Roles of Women in Bluegrass Music
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 8-2011 "You're pretty good for a girl": Roles of women in bluegrass music Jenna Michele Lawson [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Ethnomusicology Commons, and the Musicology Commons Recommended Citation Lawson, Jenna Michele, ""You're pretty good for a girl": Roles of women in bluegrass music. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2011. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/995 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Jenna Michele Lawson entitled ""You're pretty good for a girl": Roles of women in bluegrass music." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music, with a major in Music. Rachel M. Golden, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Allison S. Robbins, James Fellenbaum Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) “YOU’RE PRETTY GOOD FOR A GIRL”: ROLES OF WOMEN IN BLUEGRASS MUSIC A Thesis Presented for the Master of Music Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Jenna Michele Lawson August 2011 ii Copyright © 2011 by Jenna Michele Lawson All rights reserved. iii Acknowledgements I am grateful to Dr. Rachel Golden, Dr. Allison Robbins, and Mr. James Fellenbaum of the School of Music at the University of Tennessee. I would especially like to thank Jessica Smith, Tammy Rogers, and Linda Bobbitt for their time and eye-opening discussions. Lastly, but most importantly I would like to thank the people closest to me for their ongoing support, especially my parents and sister as well as my good friends Emmanuel J. Stokes, Emily Wuchner, Christina Hastie, and Jordan Baker for their continued help and understanding. iv Abstract This thesis explores the past and current roles that female bluegrass musicians achieve within the music industry in the United States. Using sociological concepts by Judith Butler, Simon Frith, Mavis Bayton, and, importantly, Thomas Turino’s ideas of participatory and communal versus performative and individual, I demonstrate women’s complex musical, social, and cultural positions in bluegrass culture. While women continue to make strides in achieving recognition in the bluegrass genre, society still hinders them from finding complete acceptance alongside male musicians. As bluegrass music is based on patriarchal foundations set by its creator, Bill Monroe of the Blue Grass Boys, female bluegrass musicians constantly struggle to variously actualize and resist this gendered model. Even as bluegrass women achieve success through manipulation of the traditional rules set before them, they continue to struggle against patriarchal foundations and women’s historical association with the voice. Through historical research, personal observations, and in-depth interviews with three female bluegrass musicians, I show that even as these women find acceptance within their own bands, they recognize the unequal musical acknowledgement they receive. With regard to communal and individual performance realms, women, unlike men, have trouble fulfilling positions in both areas. In order to achieve success, some bluegrass women embrace their sexuality and present an overtly feminine image to their audiences. Notions of tradition, authenticity and hybridity help frame my discussion of women’s roles. While the power of tradition and authenticity hinder women’s progress in the genre, v concepts of hybridity allow them to branch out from conventions set down by first generation male bluegrass performers like Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. BLUEGRASS WOMEN: A JOURNEY TO RECOGNITION............................................................................................................................1 Into the Field...........................................................................................................................1 Scope and Parameters.............................................................................................................4 Defining the Genre.................................................................................................................6 Methodology.........................................................................................................................11 Fieldwork.....................................................................................................................11 Gender.........................................................................................................................14 Marketing....................................................................................................................18 Identity.........................................................................................................................21 Performance................................................................................................................23 Review of Literature.............................................................................................................25 Acoustic Aspects, Instrumental Virtuosity, and the High Lonesome Sound...............27 Women in Bluegrass Music........................................................................................28 Chapter Outline.....................................................................................................................34 II. “YOUR ROOTS ARE SHOWING”: BLUEGRASS AND ITS FOUNDATIONS..........................................................................................................................40 Rural Life and the Woman’s Place.......................................................................................41 Aural/Oral Tradition and Women’s Learning.......................................................................44 Religion and Gender.............................................................................................................55 Women Musicians in Appalachia ........................................................................................58 Authenticity...........................................................................................................................63 III. “SHE’S JUST SINGIN’”: THIS ISN’T BLUEGRASS...............................................................................................................................65 Women as Vocalists..............................................................................................................71 Women as Instrumentalists...................................................................................................75 Communal and Vocal versus Individual and Instrumental...................................................80 IV. “BEYOND THE GENRE”: THE FEMALE IMAGE, AUTHENTICITY AND HYBRIDITY IN BLUEGRASS MUSIC...................................................................................83 Something Pretty: The Creation of the Female Image.........................................................86 Commercialism and Authenticity versus Hybridity in Bluegrass........................................94 V. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS...............................................................................106 Conclusion..........................................................................................................................106 vii BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................................113 APPENDICES............................................................................................................................126 VITA............................................................................................................................................130 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Pages 1.1 Tammy Rogers on the fiddle..................................................................................................127 2.1 Tammy Rogers singing harmony with the Steeldrivers.........................................................127 3.1 Dolly Parton, Dolly................................................................................................................128 4.1 Rhonda Vincent, Taken..........................................................................................................128 5.1-5.5 The Steeldrivers biography pictures................................................................................129 1 CHAPTER I BLUEGRASS WOMEN: A JOURNEY OF RECOGNITION Into the Field Walking the dimly lit street toward Barley’s Taproom, my friends and I maneuvered our way over the gravel parking lot, trying to avoid the broken beer bottles and other debris. It was not a usual occurrence for me to venture into the Old City of Knoxville, but one of my favorite bluegrass bands from Lyons, Colorado was performing that night. Inside,