Custom Made Woman - American Music: New Roots by Alice Gerrard Hardcover

About the Book

"Alice Gerrard, an award-winning and storied folk and bluegrass musician for over 50 years, is one of the notable few women in a heavily male genre. Custom Made Woman tells Gerrard's story through the music, the folk festivals, the kids, and the relationships-both personal and professional-that defined her storied life and career. Her collaborations with Appalachian singer Hazel Dickens during the 1960s and 1970s were pivotal recordings during the decades after the American folk music boom of the midcentury; the duo produced four albums that have recently been rereleased by Rounder Records and Smithsonian Folkways. In addition to Dickens, Gerrard has worked with folks like Tommy Jarrell, Enoch Rutherford, Otis Burris, Luther Davis, and Matokie Slaughter, and founded The Old-Time Herald, based in Durham, North Carolina, serving as its editor-in-chief from 1987 until 2003. She's also a lifelong documentarian of the folkways scene, and this book features nearly 100 rare photos-many never before seen-of key musicians, including Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, Hazel Dickens, Elizabeth Cotten, Mike Seeger, and more. In telling the story of her time as a player of traditional music, Gerrard gives us a deeply personal way to understand and appreciate a quintessentially American genre that has a long history and thrives to this day"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Alice Gerrard, an award-winning and storied folk and bluegrass musician for over 50 years, is one of the notable few women in a heavily male genre. Custom Made Woman tells Gerrard's story through the music, the folk festivals, the kids, and the relationships--both personal and professional--that defined her storied life and career. Her collaborations with Appalachian singer Hazel Dickens during the 1960s and 1970s were pivotal recordings during the decades after the American folk music boom of the midcentury; the duo produced four albums that have recently been rereleased by Rounder Records and Smithsonian Folkways. In addition to Dickens, Gerrard has worked with folks like Tommy Jarrell, Enoch Rutherford, Otis Burris, Luther Davis, and Matokie Slaughter, and founded The Old-Time Herald, based in Durham, North Carolina, serving as its editor-in-chief from 1987 until 2003.

She's also a lifelong documentarian of the folkways scene, and this book features nearly 100 rare photos--many never before seen--of key musicians, including Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, Hazel Dickens, Elizabeth Cotten, Mike Seeger, and more. In telling the story of her time as a player of traditional music, Gerrard gives us a deeply personal way to understand and appreciate a quintessentially American genre that has a long history and thrives to this day.

Review Quotes

"As inviting, unassuming and unconventional in form -- part photo book, part autobiography, part collection of profiles of the musicians [Alice Gerrard] studied with -- as it is illuminating."--Rolling Stone, Best Music Books of 2025

"The word 'legend' is overused in the world of music writing. . . . In the case of Alice Gerrard, however, it's entirely appropriate. . . . Custom Made Woman is a book that's hard to put down. It also leaves the reader immersed in many places and times with many people, which is a tribute to the power of Gerrard's writing."--Americana UK

"A wonderful exploration of the last seventy years of American traditional music as told by one of the people who lived at the center of the scene. . . . Alice's telling of her life in music is captivating, and her stories about the heroes of the music that she knew provides wonderful new insight into their personalities and their lives."--Bluegrass Unlimited

"Open [Custom Made Woman's] busy, bright cover collaged with pictures of Gerrard playing her banjo and interacting with other musicians, friends and family members, and you'll find a whole world. . . . As Gerrard tells her personal story, intertwined with all kinds of musicians and makers, with the ease of a longtime raconteur, the book's rich illustrations and sidebars offer pocket views into the diversity and vibrancy of the folk world."--Ann Powers, NPR Music

"This new memoir from one of our national treasures, Alice Gerrard, features over 100 of her personal photographs along with stories from pivotal times and an exceptional life in traditional music. . . . Recent rereleases of Gerrard's trailblazing collaboration albums with Hazel Dickens have been put out by Rounder Records and Smithsonian Folkways, and they can be listened to in an entirely new context thanks to this book."--The Bluegrass Situation

"Fascinating. . . . Heartfelt, open, and honest like Gerrard's music, this is a delightful memoir whose stories are told with laughter and love and are a treasure."--Library Journal

"Custom Made Woman is a deeply engaging, humorous, and heartfelt tale told in Gerrard's inimitable voice. Telling her life's story--from motherhood to her and Hazel Dickens breaking the bluegrass 'glass ceiling' and more--we get to learn the incredible impact Gerrard has had on old-time music; she is a tradition bearer, collector, activist, and a promoter of one of America's original sounds. This is a one-of-a-kind literary and musical experience."--Trevor McKenzie, author of Otto Wood, the Bandit

"As a 'pioneering woman of bluegrass, ' the founder of The Old-Time Herald, and musical collaborator with the likes of Hazel Dickens, Mike Seeger, Tommy Jarrell, and Elizabeth Cotten, Alice Gerrard has played a defining role in the evolution and transmission of American traditional music. Through stories of the many musicians who nurtured her, plucky personal reflections, and stunning photographs, Gerrard offers us a generous and intimate view of her remarkable life at the forefront of the old-time music revival."--Emily Hilliard, author of Making Our Future

About the Author

Alice Gerrard is a Grammy-nominated old-time and bluegrass musician whose career has spanned nearly six decades.