Alison Brown (born 1962) is a banjo player, composer, and producer who blends bluegrass with jazz, Latin, and Celtic music. In 1991 she became the first woman to win an IBMA instrumental award, Banjo Player of the Year. In 2001 she and Béla Fleck won a Grammy for her tune Leaving Cottondale. She and her husband, bassist Garry West, founded Compass Records in 1993.
Why Brown matters
Brown opened the door for women on bluegrass instruments, and she did it by playing at the top level. She also built Compass Records with Garry West. Her own playing takes the banjo from bluegrass bands to jazz groups.
Life and career
Brown was born on August 7, 1962, in Hartford, Connecticut, and grew up in La Jolla, California. She started guitar at eight and banjo at ten. At 12 she met fiddler Stuart Duncan. As a teen she played Dobro in Gold Rush, a band with Duncan and John Hickman. In the summer of 1978 she traveled the festival circuit with Duncan and his father. She won the Canadian National Banjo Championship, which got her a night on the Grand Ole Opry. In 1981 she and Duncan made Pre-Sequel for Ridge Runner.
She went to Harvard in 1980, studied history and literature, and played in Northern Lights. She then earned an MBA at UCLA and worked two years for Smith Barney in San Francisco. In the late 1980s Alison Krauss asked her to join Union Station, and she played banjo and guitar with Krauss for three years, including on the Grammy-winning I’ve Got That Old Feeling. Her solo album Simple Pleasures (Vanguard, 1990) earned a Grammy nomination. In 1991 she won IBMA Banjo Player of the Year. In 1992 she led Michelle Shocked’s band.
In 1993 she and Garry West founded Compass Records. She formed the Alison Brown Quartet, an acoustic jazz group, in 1996. Her bluegrass album Fair Weather (Compass, 2000) included Leaving Cottondale with Béla Fleck, which won the 2001 Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance. Her Girl’s Breakdown woke the crew of a space shuttle mission in 2000. She received a United States Artists Fellowship in 2014 and joined the American Banjo Hall of Fame in 2019. That year she played in the First Ladies of Bluegrass, the first women to win IBMA awards on their instruments. In 2025 her recording of Ralph Stanley’s Ralph’s Banjo Special with Kristin Scott Benson and Gena Britt won IBMA Instrumental Recording of the Year.
Playing style
Brown plays three-finger banjo with a melodic, jazz-informed approach. Her music draws on jazz, Latin, and Celtic sources as well as bluegrass. She also plays Scruggs-style backup and breaks in bluegrass settings, as on Ralph’s Banjo Special.
Influences and legacy
Brown grew up playing with Stuart Duncan and John Hickman in California. She played beside Alison Krauss, Béla Fleck, and Steve Martin. As a producer she has made records for Dale Ann Bradley, Claire Lynch, Peter Rowan, the Special Consensus, Bobby Osborne, and Frank Solivan. With the First Ladies of Bluegrass she joined Becky Buller, Missy Raines, Sierra Hull, and Molly Tuttle.
Signature tunes and songs
Leaving Cottondale Girl’s Breakdown Foggy Morning Breaking, with Steve Martin New Cluck Old Hen, with Steve Martin, based on Cluck Old Hen Ralph’s Banjo Special.
Essential recordings
Pre-Sequel, with Stuart Duncan (Ridge Runner, 1981) Simple Pleasures (Vanguard, 1990) Fair Weather (Compass, 2000) The Song of the Banjo (Compass, 2015) On Banjo (Compass, 2023)
Awards and honors
Canadian National Banjo Championship, first place IBMA Banjo Player of the Year (1991) Grammy, Best Country Instrumental Performance, Leaving Cottondale, with Béla Fleck (2001) United States Artists Berresford Fellowship (2014) American Banjo Hall of Fame (2019) IBMA Instrumental Recording of the Year, Ralph’s Banjo Special, with Kristin Scott Benson and Gena Britt (2025)
Watch and listen
Brown and Steve Martin play Foggy Morning Breaking.
Here they play New Cluck Old Hen with Della Mae.
What to learn from Brown
Learn Cluck Old Hen, then listen to how Brown and Martin rework it. The technique to steal is writing your own tune. Brown builds tunes from a melody she can sing. Hum an eight-bar phrase, find it on the banjo, and build a B part that answers it.
Sources
Alison Brown, Wikipedia Brown, Alison, BluegrassBios.com International Bluegrass Music Awards, Wikipedia
Related players
See the banjo players hub and the bluegrass banjo guide for more pickers. Brown grew up playing with Stuart Duncan and John Hickman, recorded with Béla Fleck, and won a 2025 IBMA award with Kristin Scott Benson and Gena Britt.