Biography
Alice Gerrard occupies a central position in American folk traditions as vocalist, instrumentalist, writer, and instructor whose partnerships with Hazel Dickens helped restore attention to old-time music while underscoring the contributions of women to folk and bluegrass. A gifted vocalist especially adept at harmonies, her robust and mournful delivery bridged folk music’s earlier eras with a renewed, present-day vitality. Her recordings commenced through a sequence of joint projects with Dickens that opened with the 1966 album Who’s That Knocking? and continued until the mid-1970s, reaching a high point with the 1973 landmark Hazel & Alice. Following years devoted chiefly to other pursuits through most of the 1980s, she launched a solo path with 1994’s Pieces of My Heart. After issuing several albums alongside the trio Tom, Brad & Alice, Gerrard turned to academic work before reentering the studio for 2013’s Bittersweet and 2014’s Follow the Music.
Born in Seattle, Washington, on July 8, 1934, Gerrard grew up with parents steeped in classical music and began piano lessons early. Although family gatherings occasionally featured piano singing, she encountered scant folk material until enrolling at Antioch College in Ohio, where dormitory companions who admired folk music introduced her to Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. Captivated by the collection’s austere sound and somber subjects, she took up guitar.
Gerrard departed Antioch before completing her degree and settled in Washington, D.C., where she found an active folk community particularly devoted to bluegrass and old-time styles. While establishing herself locally, she formed a friendship with Mike Seeger of the New Lost City Ramblers, a relationship that later became marriage following the death of her first husband. Seeger connected her with Hazel Dickens, the West Virginia-born singer then residing in Baltimore, Maryland, who cherished classic Appalachian folk songs. The pair discovered compatible harmonies, began performing together, and soon attracted devoted audiences in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.
During 1965, Dickens and Gerrard captured traditional pieces inside a Washington, D.C., church with accompanists that included David Grisman on mandolin, Lamar Grier on banjo, and fiddlers Chubby Wise and Billy Baker. Verve Folkways issued the session as Who’s That Knocking? Subsequent artists such as Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch have named it an essential influence, and the duo is frequently recognized as the first female-led bluegrass act. A second set recorded the same year, Won’t You Come and Sing for Me, remained unreleased until Rounder Records presented it in 1973. Rounder also issued two further Dickens-Gerrard albums—1973’s Hazel & Alice and 1976’s Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard—later compiling all four into the 1996 box set Pioneering Women of Bluegrass.
Gerrard and Mike Seeger recorded the 1980 album Alice Gerrard & Mike Seeger (earlier producing a 1971 live recording reissued together on the 2008 disc Bowling Green), yet she spent most of that decade in behind-the-scenes roles. She edited the magazine The Old-Time Herald, documenting veteran bluegrass and old-time performers, and co-directed the documentary Sprout Wings and Fly about Appalachian fiddler Tommy Jarrell with Les Blank and Cece Conway. She additionally taught courses on music and folklore at the University of North Carolina and Duke University.
Gerrard finally issued her first solo album, Pieces of My Heart, on Copper Creek Records in 1994. She then joined multi-instrumentalists Brad Leftwich and Tom Sauber to form Tom, Brad & Alice, releasing 1998’s Been There Still, 2000’s Holly Ding, and 2001’s We’ll Die in the Pig Pen Fighting. Her second solo collection, Calling Me Home: Songs of Love and Loss, appeared in 2002; the trio reconvened for one further album, 2005’s Carve That Possum.
After concentrating on teaching and live appearances for several years, Gerrard returned to recording with 2013’s Bittersweet. While instructing at Duke University she met student M.C. Taylor, who was completing a master’s degree in folklore and performing as Hiss Golden Messenger. An admirer of her early work with Dickens, Taylor produced the 2014 album Follow the Music. In 2017, Gerrard partnered with fellow old-time advocate Kay Justice for Tear Down the Fences.
Born in Seattle, Washington, on July 8, 1934, Gerrard grew up with parents steeped in classical music and began piano lessons early. Although family gatherings occasionally featured piano singing, she encountered scant folk material until enrolling at Antioch College in Ohio, where dormitory companions who admired folk music introduced her to Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. Captivated by the collection’s austere sound and somber subjects, she took up guitar.
Gerrard departed Antioch before completing her degree and settled in Washington, D.C., where she found an active folk community particularly devoted to bluegrass and old-time styles. While establishing herself locally, she formed a friendship with Mike Seeger of the New Lost City Ramblers, a relationship that later became marriage following the death of her first husband. Seeger connected her with Hazel Dickens, the West Virginia-born singer then residing in Baltimore, Maryland, who cherished classic Appalachian folk songs. The pair discovered compatible harmonies, began performing together, and soon attracted devoted audiences in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.
During 1965, Dickens and Gerrard captured traditional pieces inside a Washington, D.C., church with accompanists that included David Grisman on mandolin, Lamar Grier on banjo, and fiddlers Chubby Wise and Billy Baker. Verve Folkways issued the session as Who’s That Knocking? Subsequent artists such as Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch have named it an essential influence, and the duo is frequently recognized as the first female-led bluegrass act. A second set recorded the same year, Won’t You Come and Sing for Me, remained unreleased until Rounder Records presented it in 1973. Rounder also issued two further Dickens-Gerrard albums—1973’s Hazel & Alice and 1976’s Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard—later compiling all four into the 1996 box set Pioneering Women of Bluegrass.
Gerrard and Mike Seeger recorded the 1980 album Alice Gerrard & Mike Seeger (earlier producing a 1971 live recording reissued together on the 2008 disc Bowling Green), yet she spent most of that decade in behind-the-scenes roles. She edited the magazine The Old-Time Herald, documenting veteran bluegrass and old-time performers, and co-directed the documentary Sprout Wings and Fly about Appalachian fiddler Tommy Jarrell with Les Blank and Cece Conway. She additionally taught courses on music and folklore at the University of North Carolina and Duke University.
Gerrard finally issued her first solo album, Pieces of My Heart, on Copper Creek Records in 1994. She then joined multi-instrumentalists Brad Leftwich and Tom Sauber to form Tom, Brad & Alice, releasing 1998’s Been There Still, 2000’s Holly Ding, and 2001’s We’ll Die in the Pig Pen Fighting. Her second solo collection, Calling Me Home: Songs of Love and Loss, appeared in 2002; the trio reconvened for one further album, 2005’s Carve That Possum.
After concentrating on teaching and live appearances for several years, Gerrard returned to recording with 2013’s Bittersweet. While instructing at Duke University she met student M.C. Taylor, who was completing a master’s degree in folklore and performing as Hiss Golden Messenger. An admirer of her early work with Dickens, Taylor produced the 2014 album Follow the Music. In 2017, Gerrard partnered with fellow old-time advocate Kay Justice for Tear Down the Fences.
Albums
