Hazel Dickens

One of the most compelling figures in all of bluegrass, Hazel Dickens's influence on the genre is hard to overstate. With a staunchly feminist and pro-union outlook, Dickens put the real struggles of real working people at the forefront of a genre not previously known for its political edge. Born in 1935 to an impoverished family with eleven children, Dickens eventually moved from West Virginia to Baltimore where she met her longtime collaborator, Alice Gerrard. Both together and solo, they redefined bluegrass's place in the '60s folk revival and a woman's place within the genre itself. Not to be overshadowed, however, is her Appalachian crag of a voice, warmed by experience and a haunting treasure of American roots music that surely merits comparisons with the finest in the milieu.