Artist Profiles: Missy Raines

Celebrated bluegrass bassist Missy Raines was born April 6, 1962, in Short Gap, West Virginia. She’s had a pioneering, courageous musical career as one of the leading female bass players.

Missy Rained got started with an unanticipated surprise from her father. “My father had been playing a washtub that he’d made himself and then decided impulsively (without consulting my mother) to buy a bass. I was already playing the piano and guitar by then, but when you’re ten or eleven years old and there is a new instrument in the house…well, I couldn’t stay away from it. That’s the bass I still have and play today.”

As a young girl, Raines attended summer music festivals and home picking parties in the winter with her parents. As Raines’ skill improved, she found herself jamming with and then learning from bigger and better players, particularly International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor member Tom Gray (The Country Gentlemen, The Seldom Scene) “I met him through mutual friends when I was 12, and it was one of the biggest deals of my life up to that point,” she recalls. “Tom is an amazing person, and he took me under his wing. He says though that I never asked him to show me how to do anything; that I would just talk about how he played. I thought I was picking his brain.”

Raines names her earliest influences as Bill Monroe, The Country Gentleman, The Stanley Brothers, The Bluegrass Alliance, and David Grisman. She later played jazz before discovering the music of Joe Jackson in the early 1980s. “I’d never gotten into the rock, pop scene at all – I’d been affected by it peripherally but not directly. And then I got totally caught up in his music and his writing and a whole new world was suddenly opened up for me.”

Professionally, Raines has participated in a wide-range of projects. She propelled her career with experimental bluegrass ensemble Cloud Valley and toured with Eddie and Martha Adcock before joining up with The Masters (Adcock, Kenny Baker, Josh Graves and Jesse McReynolds).

Raines toured and recorded with Claire Lynch’s Front Porch String Band from 1995-2000 and again from 2005-2008, while creating a successful duo with bandmate Jim Hurst. A gig with the Brother Boys opened Raines’ eyes to the value of musical spontaneity.

“If you allow it” says Missy Raines, “music can take people and let them be seen from the inside out. It’s a way of letting people see who you are without having to sit there and talk about yourself. For instance, the title tune contains the sort of changes that life often forces upon you, expressed musically. When I was writing the tune, I was thinking, ‘this all makes really musical sense except this one half-step change here.’ That’s what throws you off. For me that’s what I’ve been through. Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, something comes up and surprises you.”

Inside Out by Missy Raines and The New Hip, released in 2009, was the product of Missy Raines 20-year long aspiration. The album, she emphasizes, is a true collaboration between her and her delicately constructed band, The New Hip: Ethan Ballinger, (mandolin/mandola), Michael Witcher (resonator guitar/lap steel/vocals), and Dillon Hodges (guitar/vocals). “I’ve wanted this for a very, very long time. This band and this sound has existed, at least in my head, for almost two decades – it was just a matter of finding musicians that could read my mind.”

On March 28, 2025, Missy Raines & Allegheny unveiled their upcoming album Love & Trouble with the release of its lead single, “Anywhere the Wind Blows.” This song stands out as a remarkable collaboration featuring four generations of influential female bluegrass musicians: Missy Raines, Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick, and Ellie Hakanson. Originally co-written in the 1970s by Kallick and John Reischman during their time with the pioneering West Coast band, the Good Ol’ Persons, the song now finds new life through this fresh rendition. For Raines, who discovered the Good Ol’ Persons in her twenties while immersed in the mid-Atlantic bluegrass scene, working with her musical heroes and bringing Hakanson into the mix creates a full-circle moment of inspiration and legacy.

Reflecting on the song’s journey, each artist expressed deep gratitude and excitement. Missy Raines recalled how empowering it was to see women like Kallick and Lewis leading the stage during her early career, making this collaboration deeply personal. Kallick describes the song’s origins as a reflection on life’s contradictions, and was thrilled to hear it reinvented by Raines and Allegheny. Lewis called the updated version a “kick” and was delighted to contribute vocals. Meanwhile, Hakanson, who grew up idolizing Kallick and Lewis, shared her excitement about performing alongside her heroes.

Discography:

My Place in the Sun (1998)
Two, with Jim Hurst (Pinecastle, 2000)
Synergy, with Jim Hurst ‎(Pinecastle Records, 2003)
Inside Out (Compass Records, 2009)
New Frontier (Compass Records, 2013)
Royal Traveller ‎(Compass Records, 2018)
Highlander (Compass Records, 2024)
Love & Trouble (Compass Records, 2025)

Author: Angel Romero

Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.