Kentucky by Heart: Grant County’s ‘Blanche the Mountain Girl’ became well-known as banjo player

If you listen really closely while you approach a certain grave site at the Hill Crest Cemetery in Dry Ridge, you might imagine hearing the faint but pleasant sounds of a banjo beckoning those of goodwill to remember a life well-lived.

That would be the life of Blanche Coldiron.

Inspired by a Grand Ol’ Opry musician she liked, she taught herself how to play the banjo at the ripe young age of 9. As a teen, she became an active member of the Depression-era Kentucky Hillbillies band, gaining the affectionate title of “Blanche the Mountain Girl.” Her first gig was at WLAP radio, in Lexington, and the group played all around the Kentucky mountains. Her pay was room, board, and $1 per show.

Blanche’s playing skills on the banjo included using five different picking styles, noted writer John Schlipp in an Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky profile of her. And her musical skills didn’t begin and end with only the banjo. She managed to add the guitar, fiddle, and mandolin to her repertoire. She also sang well and possessed a natural talent as a storyteller. The term “young and gifted” likely suited her.

Born Blanche Hurt in Wolfe County in 1922, her family moved to Powell County when she was six and on to Grant County when she reached 17. Before that, in 1937, she began her short tour with the Asa Martin and his Kentucky Hillbillies along with her older brother, Oasa. With Oasa alongside Blanche in the band, it allayed her parents’ fears about having their daughter in the close presence of a bunch of men.

There’s an interesting side note regarding Blanche’s participation with the Kentucky Hillbillies. The band needed a replacement for a member who left the group. Oasa suggested his sister, telling them that “she’s pretty good with a banjo.” The person she replaced was David Akeman. Most would recognize him by his show business name, “Stringbean.” He became a celebrated Grand Ol’ Opry performer over a long career. I recently wrote about Stringbean and his performing partner, “Grandpa Jones.” .

It’s interesting to muse about what professional heights Blanche Coldiron might have reached performing, but there were complications, and through those complications she demonstrated amazing character.

The stint playing with the noted band ended early for very practical reasons. As mentioned, her family moved to Grant County. There, she soon developed pneumonia and was hospitalized. Recovering, a few years later she married Earl Coldiron at age 21, a man whose family, ironically, had also moved to Grant County from Powell County about the same time as Blanche’s.

The couple’s first child, Carolyn, developed encephalitis; she required complete, round-the-clock care. Blanche, along with the emotional support of Earl, took on the gargantuan task of caregiving despite medical advice that it wouldn’t be possible for her to do. You might say the mother proved the doctors wrong; they didn’t realize Blanche’s personal strength.

“Back then, they (doctors) couldn’t do anything with her. They didn’t even know what it was,” said Jim Coldiron, her son. “They gave her nine to twelve years to live… and Mom kept her for 51 years!”

Though dealing with time constraints with her attention to Carolyn, she managed to continue to somewhat attend to her music talent, though not often performing. She taught banjo lessons at home, as well as teaching and encouraging son Jim and daughter Sandy in their music. On occasion, the three performed together.

One of her prized students, Sue Massek, came from Central Kentucky regularly to take banjo lessons from Blanche, by now designated as a master artist by the Kentucky Arts Council. Sue, already accomplished and a member of the successful Reel World String Band, became her apprentice. The experience with Blanche proved exhilarating and enriching for Sue.

And Blanche’s teaching style?

It was “I do this, you do that,” said Sue, giggling. “If I had a hard time, she was quite able to break it down to what I needed. She was so versatile with styles on the banjo. Everything from one-finger picking to ‘old timey’ to Bluegrass. She could switch in the middle of the song.” Sue later attained master artist status; no doubt aided significantly by her time spent with Blanche.

In 1996, Carolyn died. Her longer than expected length of life reflected her mother’s love and commitment. After five decades, Blanche would have more time to spend on her music-related interests, even as she entered her 70s. She wrote more songs, continued to mentor other musicians, and did some performances.

A big influence in getting her work “out there” again was the encouragement and expertise of Appalachian music advocate John Holland, a resident of Owenton. He included Blanche’s banjo performances in his album of collected artists’ works, called Kentucky Old-Time Banjo. In a 1997 KET Kentucky Life documentary , she praised Holland for his encouragement.

Sue Massek also helped reintroduce Blanche to the public with a Kentucky Arts Council video called The Makings of a Master, Traditional Banjo Playing, Blanche Coldiron .

Several months before her death on November 20, 2005, Blanche received Morehead State University’s Appalachian Treasure Award for her contribution to Appalachia’s heritage. Jim Coldiron also recalled it not being unusual for Blanche to be sitting in an audience watching others perform and being asked to come onto the stage to play, often “tuning the instrument as she played.”

Talking about the decades she spent as caregiver for Carolyn and little time to expand her playing career, Jim noted that she resolutely stated: “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

The people of Grant County should feel justifiably proud of their own “Blanche the Mountain Girl.”

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