Bluegrass Women [Natural]

During the pandemic I put together a short set of Music for the IBMA with Phoebe Hunt and Mimi Naja highlighting songs by women. This was an informal example of something I’ve been dreaming of turning into a full length LP.

In March 2025 I saw my vision turn into a reality. I co-produced a record with Shani Gandhi of songs that have made their way into the bluegrass canon, and were written by women. Some of these songs I sang for many years before realizing they were penned by a wife/mother/female artist. As a woman, it’s easy to feel like an outsider, or like you don’t belong, in a genre where there is a noticeable lack of representation of women among the forebears. To know that women’s voices made it into the traditional songs feels like a quiet win, and I want to draw more attention to it. Just like having pickers like Molly Tuttle and Sierra Hull out there showing little girls that there is a place for them now in bluegrass, *I want to show where there always has been.* That women’s words and voices made it in there even in the early days. I also feel primed to do this now as a follow up to Queen of Time, which honored my own maternal lineage, namely the spirit my grandmother left with me.