We all know that playing the banjo is the polite thing to do, but is it appropriate behavior for ladies?

Associate Professor of Music (Hamilton College) Lydia Hamessley, says that the banjo manufacturers of the late nineteenth century engaged in an effort to elevate the banjo to the status of “a respectable instrument for ladies” by prominently featuring women in their marketing.

Unfortunately, during this same time, certain elements of society were promoting an image of the “New Woman,” meant to free women from the constraints placed on the gender by the culture. Part of this “New Woman” image included three-dimensional photographs known as stereoview cards. These cards were popular as parlor entertainment, and many of them

…presented humorous and sometimes risque scenes of banjo-playing women. Further, virtually no stereoviews exist that show the banjo played by a lady in a parlor setting.

Hamessley goes on to argue that

…the link between the banjo and the New Woman had a decisive and negative impact on the effectiveness of the banjo elevation project. Through an examination of these three-dimensional views, and drawing on late-nineteenth-century writing and poetry about the banjo, I show how the banjo in the hands of the New Woman became a cautionary cultural icon for middle- and upper-class women, subverting the respectable image of the parlor banjo and the bourgeois women who played it.

So while it might have been polite, ladies, who valued their reputation, didn’t play the banjo during this period of American history.

Fortunately things have changed for the better and the banjo is now a perfectly respectable instrument for ladies to play. The International Bluegrass Music Association recently celebrated the accomplishment of one such lady with the awarding of Banjo Player of the Year for 2008 to Kristin Scott Benson.

So, in 2009 the answer to the question is: Yes, ladies should play the banjo!

New CD releases have been few and far between this past few months. The labels tend to hold off on new projects after October, fearing that they could get lost in the holiday shuffle. Now that the new year is upon us, the list of new releases is quite impressive, and we’ll have reports/reviews on a good many projects for the next couple of weeks.

First up is Second Season, from 2008 IBMA Banjo Player of the Year, Kristin Scott Benson.

This CD has been “sort of” released for a few months. Though its official street date is tomorrow (1/13/09), Pinecastle shipped it to radio in late October of last year and had copies available for sale through the Music Shed over the holidays. The CD has already showed up in the Top Albums chart for XM and Sirius satellite radio, so you may have heard some cuts already.

There is so much to like about this project. Kristin’s banjo playing is crisp, clean and note-perfect throughout. The song choices – including four new instrumentals of hers – show her skill as a producer, arranger and composer for the banjo. The opening track, Kristin’s Don’t Tread On Me, and Bill Emerson’s No Steering, No Brakes have her tearing up the five bluegrass-style, while her arrangements of Sandy River Belle and Greencastle Hornpipe indicate her facility bringing old time and Celtic tunes into the bluegrass realm.

The vocal numbers mixed among the instrumentals are appropriate to the general feel of the CD, and all feature vocalists with whom Kristin has worked over the years. No Southern Comfort, sung by Josh Williams, is a real standout, as is Imagine That, sung in close duet harmony by Sally Jones and Mickey Harris.

As if all that wasn’t sufficient reason to recommend this recording, it also has guitar wizard David Grier featured on six of twelve tracks, and boy does he shine. David performs primarily in a solo setting these days, and what a treat to hear him in a bluegrass setting.

All of the pickers and singers provide first rate performances. Jim Van Cleve and Shad Cobb play fiddle, Andy Todd and Mickey Harris are on bass, Cody Kilby also plays guitar, and Kristin’s husband Wayne Benson is on mandolin.

With tomorrow’s wide release, you should be able to find Second Season wherever you shop for bluegrass recordings, both on compact disc and via digital download.

Audio samples are available from iTunes and Music Shed.

In a story entitled The Grascals add girl power to their lineup, journalist Derek Halsey, writing for the Huntington, West Virginia Herald-Dispatch, previewed a recent Grascals show, the eighth featuring the band with recent banjo recruit, Kristin Scott Benson.

Benson spoke about her very interesting musical background ..

“My maternal grandfather, my Mom’s dad, was a professional mandolin player and he was half of the duet called Whitey and Hogan (Roy ‘Whitey’ Grant and Arval Hogan),” said Benson. “Hogan is my grandfather’s name. They were part of a larger group called the Briarhoppers. They had a 50-year career as Whitey and Hogan and with the Briarhoppers, and their heyday was in the 1940s. They played on WBT Radio in Charlotte, North Carolina, which was a powerhouse radio station in the day, and they had a daily radio show. Then, my Dad, all of his life, he just played for fun.”

The full story is available on line.

We posted about ten days ago with release dates for four new projects due from Pinecastle Records in 2009.

Not long after that, we heard from a reader who wondered why a title we had just indicated wouldn’t be released until next year was showing up as available now online elsewhere. We checked with Pinecastle, and Ethan Burkhardt told us that they decided to do a limited early release of the four upcoming titles.

“Because of how our release schedule lined up, we couldn’t get these albums ‘officially’ released by Christmas.  We are however going to have them available to The Music Shed and County Sales for the Christmas season.”

You can find audio samples, more details and online ordering for these Pinecastle projects online.

• Second Season – Kristin Scott Benson (1/13/09)
• Lord Bless This House – Nothin’ Fancy (1/27/09)
• The Hangman – Ernie Thacker & Route 23 (2/10/09)
• Three Silver Dollars – David Parmley & Continental Divide (2/10/09)