Women in Old-Time

Article by Ellary Smith

The Old Time music tradition thrives on back porches in rural Appalachia. It thrives in old general stores and around campfires. It thrives in families, and it undeniably thrives due to women. Old time music often features a combination of guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, stand-up bass, and perhaps dobro or percussion instruments. The first bands that played all of these instruments in unison were families making music together. Making music was their entertainment, their family time, their distraction, and their joy. Therefore, the root of American Old Time music can often be traced to musical families. Although a few, like the Carter family, recorded their music and are now well-known, many families’ joyful noise never left their homes. Nevertheless, women have always been a part of Old Time, country, and bluegrass music, all of which share similar origins. As these genres became increasingly recorded in the 20th Century, women were excluded from the professional musical sphere, especially as independent artists or musicians. Rather, a woman’s role in music was often a background band member or a singer unallowed to play instruments. They are now reclaiming their place in the Old Time music world, though, and reminding listeners that women have always been a part of Old Time, and aren’t going anywhere any time soon. 

Kay Crouch, a talented singer and instrumentalist who specializes in multiple genres and countless instruments, said “Women have always played music in the Old Time tradition and should continue to do so.  The fact that women played it less often on stage, as well as in other public settings, than men probably should change—and will change.” Women playing and singing bluegrass, folk, and Old Time is nothing new, Kay iterated. What needs to change is the lack of recognition and fame they received compared to men when such music was first recorded and performed on a large scale.

Diana Wilcox is a Watauga County resident who plays guitar, sings in Old-Time and various other styles, and loves to attend jams, festivals, and concerts. “I think it is important for women to be involved in Traditional Music because it is part of our oral history; an integral part of our Appalachian Heritage,” she said. “ In my family, and in most of my friends' families, women tend to be the ‘keepers of the flame’ when it comes to stories and family history.” Families in Appalachia have traditionally valued story-telling as a pastime and a means for preserving their heritage.

“If women are the storytellers, why aren't they the song singers?” Diana questioned. She frequents events that feature Old Time music and musical performance in general, and has always found it odd that there are usually more men than women playing and singing. “Songs are stories, especially more traditional songs.  It seems odd to me that women aren't telling the stories in song.”

Thankfully, remarkable women throughout history have helped women advance in the country, folk, and Appalachian music worlds. “People like Gillian Welch, Dolly Parton and Rhiannon Giddens have made huge contributions to women in traditional music,” Diana said. “They have made it more acceptable for women to sing those stories and preserve that history.”

Of course, women didn’t wait for modern times to raise their voices in the genre they love. “Women like Ola Belle Reed and Elizabeth Cotten, and dozens more, probably didn't receive the recognition they deserved because of attitudes of their time,” said Diana. However, they inspired generations of future girls and women to participate in traditional, storytelling, Appalachian, Old-Time music.