Alice Gerrard (born July 8, 1934) is an American bluegrass singer, banjoist, fiddler, and

guitar player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political ...

. She performed in a duo with Hazel Dickens, and as part of The Strange Creek Singers (with Dickens, Mike Seeger, Tracy Schwarz, and Lamar Grier) and The Back Creek Buddies (with

Matokie Slaughter Matokie Worrell Slaughter (December 21, 1919 – December 31, 1999), sometimes known as "Tokie" Slaughter, was an American clawhammer banjo player. Born in Pulaski, Virginia, to a large musical family, Slaughter performed regularly with her fa ...

). Gerrard was born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. Her mother was from Yakima, Washington, and her father from Wigan in England. Gerrard attended

Antioch College Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was i ...

, where she was exposed to folk music. After college, she moved to Washington, D.C. and became part of the thriving bluegrass scene there. Gerrard was married to Jeremy Foster who died in a car accident. She had four children with him. She was later married to Mike Seeger and recorded two albums with him. Garrard was inducted into the

Bluegrass Hall of Fame Bluegrass or Blue Grass may refer to: Plants * Bluegrass (grass), several species of grasses of the genus ''Poa'' **Kentucky bluegrass (''Poa pratensis''), one well-known species of the genus Arts and media * Bluegrass music, a form of Amer ...

in 2017. The Alice Gerrard Collection (1954–2000) is located in the Southern Folklife Collection of the Wilson Library of the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which r ...

. She founded and was editor-in-chief of The Old Time Herald from 1987 to 2000.

Discography

Alice Gerrard

*1994 - ''Pieces of My Heart'' (

Copper Creek Records Copper Creek Records is a record label based in Roanoke, Virginia specializing primarily in bluegrass and old-time music. History Spurred by his interest in the music of the Stanley Brothers, Gary B. Reid launched Copper Creek in October 1978 ...

) *2002 - ''Calling Me Home: Songs of Love and Loss'' (Copper Creek Records) *2013 - ''Bittersweet'' (Spruce And Maple) *2014 - ''Follow the Music'' ( Tompkins Square)

With Hazel Dickens

*1965 - ''Who's That Knocking'' (Folkways LP) *1973 - ''Hazel & Alice'' (Rounder LP) *1973 - ''Won't You Come & Sing for Me'' (Folkways LP) *1976 - ''Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard'' (Rounder LP) *1996 - ''Pioneering Women of Bluegrass'' (

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fou ...

) *2018 - ''Sing Me Back Home: The DC Tapes, 1965-1969'' (

Free Dirt Records Free Dirt Records is an American independent record label and label services company founded in 2006 by John Smith and Erica Haskell that releases folk and roots music. The label's releases have received two Grammy nominations. History John Smith ...

)

With Mike Seeger

*1970 - ''Mike and Alice Seeger Live in Japan'' (King LP) *1980 - ''Alice Gerrard & Mike Seeger'' eissued in its entirety on ''Bowling Green'' CD, 2008

Tom, Brad & Alice

*1998 - ''Been There Still'' *2000 - ''Holly Ding'' *2001 - ''We'll Die in the Pig Pen Fighting'' *2005 - ''Carve That Possum''

With Gail Gillespie and Sharon Sandomirsky

*2007 - ''The Road to Agate Hill: Music from Southwest Virginia and Beyond''

Compilations

*1979 - '' Elizabeth Cotten, Volume 3: When I'm Gone'' (

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Servic ...

) *1997 - ''Close to Home: Old Time Music from Mike Seeger's Collection, 1952-1967'' (Smithsonian Folkways) *2001 - ''There is No Eye: Music for Photographs'' (Smithsonian Folkways) *2002 - ''Classic Mountain Songs from Smithsonian Folkways'' (Smithsonian Folkways) *2002 - ''Classic Bluegrass from Smithsonian Folkways'' (Smithsonian Folkways) *2005 - ''Classic Bluegrass Vol. 2 from Smithsonian Folkways'' (Smithsonian Folkways)

Films

*''Homemade American Music'' Directed by Yasha Aginsky, Carrie Aginsky. Copyright: 1980. *''Hazel Dickens: It's Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song'' (2001). Directed by Mimi Pickering. Whitesburg, Kentucky: Appalshop. *''You Gave Me a Song: The Life and Music of Alice Gerrard'' (2019). Directed by Kenny Dalsheimer. Durham, North Carolina: The Groove Productions.

Other

Her name appears in the lyrics of the Le Tigre song "

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. (stylized as HOT TOPIC) is an American retail chain specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, ...

References

External links

Alice Gerrard biography
Southern Folklife Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Gerrard Discography
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerrard, Alice 1934 births Living people American banjoists American women singers American bluegrass musicians American folk singers Antioch College alumni Musicians from Seattle 21st-century American women