The Bluegrass Standard - January 2024

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OUR CHOICE

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32 CONTENT MAHALIA COLLINS MULLINS OLA BELLE CAMPBELL REED TEMPERANCE BABCOCK MELODY WALKER JANA MOUGIN LOUISA BRANSCOMB THE ISAACS HIGHWAYS AND HEARTACHES RONI STONEMAN GRUHN GUITARS THE MONTVALES HART KITCHEN FAN FOTOS

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Keith Barnacastle • Publisher The Bluegrass Standard is a life-long dream of Keith Barnacastle, who grew up in Meridian, Mississippi. For three years, Keith brought the Suits, Boots and Bluegrass Festival to Meridian. Now, with the Bluegrass Standard, Keith’s enthusiasm for the music, and his vision of its future, reaches a nationwide audience every month!

Keith@TheBluegrassStandard.com 5

Our Staff Richelle Putnam • Executive Editor/Writer

Richelle Putnam is a Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) Teaching Artist/Roster Artist (Literary), a Mississippi Humanities Speaker, and a 2014 MAC Literary Arts Fellowship recipient. Her non-fiction books include Lauderdale County, Mississippi; a Brief History, Legendary Locals of Meridian, Mississippi and Mississippi and the Great Depression. Richelle@TheBluegrassStandard.com

Rebekah Speer • Creative Director

Rebekah Speer has nearly twenty years in the music industry in Nashville, TN. She creates a unique “look” for every issue of The Bluegrass Standard, and enjoys learning about each artist. In addition to her creative work with The Bluegrass Standard, Rebekah also provides graphic design and technical support to a variety of clients.

Susan Woelkers • Marketing

Susan traveled with a mixed ensemble at Trevecca Nazarene college as PR for the college. From there she moved on to working at Sony Music Nashville for 17 years in several compacities then transitioning on to the Nashville Songwritrers Association International (NSAI) where she was Sponsorship Director. The next step of her musical journey was to open her own business where she secured sponsorships for various events or companies in which the IBMA /World of Bluegrass was one of her clients.

Brent Davis • Contributor

Brent Davis produced documentaries, interview shows, and many other projects during a 40 year career in public media. He’s also the author of the bluegrass novel Raising Kane. Davis lives in Columbus, Ohio.

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Mississippi Chris Sharp • Reviewer

Singer/Songwriter/Blogger and SilverWolf recording artist, Mississippi Chris Sharp hails from remote Kemper County, near his hometown of Meridian. An original/founding cast member of the award-winning, long running radio show, The Sucarnochee Revue, as featured on Alabama and Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Chris performs with his daughter, Piper.

Chris’s songs have been covered by The Del McCoury Band, The Henhouse Prowlers, and others. https://mississippichrissharp.blog

Susan Marquez • Journalist

Susan Marquez is a freelance writer based in Madison, Mississippi and a Mississippi Arts Commission Roster Artist. After a 20+ year career in advertising and marketing, she began a professional writing career in 2001. Since that time she has written over 2000 articles which have been published in magazines, newspapers, business journals, trade publications.

Kara Martinez Bachman • Journalist

Kara Martinez Bachman is a nonfiction author, book and magazine editor, and freelance writer. A former staff entertainment reporter, columnist and community news editor for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, her music and culture reporting has also appeared on a freelance basis in dozens of regional, national and international publications.

Candace Nelson • Journalist

Candace Nelson is a marketing professional living in Charleston, West Virginia. She is the author of the book “The West Virginia Pepperoni Roll.” In her free time, Nelson travels and blogs about Appalachian food culture at CandaceLately.com. Find her on Twitter at @Candace07 or email CandaceRNelson@gmail.com.

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Mahalia Collins Mullins:

Appalachia’s Moonshine Queen ByRichelle Putnam

In 1824, in the cradle of the rugged Appalachian Mountains, where reality and myth dance in the moonlit shadows near the border of Tennessee and southwestern Virginia, a legend as timeless as those hills was born to an impoverished Melungeon family. Her name was Mahalia Collins Mullins.

Her life was like a tapestry woven from mystery and embellished tales. Still, threads of judgment and discrimination fashioned a precarious life for Mahalia in a society steeped in the media’s sensationalized portrayals of Melungeons, a label given to descendants of mixed ethnic ancestors who settled in various Central Appalachia regions dating to the late 1700s. Yet, even in an era where people of color and rural Appalachians bore the weight of stereotypes, Mahalia shined atop her Appalachia peak as a beacon of resilience amidst this bleak adversity.

Surrounded by whispering wind and rustling leaves in her mountain home, Mahalia built a moonshining empire that raised an impressed brow of white male distillers and made it quite impossible for authorities to arrest her and bring her to court. Her moonshine, an elixir flavored with the essence of local orchards, was a 8

unique and boutique creation in a region dominated by rough-and-tumble male moonshiners. The allure of her product reached far and wide, drawing buyers from miles around and filling her coffers with the sweet nectar of financial success.

From her earnings, after the Confederates burned her first smaller cabin because she supported the Union army, she erected a two-story house with a wide porch and two separate rooms on the first floor that remains a testament to her ingenuity.

Known as Appalachia’s Moonshine Queen, Mahalia was more than a moonshiner. She was a trailblazer.

Druanna Williams Overbay, a descendant passionate about history, took up the mantle to dispel the myths surrounding her illustrious ancestor.

Rumors were that Mahalia identified with the Cherokee, and this connection may explain her family’s steadfast refusal to pay taxes on their moonshine. In her own fiery words, “They ain’t getting a damn dime of my money. They owe me, and I’m not paying them,” a woman of conviction, Mahalia stood defiant in the face of an oppressive system.

As years rolled on, her health waned, succumbing to the cruel grip of elephantiasis, a skin disease characterized by grossly enlarged areas of the body, especially the limbs. In this disease, the skin becomes thick and stiff due to parasitic worms spread through mosquito bites. Even so, in the face of personal tragedies, including the loss of her husband and three children, Mahalia pressed on with her moonshining craft until her final breath in 1898. Reports

varied on the circumstances of her burial, adding another mystique to her enigmatic life and death. She was buried outside her bedroom on Newman’s Ridge, some say in a coffin built around her bed because she had become so large from her disease.

Mahalia’s legacy unfolded in multifaceted layers. While some publications painted her with an encumbered luster, her family’s safeguarded photographs captured her strength and dignity. Wayne Winkler, an author with Melungeon heritage, championed a more nuanced understanding of Mahalia, urging the world to place her within the time’s socio-cultural landscape.

Descendants of the Appalachian Moonshine Queen, scattered far and wide, became the keepers of her flame. The Vardy Community Historical Society also worked tirelessly to preserve her memory, ensuring that she was not just a folk tale but an integral part of their family history. Her cabin, which they transported from its original perch on Newman’s Ridge, is a historical shrine and a tangible link to her life’s unconventional yet domestic facets.

A living challenge to stereotypes and misconceptions, Mahalia Collins Mullins carved a niche in the annals of East Tennessee folklore, leaving an indelible mark on the generations to follow. Her indomitable Appalachian spirit will forever be a timeless saga etched into the heart of the mountains.

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Ola Belle Campbell Reed

By Richelle Putnam

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Musical luminary Ola Belle Reed was born on August 16, 1916, in Lansing, North Carolina. Her childhood unfolded against the backdrop of the Appalachian hills, where old-time ballads and the twang of the banjo lightened the arduous life of New River Valley miners and their families. Her ancestors had settled in the New River Valley area of western North Carolina in the 1760s.

Ola Belle’s father, Arthur Harrison Campbell, was a savvy schoolteacher and storekeeper who also maintained a summer farm. His thriftiness and diligence in these roles supported his family of 13. However, the Great Depression compelled the Campbells to relocate to northeastern Maryland, with the promise of fertile lands and better work opportunities.

Born Ola Wave Campbell, her initiation into music was as natural as the flow of the New River. Her grandfather, Alexander Campbell, a Primitive Baptist preacher, and fiddle maestro, permeated their home with his soulful strings. Ola Belle’s mother and grandmother spun Appalachian tales through ballads and topical songs. At the

same time, Ola Belle’s father, a musical polymath, orchestrated a family band with his siblings Doc and Ellen. And Uncle Herb Osborne’s mining songs rang out from West Virginia’s coalfields.

As a young child in Lansing, Ola Belle learned the art of singing traditional ballads, crafting her unique banjo style that became the heartbeat of Appalachian melodies.

She discovered her love for traditional music, and this birthed a prolific songwriter 12

and a country music pioneer. Banjo in hand, she began composing songs, setting in motion a journey that would resonate across generations.

Ola Belle toured and performed alongside her brother, Alec Campbell, and later with her husband, Bud Reed. Her partnership with Alec paved the way for Ola Belle to record her compositions, which found permanent homes at Starday Records, Rounder Records, and Smithsonian Folkways. The recordings showcased Ola Belle’s banjo prowess and the musical talents of her son David, a bluegrass virtuoso, and her husband Bud, whose rhythmic guitar and yodeling added texture to their cadence and overall performance.

They also carved a space for their musical endeavors, birthing The New River Ranch, an iconic venue staging the foot-stomping rhythms of country music legends like Roy Acuff, Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, and Bill Monroe.

Ola Belle received the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship Award in 1986, which crowned her a tradition bearer. Her influence rippled through the bluegrass community, with artists like Del McCoury acknowledging her impact through his rendition of “High on a Mountain.” The potent strains of “High on a Mountain” also found new life in 1992 when country-rock singer Marty Stuart turned it into a hit. A testament to Ola Belle’s enduring legacy, the song has been recorded over 100 times. Her 1973 masterpiece, “Ola Belle Reed,” transcends temporal boundaries and found its rightful place among the revered gems of the National Recording Registry in 2019.

Today, Ola Belle Reed continues to be a luminous figure and tradition bearer of the Appalachian people, their culture, and their music.

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Temperance Babcock

By Susan Marquez

Under a starry sky, with a magnificent dancing fountain as a backdrop, the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra plays “Hoedown” from Aaron Copeland’s ballet, “Rodeo.” You know, Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner.

It’s Bluegrass Night, a collaboration between the Symphony and the BTJ Trio, a bluegrass band from the Jackson, Mississippi area that has played at beer halls and fancy balls. On this night, the trio is the featured guest artist, standing in front of the Mississippi Symphony under the direction of Conductor and Music Director Crafton Beck.

The idea of a collaboration between a symphony orchestra and a bluegrass band began over lunch one day in downtown Jackson. Andrew Mattiace, developer of The Renaissance at Colony Park, a high-end shopping center in Ridgeland, Mississippi, and Bill Ellison, a bluegrass guitar picker who is the “B” in the BTJ Trio, were sharing a meal when Andrew asked Bill if he thought it would be possible to have both the Symphony and the bluegrass band play together in an outdoor concert. Bill took the ball and ran with it.

The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra was formed in 1945 as a community band. Now a full orchestra with over 100 musicians, the MSO plays a full concert schedule in Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson and several community events around the state each year.

The BTJ Trio was formed 16 years ago when Bill Ellison met fiddler Temperance Babcock. Bill asked Temperance to join him and bassist Jeff Perkins. The perky blonde sawing the fiddle has an interesting backstory that brought her full circle that night under the stars.

An Oklahoma native, Temperance and her twin sister have played classical music all their lives. “We started taking violin lessons when we were four years old,” she says. “We were homeschooled, and the whole time we were growing up, we played only classical music or praise and worship music.” By the time she turned eleven, Temperance knew she wanted music to be her career. “I wanted to usher people in and out of worship services with music.” By the time she was in high school, she had her sights set on attending Julliard or the Manhattan School of Music. “I practiced six to eight hours a day because that’s what it took to get into that kind of school.”

In her junior year of high school, Temperance prepared to compete in a major music competition in Oklahoma. “Traditionally, the winner was invited to play as a soloist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

That was my ultimate goal in life at the time.” Temperance swept the competition, winning first place with her quartet, then as a solo performer before being named the best overall performer. “I just knew the invitation was coming, but it never came.” Temperance’s teacher had differences with the conductor, but that didn’t help alleviate Temperance’s disappointment.

The following summer, she attended a music camp in Canada where she auditioned for teachers from Julliard and Manhattan School of Music. Both accepted her into their programs, but when she returned home, her mother said they could not afford it. “She told me I would graduate with hundreds of thousands in student debt and that going to New York was not my path in life.” Another disappointment.

In the fall of her senior year of high school, Temperance walked through the local mall and stumbled upon a 14

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Photos by J.B. Lawrence

bluegrass band playing in front of a store. She was mesmerized. During the break, one of the band members asked what instrument she played. “He knew I played something because of the way I was watching them.”

She told him she played the violin, and he said, “Oh, you mean the fiddle.” He asked if she could play “Orange Blossom Special, and she told him she had never heard of it. “He said it was the ‘end all, be all’ of bluegrass fiddle pieces.”

He gave Temperance a CD to take home and told her to call him when she could play it. The following Friday, she was at the mall, violin/fiddle in hand, with the iconic song memorized.

Temperance was taken with all things bluegrass, and she moved to Nashville. “I pursued bluegrass fiddle the way I did classical violin. I wanted to learn from the best of the best, and I studied with some amazing fiddle players.”

After a busy year in Nashville, Temperance took a job teaching at a fine arts school in Tupelo. She met her husband while there, and when they married, they moved to Jackson, where he was working. Temperance auditioned for the MSO, and she was offered a position. “Six months later, I met Bill Ellison, and we started playing bluegrass music together.”

Temperance stayed with the Symphony for two years before getting too busy with the BTJ Trio.

The band plays about once or twice a month, but during busier seasons, it’s not unusual for them to play once or twice weekly.

The open-air concert with the Symphony was a huge blessing for Temperance. “One of my dreams came true. I also play with a Celtic band, and that night, we played a tune called ‘Toss the Feathers’ with the orchestra backing us up. All my worlds collided that night – classical, Celtic, and bluegrass. I have had so many opportunities living in Mississippi, and I am so appreciative of the music culture here. It all came together at the Renaissance that evening, and it was so very special.” To cap the evening off, Temperance played a rousing rendition of “Orange Blossom Special,” and the crowd went wild.

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Melody Walker

By Kara Martinez Bachman

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While artist Melody Walker performs from within a genre usually considered traditional, she offers a voice in favor of continued progress. She proffers a more accepting way of thinking, an alternative paradigm aimed at busting old stereotypes. She yearns to see performers of all stripes thrive in a world that might have previously been closed to them.

Walker does solo work, performs with bands, and pens songs – including acclaimed music she co-wrote with bluegrass superstar Molly Tuttle. With these varied experiences under her belt, Walker’s been around the block in the biz and has clear opinions about the role of women in roots music.

“Progress in the music industry has moved slower, in my opinion, than in other workplaces,” Walker said. “Most of the women in bluegrass are still in family bands, or [are] the singer fronting an allmale backing band.”

She mentioned Tuttle as someone who recognized well what women bring to a project.

“I really respect how Molly prioritized making her band majority female,” Walker said, “and has shown how women can absolutely occupy the top tier of modern bluegrass players. More women are winning IBMA awards as instrumentalists now, too. I think this level of representation – which starts simply as a hiring choice – ripples out into the next generation. We will see even more monster women grassers coming up very soon.”

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“I cannot overstate how impactful it was for me as a kid to see Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick do what they do,” she added, “so I’m really excited for these young girls getting to see Golden Highway right now!”

Walker also has opinions on accepting people of all identities, such as those on the LGBT+ spectrum.

“I don’t really know if people are more accepting now or if it’s just more unacceptable to be an unabashed bigot, but I do know that more young pickers are deciding to push past that unwelcoming reputation to simply claim their own space in the genre,” Walker explained.

“Movements like Bluegrass Pride have been a beacon of hope to folks who might have felt completely alone before, letting them know that there’s solidarity and support here.”

Walker clearly “walks the walk,” working towards acceptance of all with a “drag Grateful Dead tribute band” project called BERTHA. When not writing with Tuttle or performing drag for Deadheads, she works on solo music, including her EP release, “Already Alone.” She also performs with an electric Americana soul band and is part of a folk trio called Silo Sisters alongside friends Bonnie Sims and Phoebe Hunt.

Getting to work with Tuttle on an acclaimed release such as “Crooked Tree”

is…well…brag-worthy. Walker described that experience.

“I was very lucky that Molly asked me to write with her for her first Golden Highway album, ‘Crooked Tree,’” Walker said. “We are both California bluegrass girls, and we set out to try and write in that tradition, which to us meant feminist, naturalist, eclectic folky songs.”

She said, “We were super-inspired by the iconic writers of the West: Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick, Kate Wolf and converts like Peter Rowan and David Grisman.” She

guessed that she and Tuttle wrote approximately 10 songs together in 2021, and four ended up on the album: “Crooked Tree,” “The River Knows,” “Side Saddle,” and “San Francisco Blues.”

It’s hard to imagine Walker has time for even more, but she managed to fit yet another really cool thing into her schedule.

“I host a weekly writers’ round focused on roots and Americana music at a cool neighborhood restaurant and cocktail bar called Jane’s Hideaway,” she said. “They call themselves a ‘Bluegrass Supper Club,’ which I love. The show is called ‘Writers’ Kitchen,’ and I’m very serious about ensuring the night is at least 50 percent women every time. There’s just no excuse to not represent half the population in our music events. I wish more festivals and venues would get on board with that philosophy.”

Being also incredibly spoiled in Nashville, “with a glut of astoundingly good songwriters,” she added. “It’s mainly an excuse for me to get to sit and listen to my peers up close and personal and jump in on a harmony whenever I have the notion.

Nice work if you can get it!”

From penning songs with feminist themes – to Deadhead drag – to assuring women have a seat in her weekly circle, Walker is certainly encouraging change as a “woman of bluegrass.”

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Jana Mougin

by Kara Martinez Bachman

It is important to vocalist and record label/studio co-owner Jana Mougin that the women who work behind the scenes in music get as much attention as those in the limelight. They’re important people, and they keep the wheels of the music business turning. To Mougin, it’s great that there are more and more women filling roles that were previously the purview of men.

Mougin – who formerly toured across Europe and the United States for 15 years with the Slovakian band Fragment – has since carved out a role for herself on the business side of music. She and her husband – performer Stephen Mougin – decided to open a recording studio and start a label, Dark Shadow Recording. The acts signed to Dark Shadow include well-known acts such as Becky Buller, Laura Orshaw, Rick Faris, Henhouse Prowlers and Full Cord.

Mougin’s professional career took a different path when presented with the choice many working women eventually faced. She became a mother 14 years ago and had to decide whether she’d stay on the road as a musician. Since her husband toured, she decided in favor of more stability at home.

“I see many very ambitious women who can do both,” Mougin said, making clear that her choice to pull back is not in any way a critique of other touring women. “But for us, one is enough in the family to travel. What matters is what fits their [the family’s] lifestyle.” She added, “I was lucky because not everyone has a husband that also wants to run a record label. I’m very fortunate that I get to do this…it’s a pleasure.”

Mougin primarily handles radio promotion, publicity, social media, and music video production for Dark Shadow artists. Transitioning to a focus on the studio and label allowed Mougin to stay deeply involved with the music she loves.

“We are a small label and can only release three or four albums a year. Everything from pre-production to the final product is created here,” Mougin explained. She said what differentiates Dark Shadow Recording from other options is that she and her husband provide lots of personal support to artists, something that’s often overlooked by larger or less personalized labels.

“Many times, artists feel alone if they don’t have good support,” she said.

In this role, she has worked with many quality women who fill roles in production, sound engineering and more.

“Behind the scenes, there are really, really good woman sound engineers,” she asserted.

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“My husband plays with Sam Bush, and their sound engineers are both females.” She said Kate Haldrup is Bush’s front-of-house sound person, and Kylie Sager handles the monitors. She also mentioned the quality work of Aubrey Shamel, Becky Buller’s front-of-house sound engineer.

While supporting other artists, Mougin hasn’t ignored her need to make music. She’s been into bluegrass since she was 15 years old, and although the passion has evolved a bit, it has never faded.

“I’ve sung lead or harmony vocals on many projects,” she said. That list includes Becky Buller, Breaking Grass, Rick Lang, April Verch, the Daughters of Bluegrass, Laura Orshaw and many more.

In April 2023, Mougin released a single: Her bluegrass remake of the Steve Wariner country hit, “If I Didn’t Love You.” A solid roster of musicians backed her lead vocals, including Dan Tyminski (guitar), Sierra Hull (mandolin), Ron Block (banjo), Todd Livingston(dobro), Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Barry Bales (bass); Lauren Mascitti (vocal); and Stephen Mougin (vocal).

While she notes women in music – alongside men on – Mougin said for should always

the presence of and some worked this latest single her, excellence come first.

“I’d never want to hire a musician based only on their gender,” she said.

“I want to work with them if they’re good. I care about their musicianship and quality, and I care about their personality. That’s how I see it.”

Mougin’s background – as a native of Slovakia who moved to the U.S. as an adult – gives her some well-rounded influences. She’s a classically trained vocalist, and the unique approach of Fragment gave her a different view of bluegrass.

“You don’t expect bluegrass to be good there…but there are really good bluegrass bands in the Czech Republic and Slovakia,” she explained. She said Fragment performed traditional and progressive bluegrass, but she “just wanted to learn bluegrass with the original language, so most were in English.”

Since her son is now older and getting more independent, Mougin said she plans 24

to continue her work with the recording studio and label but has already begun transitioning back to being an artist in her own right.

“I certainly have plans to record an album,” she said. “Also, I plan to record with Stephen [Mougin] again, just singles. I’m coming back as an artist.”

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Louisa Branscomb

by Susan Marquez

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From childhood, Louisa Branscomb lived in a world of songs. “I remember sitting on Grandmother’s living room rug singing my favorite song, “Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Fun-tear,” when I was about four. Grandmother told me I asked what a ‘fun tear’ was, and she said, ‘It’s like the rug is what is familiar, and the frontier is everything beyond the rug - it is where no one has gone before, where pioneers go.’ I asked why they say fun and tears together,” and she said, playing along, ‘It’s not always easy to be a pioneer, and that’s the tears. But it’s fun too.’”

That exchange began a lifetime devoted to pioneering the territory of songwriting, the role of women in bluegrass, and new ways to use songs to unite people. “I was very shy,” Louisa relates. “Songwriting was my ‘first language.’ Talking was my second.”

As a child, songwriting came naturally and gave her a way to make meaning out of things by telling their stories. She wrote her first song at age six and received her first significant honor as a composer at age 11 when she won a regional contest and the distinction of being the youngest person to perform an original composition with the Birmingham Symphony in front of an audience of 2,500 people.

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Louisa’s skills as a songwriter caught the eye of country songwriter/singer greats like Mel Tillis and Tom T Hall before she was 22.

The song synonymous with Louisa is “Steel Rails,” written at age 21. As recorded by Alison Krauss, it is one of the longest-running chart hits in bluegrass, a hit in country and folk, and considered a bluegrass classic that brought a new generation into the field.

YouTube reflects some 350 performances of the song by different musicians and bands.

Mel Tillis heard “Steel Rails” in 1971 and invited Louisa to move to Nashville to write country songs, saying they needed another female songwriter. He saw Louisa as potentially the “next Cindy Walker.”

Louisa turned him down.

“Looking back, I had no idea what kind of opportunity that was for a 21-year-old, but I told him I really loved the banjo and performing around the country with my band. He was very gracious and helped me record demos of the first five I recorded in Nashville.”

Louisa formed what may have been the first modern all-female bluegrass band with a friend in 1971. She continued as likely the first woman to front a band on banjo while also writing most of the band’s material and taking a major role in producing the

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band’s albums (Boot Hill). In 1991, Louisa happened by the Station Inn in Nashville, where she heard Alison Krauss for the first time. Without knowing Alison had recorded “Steel Rails,” she found herself greeted

by Alison in the green room, who picked her up, swung her around, and exclaimed, “We’ve been looking for you for two years!”

Like the “never-ending double line” in the song, Steel Rails has a seemingly endless life of its own and has paved the way for Louisa’s catalog of train songs.

Legendary singer Dale Ann Bradley said, “Louisa is the master of train songs.

She is the best friend a train ever had!” Explains Louisa, “My heartbeat was literally forming during a two-day long train ride from Nashville to Saranac, New York, when Mom was pregnant with me. She was going up to join my father, who had TB and was in the Sanitarium. I was born there, and we lived three doors from the tracks, where we heard the trains bring TB patients in three times a day.” Louisa rode the train from Birmingham to Nash30

ville’s Union Station throughout her childhood to visit her grandparents. “ ‘Steel Rails’ has been my greatest teacher,” she says. “So many stories over the years of how it has joined people to each other and to music. Last night, in a bar, a woman introduced herself to me and showed me her Spotify playlist with “Steel Rails.” She said, “When I learned my sister was dying of cancer, I drove as fast as I could from North Carolina all the way to Pennsylvania. It was “Steel Rails” that kept me going. I played it for hours and arrived an hour before she died. “Steel Rails” got me there.”

About songwriting, Louisa says, “Books can teach craft, but it’s the soul of the song that I am most interested in. The magic that lifts some songs above others and makes them resonate with listeners. I think when you go through life with the heart of an artist, it is like intentionally lifting the veils of your own soul to find the truest message in the moment.

That’s the song.”

Fascinated by how people use creativity to

overcome hardship, Louisa continued as a full-time musician while earning a Ph.D. in Psychology, where she studied the power of songwriting to transform trauma. Now, both paths have joined in her work, evolving an original model for understanding and teaching the art of songwriting. Her retreat program is in its 33rd year and has seen over 800 participants, many of whom return year after year.

Asked why she has spent so much time mentoring instead of promoting her career, Louisa answered, “In the 70s, when I came along, I didn’t have teachers or mentors. There were no bluegrass organizations, and the number of songwriters was few, and the number of women players and songwriters even less. So, when Alison recorded “Steel Rails,” I wasn’t 40 yet, but I felt I had the good fortune songwriters dream of all their lives. I decided I wanted to pay it forward and dedicated myself to mentoring as much as performing from then on.”

Louisa blazed trails in advocating for songwriters and the songwriting community beginning in 1996, spearheading the forming of the organized songwriter community in IBMA and the Songwriter Award. She then founded the non-profit ScreenDoor Songwriter Alliance to build community through songwriting and songwriting events, especially with children and veterans. “The most powerful tool we have is to move people and bring people together in music. Songwriting is where music begins. In a world so fragmented, it is where I see hope.”

Louisa has penned over 350 recorded songs, many holding top chart positions in folk, bluegrass, and roots music for an extended time. She is believed to be the only person to have ever contributed a song to a legendary artist’s first Grammy album (Alison Krauss) and the same song to another legendary artist’s last album (John Denver). She earned a second Song of the Year with “Dear Sister” co-written and recorded with Claire Lynch Distinguished Achievement Award for “furthering the genre of bluegrass music with her pioneering for songwriters, musicians, and communities.” She was recently honored with her third nomination for Mentor of the Year. Louisa is a member of the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Honor and the Alabama Bluegrass Hall of Fame.

One awarded songwriter peer relates, “It’s simple. Louisa IS songwriting.” Writer David McGee explains, “No other writer captures the full rainbow of human emotions, in all their flawed glory, as does Louisa.”

She continues to perform, mentor, and record and is authoring a book about her unique approach to songwriting. A 13th album of originals is also underway. “I see songwriting as the doorway to the soul. We might not like what we find when we open it, but whatever it is, it is something universal that everyone feels across oceans and across all our differences. It’s the rails I’ll always ride wherever they take me.”

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The Isaacs

by Susan Marquez

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Some may think it’s unlikely that a Jewish girl born in Germany after World War II to Polish-born Jews who survived the German Holocaust would go on to play in a family bluegrass Gospel band. That’s precisely what Lily Isaacs has done, working with her family’s band to perform across the country and worldwide. They have earned 19 Dove Awards in various categories and many other awards for their inspiring music.

Lily moved to New York with her parents in 1949 when she was two. She spoke Yiddish until she was in grade school. In 1969, Lily met Joe Isaacs, a Greenbriar Boys bluegrass band member, in Greenwich Village. Joe was one of 19 children born to a Pentecostal preacher father. The couple married, and Lily accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior in 1971 at Joe’s brother’s funeral in Ohio.

It was a natural progression for her to join Joe on stage. Lily always had show 33

business in her blood. As a child, Lily studied theatre and performing in the Bronx.

As a teenager, she signed a contract with Capitol Records and recorded an album with a friend. But the birth of her three children set the course for Lily’s performing life. “God blessed me with three very talented children.” In time, she became the matriarch of one of the bluegrass world’s most endearing groups, The Isaacs.

The group now consists of Lily and her three children, daughters Becky and Sonya, son Ben, and other musicians. Since this issue of The Bluegrass Standard focuses on the women of bluegrass, we’ll turn our attention to the girls. “My girls started their career in bluegrass before they were born,” laughs Lily, who says she was on stage with each of them before they saw the light of this world. “I can’t remember a time when they weren’t on stage with us. Both of them picked up an instrument on their own and learned by watching other people. I think Sonya was playing with us by the time she was seven years old.” Lily says the girls never had formal music lessons outside a few vocal lessons. “Their talent comes naturally.”

Sonya Isaacs Yeary plays mandolin and sings with the band. Through many trials and tribulations, including two miscarriages, Sonya has managed to rise above it. Along with her songwriter husband, Jimmy Yeary, they wrote a song about the second one called “Keep Breathing,” released on The Isaacs 2016 album Nature’s Symphony in 432. Sonya is the middle child of the Isaacs family. She and Jimmy married in 2009, and they have two sons and a daughter.

In a recent podcast, Sonya says that being raised in two cultures “really introduced our palettes for different musical styles.” Both sides of her family have influenced her faith. While she loves the culture, traditions, and discipline of the Jewish faith, she says her Pentecostal side has taught her about free worship and having a personal relationship with God. Becky Isaacs Bowman is the baby of the family. She is a guitarist, vocalist in the band and an accomplished songwriter. However, Lily said music was more challenging for Becky than her siblings. For years, she suffered panic attacks on stage, but now she prays a special prayer before going on stage. Knowing she is doing what God has called her to do helps, too.

Married to evangelist John Bowman, Becky wanted to go into the medical field at one time. But she continued playing with The Isaacs and now feels she is exactly where God wants her to be. Becky spent much of 2023 recovering from a tragic car accident that left her with multiple injuries to both legs.

The Isaacs are based out of Hendersonville, Tennessee. They stay busy performing on the road, recording in the studio, and producing for other artists. “My girls are my best friends, and I love spending time with them,” says Lily. “But I’m not going to sugarcoat it. We are a family, and we have disagreements like any other family.

But we love each other and know how to get past our disagreements. We always have each other’s back.” a trustworthy opportunity for others to help us bless Israel.

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Their passion project is the family’s non-profit, The Isaacs Foundation, with a mission “to help us provide a trustworthy opportunity for others to help us bless Israel.” Lily says what is happening in the Middle East is heartbreaking. “I have cousins in Israel, but I feel sorry for the Israelis and the Palestinians. As descendants of surviving Jewish Holocaust parents, I don’t understand the hatred of Jews. My prayer is for all people to have peace.”

The Isaac Foundation was formed in 2018, and Lily says they have been able to bless Israel with several hundreds of thousands of dollars through the non-profit.

“Because of the current conflict, our focus has changed to a humanitarian focus, helping to get people basic needs.”

The Isaacs are frequent performers on The Grand Ole Opry and are often seen on the Gaither Homecoming Videos and Concert Series. They have performed in several countries on almost every continent, in venues ranging from large arenas to country churches. Their travel schedule is mind-boggling, yet they all make time for family. “We live pretty close to each other,” says Lily, who says the family enjoys spending time together even when they’re not on the road, especially during the holidays.

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by Brent Davis

In the new book Highways and Heartaches: How Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and Children of the New South Saved the Soul of Country Music, author Michael Streissguth explores the artistic choices made by two Grammy-winning stars with deep bluegrass roots. Ricky Skaggs appeared on the Flatt and Scruggs television show when he was seven.

Marty Stuart was on the road full-time at age 13 with Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass.

Streissguth is a Department of Communication and Film Studies professor at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY. The subjects of his previous books include Johnny Cash, Outlaw Country, Eddie Arnold, and Rosanne Cash.

The Bluegrass Standard spoke with Streissguth about Highways and Heartaches, which he 36

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says was inspired by David Hajdu’s book, Positively Fourth Street, about Bob Dylan and Mimi Fariña and Richard Fariña and Joan Baez.

Streissguth: It was just a beautiful story that unfolded among four people. And I thought it would be interesting to try doing the same thing with two characters from bluegrass music and country music in the 1970s... Ricky and Marty are growing up in bluegrass music and then went on into the 1980s to influence mainstream country music. So, the goal became trying to tell a story about bluegrass music and bluegrass culture in the 1970s into the 1980s through the experiences of Ricky and Marty.

The Bluegrass Standard: While most guys their age were playing in garage bands and learning rock ‘n roll, Ricky and Marty sat on buses with old guys learning older music.

How have they embraced tradition and moved beyond it?

Streissguth: They grew up in settings that appreciated tradition, Ricky, in Eastern Kentucky with Hobert Skaggs, a father who was just a big bluegrass enthusiast, and a family that sang and was musical. And the same was true to some extent with Marty Stuart. He grew up in a musicrich area. There is music made by the family in the living room of the Stuart’s household in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Blues music is around Marty. There’s country music television. Radio stations are playing all the great music of the era.

And it just fortifies both. The contact with so many talented people inspires them and ultimately pulls them into the world of commercial bluegrass music.

One of the book’s themes is that they’re working in a tradition with some of the best exemplars of that tradition--Ralph Stanley for Ricky and Lester Flatt for Marty. But they also begin to innovate within that tradition. So, it’s not surprising that Ricky Skaggs, in his band Boone Creek in the 1970s, would riff on pop songs of the day by the Eagles. And it’s not surprising that Marty would have been drawn to the Byrds, notably guitarist Clarence White, and go on to incorporate those styles in his music right up to this day in his current album.

The Bluegrass Standard: Ricky was driven by his father, but Marty seems selfmotivated. There was no stopping Marty. It appears he was going to be a performer, despite what his parents might have said. Is that right?

Streissguth: I think so. And I think also his parents understood that their son had a gift, and they understood that they needed to be involved in nurturing that gift and helping Marty find an outlet for it. And that meant taking him to shows all around the region. That meant driving up to the Bean Blossom Festival in the early 1970s, where 38

he finally meets Lester Flatt and others. I tend to think of it also against the backdrop of the cloud that was over Philadelphia, Mississippi, in the wake of the murders of the three civil rights workers during that time. I think the family may have understood that to thrive, he would need to get out of Philadelphia and ply his talent elsewhere.

Now, that said, Marty has never abandoned Philadelphia. He continues to have a major footprint there with his Congress of Country Music. He owns property there and spends significant time there each year. But I think the family understood that getting out of Philadelphia was important.

The Bluegrass Standard: They’ve become kind of elder statesmen for bluegrass and country music. Are they surprised by that, or is that something they cultivated?

Streissguth: I think Marty cultivated that by being a collector of many of the artifacts of country music and by never really refusing any opportunity to talk about country music. I think for a long time, Marty’s own story has been obscured because of his dedication to talking about other people in country music. And I think that’s illustrated in the Ken Burns PBS documentary, where he’s just a wonderful spokesperson for country music. But it’s not necessarily an avenue for learning more about Marty Stuart. Ricky perhaps hasn’t pursued it in the way that Marty pursued it. For a period in the 80s, he was the face of not just traditional country music but the country music period. And I think he’s developed his skills over the years as a spokesperson, as a commentator on country music, and finds himself in that position of being somebody to turn to when we think about tradition in country music.

The Bluegrass Standard: You’ve written several books about country music artists.

What is it about country music that you find compelling?

Streissguth: It’s because the stories behind the music are really the stories of a nation growing up and evolving. I was a history major in college, and following the rootsbased music in our country has just been a wonderful history lesson. And I continue to learn from this experience of following the music and then writing about the music …Somebody once said that writing is learning, and that’s just what it is for me. And it’s also great music. At the end of the day, it’s great music.

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Roni Stoneman

by Susan Marquez

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Full of vim and vigor, Roni Stoneman recalls her amazing life as a member of a wellknown family band, a cast member on a popular television show, and how she fits into today’s music scene.

Veronica Loretta “Roni” Stoneman overcame numerous obstacles to carve out a career for herself in the country music world in Nashville. Roni is the youngest girl in Ernest and Hattie Stoneman’s extended family band. Her childhood was difficult, but music was the thing that brought her joy and got her through the hard times.

“I heard music while I was still in my mama’s belly,” she exclaims. “I started playing music with my daddy when I was eight years old. My sister Donna was five or six when she started playing with him. She is the real musical talent in our family. Dona has played for 84 years, and I have played for 81.”

Roni says they grew up playing music for entertainment. “It wasn’t a self-centered ‘look-at-me’ kind of thing. Music was something that was always a part of our lives.”

Roni says she learned to play from lessons with her brother, Scott. “He was very talented.”

The family lived in the D.C. area and visited their grandfather in Galax, Virginia. “He never left the state of Virginia. Folks just played music in each other’s cabins. They would roll back the rugs and dance. Most of those folks made their instruments with three or four strings, then five strings. Sometimes there would be a washboard or jug, which have a nice deep sound when played right.”

Roni gravitated to the banjo. “I liked it because it was loud and fun, and everyone wanted to dance when they heard one being played. I have always loved for people to have a good time.” Roni said her daddy made her first banjo. “Then he made my second, third, and fourth. They had real skin heads stretched across the front of the banjo. After he made my fourth one, he said I’d have to get the next one on my own.”

Scott taught her to play the two to three-finger banjo, Scruggs-style. “Most women who played wanted to play clawhammer style. I wanted to pick.”

Scott told her she needed to play several instruments to get more jobs. “Neither of us could read music, but we taught each other.” But banjo was Roni’s real love, and she was desperate to get one that wasn’t homemade. “I entered a contest in Pennsylvania where the top prize was a new banjo, which I really wanted.” The contest was at New River Ranch. While waiting for her turn to perform, Roni met another contestant who was a student at Juilliard. Undeterred, she went on stage and won the contest.

One day, Roni’s dad came home from work and told her mother about a contest at Constitution Hall. The winner got to be on television, which was new then. They went and won, and their photo was taken by Life magazine. That began the family’s musical career. The family was on television every week for 26 weeks but never got paid. “We had never even seen a television, so my daddy took us to the hardware store so we could see one.”

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Married at 16, Roni had her first child at 17. By the time she was in her mid-twenties, Roni was a single mother to five children. “I was raising them by myself. But I was able to make money by playing banjo – I was known as a really fast banjo player. I also took in wash to help make ends meet.”

She got into the folk music craze during the 1950s and 60s and traveled around California playing in “skull orchards,” her brothers’ name for honkytonks.

Her mastery of deadpan and comedic timing got the attention of Hee Haw producers. She joined the cast in 1973 and performed in skits on the show as the character “Ida Lee Nagger,” a bedraggled housewife at an ironing board, constantly talking about her no-good husband “LaVerne.” She based her character on neighbors she heard arguing during childhood and the Ma and Pa Kettle movies of the 1940s and 50s. She also played the banjo and sang on the show.

She recorded a few singles and a couple of banjo albums in the 1980s, both released on the family’s Stonehouse label.

After leaving Hee Haw in 1991, she experimented with an all-girl band, the Daisey Maes. She opened a theatre in Florida but eventually got enough bookings to support herself.

Her autobiography, Pressing On, was written with author Ellen Wright and published in 2007. Roni still lives in Nashville, where for many years she was known as “The First Lady of Banjo.” Now well into her 80s, Roni says she plays gigs around town from time to time. “I want to play as long as I possibly can.”

Family Photo: Circa 1889. Fiddle: Tom Leonard, my mom’s first cousin. Big autoharp is Aunt Phinney, my mother’s aunt. The lady in the middle with the guitar is Mirtle Stoneman, a relative of my dad, Ernest Stoneman.

On the small autoharp is Bertha Hawks, cousin to Ernest Stoneman. Banjo is my grandfather, Bill Frost, my mom’s dad. This photo was taken in front of the cabin that Bill Frost built down in Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our family talent goes way back.

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Gruhn Guitars byAlan Goforth

Thanks to the pioneering work of Bill Monroe and others, the mandolin has become synonymous with bluegrass music. However, that hasn’t always been the case, said George Gruhn, chairman and CEO of Gruhn Guitars in Nashville.

“The Gibson F-5 was designed to be the best classical mandolin ever,” he said.

“Unfortunately, they didn’t introduce it until 1922, and by then, the mandolin orchestra boom was dying. They thought they could make a better mandolin and kick-start sales. You might as well have the best buggy whip in the world. Classical musicians didn’t want mandolins, and they were a commercial flop.”

Country musicians who may have liked the sound of the F-5 balked at the price.

“There were plenty of good mandolin players, like Walter K. Bower, William Place and Lloyd Loar,” Gruhn said. “The F-5 cost $250 new without a case. By the time you added the case, it was about $280. A Model-T Ford in 1924 was $300. Hillbillies didn’t have that kind of money.“ But everything changed when Bill Monroe picked up an F-5.

“If you listen to the Monroe brothers’ recordings, they are not bluegrass,” he said.

“Bill didn’t have his Gibson F-5, either. When he got the F-5 mandolin, he discovered sounds on it that no one had ever done on a mandolin before, those chopped chords, driving the rhythm of a five-piece band. It had never been done before.

“That bark you get out of the F-5 -- you couldn’t that on his old F-7. You couldn’t do that on the F-4 or any other mandolin that was made other than the F-5. The old F-5s were made only from 1922 through 1924, and there were no more Loar-signed models after he left the company. There were good-sounding ones into the early 1930s, but after that, they wouldn’t do those chords like Bill did.”

Because bluegrass didn’t come along until 1945, Gibson lost money on its F-5s.

However, it continued to make the model except for a gap during World War II, when wartime restrictions made it difficult to source materials. Production resumed after the war.

“Gibson began introducing versions of the F-5 closer to the early specifications starting in the late 1970s,” Gruhn said. “Since then, the company has introduced more variations on the F-5 model with some of the new ones being remarkably close in appearance and sound to the most sought-after original early models.”

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Loar-signed models remain in high demand.

“Only about 275 Loar-signed were ever made,” he said. “Today it is well documented that there are about 650 Stradivarius violins still in existence, so those Loar mandolins are really, really rare.”

Prices of Loar mandolins peaked from 2006 through early 2007 at slightly more than $200,000 but plunged significantly afterward.

“In my opinion, this happened because prices had been bid up by speculators who paid more than any musicians wanting them to play or even collectors had ever paid, which resulted in the market correction when the speculators who had purchased them as an investment were unable to turn them for a profit,” Gruhn said. “Loar F-5 mandolins today are typically selling in a price range of $100,000 to $130,000 in good condition, but this is no guarantee that prices will remain the same in the future. Early F-5s are scarcer than Stradivari violins and certainly have the potential to go up in price, depending upon demand and economic factors.”

Gruhn Guitars offers a range of mandolins for bluegrass musicians.

“If you want a really good-sounding mandolin, good enough that you can go on stage and play, that can be done for under $1,000,” he said. “If you want vintage instruments, we have a very good selection and an extremely skilled staff. We are Martin’s largest independent dealer in volume. We also do more Martin specials made to our specs than any of their other customers.”

Bluegrass players will be happy to learn that Gruhn will begin producing guitars of his own design later this year in a factory near Nashville.

“It’s a little unusual at age 78 to be starting a new company,” he said. “I am looking for something that is not terribly bluegrassy. I have acoustic guitars on which you can play standard acoustic music, but you also can play electric arrangements, even without a pickup. If you want to play Chuck Berry tunes on the guitar and make it sound right, it will do it, but it doesn’t look like a Martin, Gibson or Fender. They will have the Gruhn name.”

After a lifetime in the industry, he knows exactly the sound he is looking for and the market niche he wants to fill.

“It is my opinion that the world is not begging for another clone of Martin, Fender and Gibson,” Gruhn said. “It’s gotten to the point where Martin has a trademark on its name but not really anything else. They don’t truly have a signature sound anymore because there are numerous other companies that effectively make clones. They don’t say Martin on them, but they look like a Martin, they feel like a Martin, and they sound like a Martin. It’s hard to make a better Martin than Martin, but a lot of people are trying to capitalize on Martin-Fender-Gibson type guitars.”

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Gruhn said his guitars will have a recognizable sound of their own.

“I have designed a guitar that looks, feels and sounds distinctively different enough that I can tell it blindfolded from any other acoustic guitar,” he said. “It has a sound that is equally powerful from the open string all the way to the 22nd fret. It’s fully balanced all of the way up. The harmonic response is strong such that you can play lead, rhythm, melody, harmony – you name it. It’s complex, but it does not sound like a Martin or Gibson. It is its distinct tone.”

The new Gruhn model acoustic guitars will start at $2,500, with more expensive versions depending on wood selection, ornamentation and electric pickup options.

Gruhn has been collecting stringed instruments since 1963 and selling them since 1970, and many of them would be the envy of any bluegrass player. Asking him to name his favorite is like asking parents to name their favorite child.

“I often am asked what my favorite instrument would be,” he said. “My answer to that is that I have only one wife, and it’s too complex to try to have more and not advisable.

But with instruments, I prefer a harem -- and it’s perfectly legal to do so.”

For more information about Gruhn Guitars, visit www.guitars.com.

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The Montvales: Taking up space in support of women

By Kara Martinez Bachman

For Cincinnati-based folk duo The Montvales, presenting a robust and woman-centric voice is an integral part of the art of making music. The personally held beliefs of singer-songwriters Sally Buice and Molly Rochelson infuse the duo’s first full bandsupported record, “Born Strangers,” which releases February 2.

The website for The Montvales described the spirit of the music: It’s all described as a series of unexpected – but enticing – juxtapositions. The duo strikes a balance between “catchy and lonesome.” The onstage attitude is “raucous” as much as it is “reverent,” and the sound offers “equal parts honky-tonk mischief and earnest meditation on friendship, heartbreak and place.”

Original clawhammer banjo and guitar music – written individually or co-written in tandem – focuses on harmonies. Here, Buice and Rochelson recorded for the first time with the backing of a full band. While their 2019 debut album Heartbreak Summer Camp was more of a stripped-down affair, this sophomore record – which Buice said “kinda goes across the folk and country spectrum” – promises to broaden the duo’s sonic landscape. It’s the first time they’re putting out music they describe as having a “full” sound.

The group began among two friends raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. They cut their performance teeth in street busking in Knoxville’s Market Square and eventually landed on the local Americana radio station, WDVX. They have since graduated to a packed touring schedule that includes almost 100 dates yearly. They are looking forward to two special appearances: a full-band album release show in their home city and another in their newly adopted base. The first will happen on February 2 at the Woodward Theater in Cincinnati and the other at Barley’s Taproom in Knoxville on February 10.

The 12-track Born Strangers was recorded at sound engineer Sean Sullivan’s Tractor Shed Studio and was produced by Chris Stapleton guitarist Mike Eli LoPinto. Contributing Nashville musicians include Aaron Goodrich (drums), Hank Long (keys), Alex Lyon (bass), Eddie Dunlap (pedal steel), Josie Toney (fiddle), and Holden Bitner (cello).

“Woman of God” – the record’s first track, co-written by Buice 48

and Rochelson – is described as a “banjo-driven, tent revival-style folk rager and meditation on the discipline of hope.” And there it is again…that contrast. Rager.

Meditation. Other tracks promise motifs of everything from bucolic life to “the weirdos of Knoxville.”

Addressing issues ranging from self-determination to money, the record is also infused with opinions on gender. According to both performers, music allows each to express deeply-held beliefs – such as thoughts on reproductive freedom – in a way they believe might be more unrestrained and effective than what other communication methods might allow. This freedom to express a range of beliefs – popular, unpopular, controversial, mundane, weird, hyper-personal, or anything in between – lures many to make a life of music. The power of this isn’t lost on The Montvales.

Rochelson said it’s easier for her to change minds on topics close to her heart by using “music and storytelling” to communicate. She said she has found the voices of women are “often interrupted,” but there’s a sense in which music provides a more certain outlet.

“When I write a song,” Rochelson asserted simply, “I’m not interrupted for the whole course of the song.”

Buice expressed a similar sentiment about what music does in facilitating the free exchange of ideas. It’s something some of their musical heroes understood well, acts such as The Indigo Girls and The Chicks. The Montvales clearly aim to be just as forthright.

“Being socialized as southern women, it can be unclear how much space to take up,” Buice explained. “I see other women taking up space through music, and I’m really grateful for it.”

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Hart of the kitchen: West Virginia chef hatches new spins on classic dishes

By Candace Nelson

One West Virginia restaurant’s menu reads something like this: • • • •

Poutine Roasted Red Pepper Soup Warmed pimento cheese dip with housemade crackers “Deviled Eggs of the Moment”

It displays a comforting mix of New American (and Canadian) cuisine with a fleeting Appalachian classic.

“At Hart Kitchen, we change our deviled eggs about every quarter. Never the same egg twice—yet” said Chef Ann Hart, owner of Hart Kitchen in Clarksburg.

“If you are a deviled egg aficionado, you are not shy to let everyone know that your deviled egg is better than anybody’s deviled egg. Repeatedly! Oh, you know that person. I have been told by ‘those people’ that mine are a preeeeeetty close second. I’ll take that consolation prize.”

“Deviled Eggs of the Moment” has become a signature of Hart’s, who has contributed a number of classics to the Appalachian food repertoire. Her roasted red pepper soup, which was also a staple at her previous restaurant Provence Market Cafe in Bridgeport, has fans far and wide.

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Back to the Basics “Long story, but I actually dropped into the food business by accident,” Hart said.

“Degree in biology in hand, I moved to Atlanta in hopes of an opportunity in laboratory research. After many, many diversions, and needing to pay bills in the interim, I started working in a casual theme restaurant. There are multiple chapters to that story from then to now, but here we are still cooking.”

Many know the award-winning chef from her delicious dishes at the aforementioned Provence Market Cafe, which fed the North-Central West Virginia region for nearly 18 years before a devastating fire destroyed the building in 2019.

A year later, Hart opened Hart Kitchen Eatery in Clarksburg with many of the same recipes customers had come to love, as well as Hart Kitchen Cookery, where she offers culinary classes for small groups.

“My signature is creating new dishes as my specials of the day. I know what I order, but I never know exactly how it will arrive. Do we have some beautiful fish but not as thick as I had expected? Then instead of it being the total star on its own, it now may become part of an ensemble of other fishes and seafood, etc.,” she said. “I don’t know until I see it! My dishes may be regionally inspired, globally inspired or just a good old classic.”

When it comes to her deviled eggs, though, there’s just one thing for certain: You never know what to expect.

“One thing I do like to do to my egg is gussy it up,” Hart said. “Keep the bottom classic egg the same but mix up the toppings. I am not even going to suggest you change your recipe to mine but go ahead and come up with your own combo to top your egg!”

Here are a few suggestions from Hart to get you started: • • • • • •

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Buffalo chicken, celery and blue cheese Tortilla sliver, jalapeno slice and cheddar Caprese with tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil Pickled egg with pickled vegetables Benedict style with ham, chilled hollandaise, paprika and buttered crumb Steak and eggs

Kara Martinez Bachman

The above are just a few of the recipes in Hart’s back pocket. But if eggs aren’t your jam, try another featured dish on the menu that tempts your tastebuds, like the seared sea scallops with blueberry compote, crispy soppressata and roasted vegetables or the tuna carpaccio nicoise.

The skinny fries appetizer is adorned with two dips of your choice: English Mustard Mayo, Green Goddess, Bleu Cheese, Calabrian Chili Aioli, Roasted Red Pepper Soup Dip, or Regular Ketchup.

There’s also a basket of beer steamed Gulf “peel and eat” shrimp served with New England butter, grilled lemon aioli and cocktail sauce. Michael’s Famous Pixie Dust Chicken Wings consist of nine large house wings served with bleu cheese and veggie sticks.

There is always something new, different, or updated at Hart Kitchen. Whether it’s a throwback to a crowd-favorite or a new take on a classic dish, the eatery keeps it fresh.

“The most exciting aspect to this career is the day-to-day challenge as no day is ever the same - no ‘Groundhog Day’ in this business,” Hart said.

For more information about Hart Kitchen Eatery and Cookery, visit https:// hartkitchen.com/.

Hart Kitchen Eatery and Cookery is located at 123 S. 4th Street, Clarksburg, WV 26301. It is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. It is closed Sunday through Wednesday.

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FAN PHOTOS

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