Custom Made Woman Blues – Hazel and Alice

Alice Gerrard has been performing since the early 60’s and through the folk revival. American bluegrass artist Laurie Lewis says of Alice Gerrard’s voice, “…She has made a music that is at once ancient and personal.”

Her career spans 50 years and she continues to perform and teach workshops even today, but her most well known work was with bassist and vocalist Hazel Dickens. Their voices blend together perfectly and their records have influenced everyone from Emmylou Harris to the Judds.

In 2017 she was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame with late bandmate Hazel Dickens. There’s a great article here on this event with a ton of fascinating information on both of these wonderful ladies.

I tripped across her music through a women’s songbook entitled All Our Lives: A Women’s Songbook, where her song Custom Made Woman Blues is featured. The lyrics are very empowering and the song continues to embolden women. Below is a recording of Hazel & Alice singing Custom Made Woman Blues: