandemic has affected her.
Amythyst Kiah of Johnson City, Tennessee, graduated from the Bluegrass, Old-time, and Country Music program at Eastern Tennessee State University, and has hit the ground running since then. Finding inspiration in old time string band music, alternative rock, folk, country, and blues, Kiah brings her banjo and guitar playing, vocals, and songwriting skills to the stage as a solo artist and with her band, Her Chest of Glass. She was nominated for a Grammy in 2019 for her song, “Black Myself,” which she recorded with the female supergroup Our Native Daughters. In her interview, Kiah imparts her musical beginnings and introduction to roots music, her mentors and influences, lessons from the pandemic, and what the Our Native Daughters project meant to her.
Traci Thomas of Nashville, Tennessee, has been involved in artist publicity and management for decades, and is a founding member of the American Music Association. She was honored by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum in 2017. In her interview, Thomas discusses how she landed in artist management, how things have changed for woman in the business, and gives advice to women entering the field.
Interviews with Rhiannon Giddens, Missy Raines, and Amy Grossmann were released on January 12. The final three episodes of the series with Kristin Scott Benson, Ruth Ungar Merenda, and Haley Miller Coots will be released on Tuesday, January 26.
The episodes will be made available on the Blue Ridge Music Center’s YouTube channel, and links will be posted at BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org and the interviews will also be featured at TheBluegrassSituation.com. These interviews, along with an online conference in late February, are part of a project that began 2020 to honor the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment granting women in the United States the right to vote.
A Place in the Band: Women in Bluegrass and American Roots Music is sponsored and supported by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the Blue Ridge Parkway/National Park Service, National Endowment for the Arts, National Park Foundation, and The Bluegrass Situation.
For more information, visit BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org.
