This film takes its title from Hazel Dickens’ powerful anthem Don’t Put Her Down, You Helped Put Her There, and explores how she, along with her musical partner Alice Gerard, became the first women to front a bluegrass band and reflects on the role of women in bluegrass today. The film covers Hazel’s migration to Baltimore from coal country West Virginia, her activism for coal miners and working people, and the impact her upbringing had on her songwriting. Lifelong collaborators and up-and-coming musicians share what it means to have bluegrass songs written from a woman’s point of view and keep Hazel’s memory alive.
This film takes its title from Hazel Dickens’ powerful anthem Don’t Put Her Down, You Helped Put Her There, and explores how she, along with her musical partner Alice Gerard, became the first women to front a bluegrass band and reflects on the role of women in bluegrass today. The film covers Hazel’s migration to Baltimore from coal country West Virginia, her activism for coal miners and working people, and the impact her upbringing had on her songwriting. Lifelong collaborators and up-and-coming musicians share what it means to have bluegrass songs written from a woman’s point of view and keep Hazel’s memory alive.