Field Recordings From Grassy Creek

Martha Spencer is a singer-songwriter, mountain musician and dancer from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She grew up in the musical Spencer family and from a very young age has been dancing flatfoot/clogging, singing, and playing guitar, fiddle, banjo, bass, dulcimer, and mandolin. Over two-days in July 2019, Never Met A Stranger conducted an intimate recording session with Martha at a farmhouse in Grassy Creek, North Carolina. Of this session, Martha writes: These recordings are dedicated to a lot of strong women I was influenced by growing up in my family and community around Whitetop Mountain, VA. Many of the songs are ones I remember hearing my mom sing and play on the banjo. My cousins Audrey Hash Ham and Ola Belle Reed, Granny Della Reedy Albert Hash's mom, and the Carter Family all inspired me to learn different songs that we've recorded for this album. Wayne Henderson, Doc Watson and Larry Sigmon all ring out through my heart and mind too in some of the picking.