Della Mae
Band · Active 2009–present · Boston, MA
Contemporary Bluegrass
Folk / Americana
Della Mae is an all-women bluegrass band founded in Boston in 2009 by fiddler Kimber Ludiker, conceived to put women instrumentalists at the front of a genre that had rarely spotlighted them. Grammy-nominated and named IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year in 2013, the band has also served as cultural ambassadors for the U.S. State Department, performing in more than 30 countries.
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- Ludiker, a national fiddle champion raised in a decorated Spokane, Washington fiddling family, assembled the first lineup with Amanda Kowalski on bass, Grace Van’t Hof on banjo, and Avril Smith on guitar. The name comes from the woman in the Osborne Brothers’ “Big Spike Hammer.”
- Celia Woodsmith joined in 2011 as lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter; the self-released debut full-length I Built This Heart arrived the same year. Mandolinist Jenni Lyn Gardner and flatpicker Courtney Hartman rounded out the classic mid-2010s lineup.
- This World Oft Can Be (2013, Rounder), produced by Bryan Sutton at Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee, reached No. 3 on Billboard’s bluegrass chart and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album at the 56th Grammy Awards; the IBMA named the band Emerging Artist of the Year the same season.
- Through the State Department’s American Music Abroad program the band toured as musical diplomats—starting with a 43-day 2012 trek through Pakistan and Central Asia—eventually representing the U.S. in more than 30 countries.
- A self-titled album, Della Mae (2015, Rounder), pushed toward a rootsier Americana sound built on the band’s own songwriting.
- After years of 200-plus-show touring, the band took a yearlong hiatus in 2016–17; Hartman departed in 2018 for a solo career.
- They returned with The Butcher Shoppe EP (2019, Rounder), cut at the Nashville studio it was named for, followed by Headlight (2020, Rounder), a Dan Knobler–produced set of songs by, for, and about women, with co-writes from Mark Erelli, Maya de Vitry, Tony Kamel, and Melody Walker.
- The bass chair passed from Kowalski to Shelby Means in 2012, Zoe Guigueno in 2015, and Vickie Vaughn in 2020, whose co-lead vocals deepened the current sound; founding guitarist Avril Smith rejoined in 2019, and Gardner stepped away in 2020.
- Family Reunion (2021, self-released), recorded live in one room at Tonal Park studio in Takoma Park, Maryland, captured the band’s post-lockdown regathering in nine songs.
- Magic Accident (2026), produced by banjoist Alison Brown, marked the band’s debut on Compass Records.
- Della Mae remains an outspoken advocate and mentor for women in roots music.
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Family Reunion2021
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The Butcher Shoppe EP2019 · Rounder 1166100493
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This World Oft Can Be2013 · Rounder 9135
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I Built This Heart2011 · No label No #
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Celia WoodsmithPlayed on recordings with Della Mae
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Kimber LudikerPlayed on recordings with Della Mae
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Jenni Lyn GardnerPlayed on recordings with Della Mae
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Courtney HartmanPlayed on recordings with Della Mae
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Amanda KowalskiPlayed on recordings with Della Mae
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Avril SmithPlayed on recordings with Della Mae
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Shelby MeansPlayed on recordings with Della Mae
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Alison BrownPlayed on recording with Della Mae
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Maddie WitlerPlayed on recording with Della Mae
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Vickie VaughnPlayed on recording with Della Mae
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Zoe GuiguenoPlayed on recording with Della Mae
