Della Mae – The Road to Columbus

Della Mae – The Road to Columbus

If you are current a fan of Bluegrass music, I’m sure you’ve heard of the band Della Mae. I got the chance to see them perform on the workshop stage just after my guitar workshop at Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival a few years ago.  Also appearing with me on the master stage was guitarists Josh Williams and Tony Watt.. but I got to wonder why the folks at Grey Fox didn’t include guitarist Cortney Hartman? (hey, maybe she was included in one of the following years).

As you can hear, Cortney is a fine flatpicker who has won a lot of guitar contests and was also a student over at Berkeley School of Music under the direction of my friend Matt Glaser, who is the chair of Berklee’s American Roots Music program. So just right there, you know we got some serious playing happening here.

The Della Mae Band is talented, as you can hear- fine fiddlin’ and mando picking from Kimber Ludiker and Jenni Lyn Gardner.

Della Mae Bio:

“In a relatively short period of time, Della Mae has become a sensation in the music world. Commanding a powerful collective chemistry with vocal, instrumental, and songwriting talent to spare, the Boston-based combo mines time-honored elements to create music that’s unmistakably fresh and contemporary.

The group quickly won an enthusiastic following through their high-energy live performances at festivals around the country. The band expanded its reputation with their self-released first album, 2011’s I Built This Heart, which won an impressive amount of attention for a D.I.Y. release.

This World Oft Can Be, Della Mae’s second album and Rounder debut, shows that like the Avett Brothers, Lumineers, and Punch Brothers, these five multitalented young women are respectful of American musical tradition, but not restricted by it, combining centuries’ worth of musical influences with an emotionally tough, undeniably modern songwriting sensibility.

This World Oft Can Be’s 12 songs—including such engaging originals as “Empire,” “Paper Prince,” “Maybeline” and the feisty title track—showcase the fivesome’s world-class instrumental abilities, lilting harmonies and subtly commanding lead vocals. Although the musicians’ sublime skills have already won them numerous individual honors, the album’s focus is squarely on the band’s emotionally potent songs and spirited, effortlessly expressive performances.

“The identity that we’ve developed as a band is a melting pot of our different personalities and backgrounds,” asserts founder, Kimber Ludiker. After having the idea at a summer festival, Kimber hand picked musicians from all over the country: singer Celia Woodsmith comes from a blues/rock background, guitarist Courtney Hartman studied at Berklee College of Music, bassist Shelby Means played with various bands in Nashville, and mandolin player Jenni Lyn Gardner was schooled in traditional bluegrass. Della Mae’s members hail from all over the United States, and the five women each bring impressive musical resumes amassed in their previous ventures.” see more This particular Della Mae video was shot at the Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival, Preston, Connecticut on June 3, 2011. So I’m sure there’s a newer video of the group somewhere on YouTube. BTW, Della Mae consists of Celia Woodsmith – vocals, guitar; Kimber Ludiker – fiddle, vocals; Jenni Lyn Gardner – mandolin, vocals; Courtney Hartman, guitar, and Amanda Kowalski – bass