Hazel Dickens was the eighth of eleven children who grew up in a coal-mining, hard-working, impoverished family that drew comfort from religion and mountain music. Following World War II, she moved to Baltimore. Hazel found an audience and her identity as a female musical artist in this early 1950s community of bluegrass, country, and folk artists. She had a definite musical creativity to bring to the new social activism, a voice not only from her own experiences but influenced by like-minded artists such as Mike Seeger and Ola Belle Reed and social activists Alyse Taubman, Bernice Reagon, and Anne Romaine. Here also Hazel met Alice Gerrard and they began performing bluegrass music together, mostly at house parties. Their first public performance was at the 1962 Galax Fiddler’s Convention. Peter Siegel with Folkway Records heard them and recorded their first LP, “Who’s That Knocking,” in 1965. This album broke long-time male dominance in bluegrass.
Hazel and Alice were the first women to front a bluegrass band, breaking new ground for women performing in the genre. Together, Hazel and Alice produced four albums before returning to solo performances. However, the enormous impact of their combined talents continues to be recognized and appreciated today.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Hazel performed at festivals and protest rallies while recording albums. Her vocals on the soundtrack of the documentary “Harlan County, USA” introduced her to a wider audience. This documentary was the debut of her iconic song “Black Lung,” along with “Mannington Mine Disaster,” “Yablonski Murders,” and “They’ll Never Keep Us Down.” Hazel lived quietly in D.C., directing her own professional and personal life. Hazel’s appearances were as diverse as fifteen Smithsonian Festivals of American Folklife, other festivals and protests/benefits for the coal miners and the downtrodden, Carnegie Hall, and college classrooms. She is quoted as saying, “If I have a religion, that’s it: to take what I have and be able to share it with somebody that needs it.” Hazel is considered one of the most widely enjoyed country singers, both nationally and internationally.