Local songstress and Tuscola High School student Helena Hunt has been bringing femininity to the local bluegrass scene since she was only 9 years old, and she was recently even chosen to be a part of a reality TV show.

But she has proven that nothing, not even the chance at TV stardom, will interfere with who she really is and how she wants to see herself portrayed.

Hunt received her first banjo for her ninth birthday and started learning from her dad. With his help and some inspiration from an Earl Scruggs CD, she first mastered three-finger playing and later learned the more difficult claw hammer style.

Old time three-finger banjo is played by picking the strings. With claw hammer, the melody is played by the index finger striking on several strings in a three-part rhythm.

A few years ...