Blanche Coldiron

Blanche Coldiron: banjo.  John Harrod introduced me to Blanche in the course of compiling our Kentucky Old-Time Banjo project (Rdr 0394), for which Blanche supplied many sterling contributions.  As a young teenager, she joined Asa Martin's Kentucky Hillbillies as ‘Blanche, the Mountain Girl’ and traveled to many a country schoolhouse up many an isolated hollow in consequence (Blanche supplies a vivid description of these occasions in the notes to Rdr 0394).  At seventeen she married and started a household, which put an end to her traveling.  One of her daughters was badly disadvantaged and her care kept Blanche near to home for many years, although she greatly enjoyed performing, when she could, at local festivals and fairs (she could play many instruments, although she excelled on the banjo).  Out of John's earshot, she once whispered to me how grateful she was for his interest in her music and his help in arranging places where she could play.  Last winter Blanche passed away after a very rich lifetime.

Part of the booklet notes, written by Mark Wilson, to the Musical Traditions Records 4-CD set Meeting's a Pleasure (MTCD341-4)