Funeral services will be held for Hazel Dickens on Tuesday April 26, 2011 in Princeton, West Virginia. Please arrive before 1:00
Seaver's Funeral Home,
1587 North Walker Street,
Hazel Dickens wrote and sang songs about West Virginia coal-mining towns and working-class women. She influenced bluegrass, folk and country singers like Emmylou Harris and Allison Krauss and countless others.
She was the eighth child of an eleven-child mining family in West Virginia. Her music is characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro-union, feminist songs. She appeared in the 1976 Barbara Kopple documentary "Harlan Country U.S.A." about a 1973 coal miners' strike in Kentucky, and her song "Black Lung" is part of the film's soundtrack. In 2001 director Mimi Pickering made a film about Dicken's life called "Hazel Dickens: It's Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song."
Numerous awards have been given to Ms. Dickens for her contributions to music as well as the humanitarian causes she supports. In 1993 she received an Award of Merit from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). In 1995 she was inducted into the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music Association’s Hall of Greats. Her song “Mama’s Hand” was recorded by Lynn Morris and subsequently won Song of the Year at the 1996 IBMA Awards. D.C.’s WAMMIE Awards awarded Ms. Dickens with the 1998 Traditional Female Vocalist award, and Shepherd College of Shepherdstown, West Virgina, presented her with an honorary doctorate degree for the humanities in 1998.
In the fall of 2001, she was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for her efforts to not only preserve her Appalachian musical heritage but to expand upon it and continue its relevance and vitality. Following that, in February of 2002, she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Folk Alliance for her tireless advancement of folk and traditional music. More recently, Ms. Dickens was among the inaugural inductees into the newly formed West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Longtime admirer and friend Alison Krauss presented her with the honor as part of a televised awards program in November of 2007.
She met Mike Seeger, younger brother of Pete Seeger and founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers and became active in the Baltimore-Washington area bluegrass and folk music scene during the 1960s. During this time she also established a collaborative relationship with Mike Seeger's wife, Alice Gerrard, and as "Hazel & Alice" recorded two albums for the Folkways label: "Who's That Knocking (And Other Bluegrass Country Music) (1965)" and "Won't You Come & Sing for Me (1973)". Dickens and Gerrard were bluegrass bandleaders at a time when the vast majority of bluegrass bands were led by men.
Recorded just last year
In the fall of 2001, she was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for her efforts to not only preserve her Appalachian musical heritage but to expand upon it and continue its relevance and vitality. Following that, in February of 2002, she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Folk Alliance for her tireless advancement of folk and traditional music. More recently, Ms. Dickens was among the inaugural inductees into the newly formed West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Longtime admirer and friend Alison Krauss presented her with the honor as part of a televised awards program in November of 2007.
So sad to hear of the passing of one of my friends, collaborators, and heroes, Hazel Dickens. She was one of the last of the mournful, powerful old-time mountain singers, dripping with soul. And a wonderful person. -Tim Stafford
She was a person of great courage and grit, who didn't mind calling out inequity when she saw it. Hazel was not afraid to bring the political into bluegrass and roots music and she wrote close to the bone so you could not avoid hearing - really hearing - her message. Let's all sing the next one for Hazel. - Louisa Branscomb
“It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we note the death ... of one of our all-time favorite Rounder artists, a distinctive songwriter and one of the last of the great mountain-inflected vocalists in bluegrass music,” -Marion Leighton-Levy, Co-Founder, Rounder Records.
"It's hard to believe that Hazel is gone. She had an indomitable spirit that, to me, imbued her with a sense of immortality. I would see her only rarely in recent years, but I have fond memories of life on the road with from years gone by. She had a quick and disarming wit and though she might be nervous, she'd go out on stage and deliver her plainspoken and eloquent songs with a power that would leave you breathless. We'll miss her, but her music lives on, and she'll reside forever in 'West Virginia, my home.'" -Tony Trischka
Hazel Dickens songs were some of the most hauntingly poignant in all of folk and bluegrass. "Won't You Come And Sing For Me," "West Virginia, My Home," and "A Few Old Memories" come to mind. My sadness is completely selfish in nature: I'm grieving the loss of new songs from the pen of this incredible woman. Peace be with you, Ms. Hazel. And thank you for all the wonderful music you shared with us. -Becky Buller
For me, Hazel's early recordings with Alice Gerrard were truly ground-breaking and ear-opening. Together, they paved the way for women in bluegrass music. Hazel's friendship and support for me are priceless gifts. At the Big Sur Fiddle Camp, I sang and taught almost all Hazel Dickens songs, and though it went a long ways toward helping to wrap my head around the sudden loss of her voice in the World, we'll need to sing a bunch more to heal the pain. - Laurie Lewis
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