Hazel Dickens

Along with her songwriting partner Alice Gerrard, West Virginia-born Hazel Dickens is one of the most important female figures in the history of bluegrass music. When Dickens and Gerrard started their own duo, dubbed Hazel & Alice, in the mid-1960s, the bluegrass market was dominated by male songwriters. However, the pair's mix of vintage country vocals and simple, beautiful songs would prove to make gender nothing more than an afterthought. Now well into her 80s, Dickens is still regularly recording and performing shows all over the country. She remains one of bluegrass music's most important and well-respected architects to this day.