Maddie Witler
Musician · La Crescenta, California
Best known for
Mandolin
Maddie Witler is a mandolinist who came up in the Los Angeles area, honed her craft in the Boston scene, and co-founded the Lonely Heartstring Band before a two-year run with the Grammy-nominated Della Mae. Her playing pairs bluegrass drive with a spacious, modern string-band sensibility.
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- Raised in La Crescenta, California, she started on fiddle at nine and took up mandolin at twelve after wearing out a Chris Thile instructional tape; she studied with classical mandolin virtuoso Evan Marshall and was playing in local bluegrass bands by fourteen.
- Studied at Berklee College of Music from 2010–2014 under John McGann, Joe Walsh, Mike Compton, and Andy Statman.
- Co-founded the Lonely Heartstring Band in 2012 with fellow Berklee players — the group began as a Beatles-bluegrass outfit hired for a wedding, won the 2015 IBMA Momentum Band of the Year award, and signed to Rounder Records.
- With the band she recorded Deep Waters (Rounder, 2016) and the all-original Smoke & Ashes (Rounder, 2019) before the group went on indefinite hiatus.
- Played mandolin and banjo in Della Mae from 2020 to 2022, appearing on the band’s self-released Family Reunion (2021).
- Released her debut solo album Astronaut in 2022 — recorded in Londonderry, Vermont, co-produced with Mike Robinson, and played largely by Witler herself across mandolin, guitar, bass, banjo, and fiddle. Now based in Los Angeles, she teaches privately and at music camps.
