Awards

• Winner of <DIV>Distinguished Achievement Award, International Bluegrass Musical Association (IBMA), 2015.</DIV> 2015

Overview

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.

Full Product Details

9780252032868

Table of Contents

Reviews

A ground-breaking biographical and cultural history. --Publishers Weekly Determination and drive is a theme pervading this book: these women are significantly engaged in their music making, not as female bluegrass musicians but as bluegrass musicians in general. Highly recommended. --Choice Henry guides the reader through an historical progression decade by decade, providing a detailed biography for a variety of well-known, lesser-known and obscure females who have devoted some of their lives to bluegrass music. Very highly recommended. --Bluegrass Europe One of the most important bluegrass books that will be published this decade. --Bluegrass Today This impressive history of women in bluegrass clearly indicates women have been a big part of bluegrass since its earliest days, even when they were ignored by the media an fellow musicians. A much-needed addition to the bluegrass canon. --Booklist This academically solid and emotionally moving work shows the price that was paid by so many women in creating not only their own place in bluegrass, but in shaping and taking the music to new venues and wider audiences. This work should be a highlight on any list of required books for many years to come, and should be read by everyone in bluegrass--women and men. --Bluegrass Unlimited

This terrific book adds significantly to our knowledge of bluegrass music. Part reference and part impassioned argument, Pretty Good for a Girl is filled with extremely interesting narratives and has the firepower to become a great inspiration for a new generation of young women musicians. --Ellen Wright, coauthor (with Roni Stoneman) of Pressing On: The Roni Stoneman Story A fascinating history of bluegrass music from a female musician's perspective. Wonderfully readable, brisk in its sweeping chronology of a huge topic, and filled with anecdotal gems that bring history to life, this is an enthralling and important book. --Thomas A. Adler, author of Bean Blossom: The Brown County Jamboree and Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Festivals

Author Information

Murphy Hicks Henry is a professional banjo player, teacher, and writer living in Virginia. She founded the Women in Bluegrass newsletter and has written regularly for Bluegrass Unlimited and Banjo Newsletter. She is also the co-creator of The Murphy Method, a series of instructional videos on playing the banjo and other bluegrass instruments.

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