Valerie Smith

For the first few decades of its existence, relatively few female vocalists were able to achieve a high profile and visibility in the world of bluegrass music, a field viewed by many as being male-dominated over the years in much the same way as the wider country music business as a whole. The appearance and success during the '80s of headliners like Laurie Lewis, Alison Krauss, and Lynn Morris began a trend of wider acceptance of women fronting their own bands, and as bluegrass moved on toward the end of the century, more and more bright, new talents like Valerie Smith began ...