I Built This Heart, released in 2011, is the crowdfunded debut album by Della Mae, the all-female Boston-based bluegrass quintet founded the previous year by Grand National Champion fiddler Kimber Ludiker. The lineup pairs Ludiker (fiddle/vocals) with Courtney Hartman (guitar/vocals), Jenni Lyn Gardner (mandolin/vocals), Celia Woodsmith (rhythm guitar/vocals), and Amanda Kowalski on bass, with guests Laurie Lewis, Alison Brown, and Brittany Haas. The repertoire blends traditional reverence — Hazel Dickens and Cousin Emmy covers — with modern songwriting from within the band. The session marked Woodsmith's arrival as Della Mae's lead voice; her songwriting and singing would anchor the group's Rounder run that started two years later with the Grammy-nominated This World Oft Can Be.
Tracklist
- 1 Jamie Dear 3:23
- 2 Sweet Verona 3:20
- 3 Aberdeen 4:11
- 4 Polk County 3:02
- 5 My Heart’s Own Love Source Recording 3:24
- 6 The Most 3:09
- 7 Bowling Green Source Recording 2:42
- 8 Aged Pine 5:03
- 9 Down to You 3:39
- 10 From the Bottle 2:59
- 11 Blessed Hands 3:02
- 12 Ballad of a Lonely Woman 4:12
