About Gloria Belle:

Gloria Belle LOVED bluegrass music. She was determined to make a career in the music at a time when female bandleaders were frowned up, unless part of a family band. She had a strong voice, styled after her heroes, Molly O’Day and Wilma Lee Cooper. In 1950 at age 11, Gloria was learning basic mandolin and guitar from her mother and beginning to pick out melodies  learned from Bill Clifton and Mother Maybelle Carter. In a 2006 interview with Murphy Henry, Gloria said it was a Bailey Brothers show at Valley View Park in Pennsylvania that put her over the edge. “When I saw that show, I said, ‘That’s it.’”

At 15, Gloria dropped out of high school to pursue her music, working odd jobs—including at a potato chip factory—to pay the bills. Her parents were always supportive of her aspirations. One particular vacation brought the family south to Cas Walker’s Farm And Home Hour radio show in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Danny Bailey invited Gloria and her mother on stage for a few tunes.

Six months later, Gloria was asked to get back to Knoxville as soon as possible to join the radio and television show’s cast. She remained with Cas Walker’s show for five years. Cas dubbed her “Gloria Belle” because he couldn’t pronounce Flickinger.

Gloria gained greater public visibility during her two stints with Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys (1968-73 and 1975-78), one of the hottest bands on the bluegrass circuit at that time. She also toured with Charlie Monroe during the 1973 season.

Gloria was one of the earliest female side persons in an otherwise all-male band that wasn’t made up of family members. This was very unusual at the time. And she pushed beyond the boundaries of the typical “girl singer” with her expertise as a harmony singer as well as adept instrumental performances on bass, banjo, mandolin, and guitar.

In her definitive work on the female side of bluegrass music, Pretty Good For A Girl, Murphy Henry wrote:  “What we are seeing here is a picture of the quintessential bluegrass side musician, only this had never been done before by a woman in bluegrass…Gloria Belle went where the work was.” Her 1967 Rebel Records album, Gloria Belle Sings And Plays Bluegrass In The Country, showcased her lead instrumental work, a first for a woman in the genre. Other solo albums include: A Good Hearted Woman (1978) and The Love Of The Mountains (1986).In 1989, Gloria married guitar luthier Mike Long and settled in Nashville. Soon thereafter, they formed the band, Tennessee Sunshine. The group recorded several albums between 1992 and 2001.

Gloria received a 1999 IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award as well as 2001 and 2009 IBMA Recorded EVent of the Year awards for her work with the Daughters of Bluegrass.

Because of her great admiration for Gloria’s musicianship, professionalism, sweet spirit, and tenacity, IBMA Foundation board member Becky Buller set out to create this scholarship in Gloria’s honor. Thank YOU for helping us to make it a reality!  .

Gloria Belle’s story in her own words.