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S A T U R D A Y

Maybelle and Sara may have outnumbered brother A.P. in the legendary Carter Family, but old-time country music was, for the most part, a male-dominated genre. Despite the success of Alison Krauss, bluegrass has likewise been a tough racket for female performers to break into. But Hazel Dickens has proven a major exception to the rule. The West Virginia singer and songwriter, whose compositions include the immortal weeper, “My Better Years,” has recently been honored with a Smithsonian/Folkways CD, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard: Pioneering Women of Bluegrass. Dickens joins Gerrard, as well as Dudley Connell, Barry Mitterhoff, Dave McLaughlin, Phyllis Boens et al. at the second annual “Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert” honoring the founding director of the “Smithsonian’s Festival of American Folklife.” At 5:30 p.m. at the National Mall Grounds. FREE. (202) 357-4574. (Eddie Dean)