Della Mae is a GRAMMY-nominated, all-women string band made up of founder and fiddle player Kimber Ludiker, lead vocalist/guitarist Celia Woodsmith, guitarist Avril Smith, and bassist Vickie Vaughn.
Hailing from across North America, and reared in diverse musical styles, they are one of the most charismatic and engaging roots bands touring today. They have traveled to over 30 countries spreading peace and understanding through music.
Their mission as a band is to showcase top female musicians, and to improve opportunities for women and girls through advocacy, mentorship, programming, and performance.
aN ABUNDANCE OF NEW MUSIC
In early 2020, Della Mae released Headlight - a studio album dedicated to celebrating powerful, trailblazing women. While the pandemic made it impossible to tour that album, the band continued to play together. They returned to touring in Summer 2021 with another new album Family Reunion. In early 2022, they released a video on demand concert called The Stonecroft Sessions. In July 2023, they released a new single “Can’t Let Go” which will be followed by additional singles being released in September, November, and January. More info below!
New singles to look forward to!
July, September, November, January
Released July 24, 2023
Written by songwriter Randy Weeks (of country rock band The Lonesome Strangers), “Can’t Let Go” was recorded by Lucinda Williams in 1998 and Weeks released it on his album in 2000. It was the only cover on Williams’ record “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” and is a testament to the power of a great song and Lucinda Williams’ creative conviction.
New Album + concert (video on demand)
Della Mae’s new record celebrates the bond they strengthened by surviving a tough time, and the community of fans who have become like family. It's a snapshot of the band’s reunion — recording playing music together for the first time in a year and a half, and setting up microphones to capture it.
The Stonecroft Sessions is a concert created by Della Mae. Recorded in the beautiful rolling hills of Northern Virginia, this 50 minute concert is available to enjoy on any device. Between songs the band shares a peek behind the curtain - chatting about everything from favorite candy bars to what makes a great cover song. Kick your feet up and enjoy having Della Mae play just for you, wherever you are.
Headlight (Jan 2020)
Boldly breaking genre convention making their fourth album Headlight, Della Mae pushed beyond their bluegrass roots and followed their instincts, creating their most sonically adventurous body of work to date. Della Mae fully embraced the album’s potential as a platform for change, delivering a collection of songs at turns fearlessly personal and powerfully resonant.
Della Mae views their lack of restraint as an imperative for the all-female band. “So many things have happened that we knew we needed to write about, so we shelved old ideas of what we were supposed to sound like, and just played these songs in the way that felt right,” says Kimber Ludiker, the band’s founder. Singer Celia Woodsmith added: “We decided we don’t have to carry the weight of other people’s expectations of who we are anymore. As women living in today’s world, we no longer feel the need to bow down to anything or anyone, and it feels incredibly liberating.”
Their most collaborative work to date, Headlight features an exceptional lineup of guest musicians, often contributing on instruments entirely new to Della Mae’s output: keys, drums, electric guitar. In striving toward that more expansive sonic palette, Della Mae devoted many months to exploring possible directions for Headlight, then experienced a major breakthrough during a December 2018 writing retreat at MOXE (a women-owned recording studio and creative space in Nashville). Toward the end of the retreat, the band invited a host of local players for a jam session, and quickly discovered an unexpected chemistry. “I remember going into it thinking, ‘This is going to be so awkward—I don’t know most of these people, I don’t even know how to play these songs yet,’” Woodsmith recalls. “But listening back to those recordings, there’s so much spirit and life. We felt a total lack of inhibition, and it was pivotal in making this album.”
Produced by Dan Knobler (Lake Street Dive, Caroline Spence) and tracked at Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville, Headlight bears a thrillingly dynamic sound, achieved in part by enlisting a number of the MOXE musicians (including longtime Sheryl Crow keyboardist Jen Gunderman) and recording most of the album live. Still, that kinetic urgency never overshadows the eloquence of Della Mae’s lyrical storytelling. “A lot of the songs are snapshots of different women at different stages of their lives,” notes Ludiker. “At the same time, we were sharing very intimate things that we’ve personally experienced, in a way that we haven’t quite done before.”
Opening on its title track, Headlight begins with a potent message of perseverance in the face of adversity, penned in response to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony to the Senate during Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing. “All the rage and sadness and disbelief I felt came out in that one song,” says Woodsmith. “I was really struck by the thought of women like Dr. Ford and Anita Hill standing up like that, even though they knew it would destroy their lives. It’s so painful to watch, but hopefully it’ll end up illuminating the path ahead for other women.” Channeling a triumphant energy in its soaring vocals and marching drumbeats, “Headlight” ultimately celebrates the power of that ineffable courage, providing both strength and solace in one simply articulated refrain (“They might not believe you/But I do”).
Throughout Headlight, Della Mae imbues their songs with the unshakable sense of purpose they’ve embodied since first getting together. Formed in Boston in 2009, with ambitions of disrupting the male-dominated bluegrass scene, the band has proven undeniably ahead of their time placing women at the forefront — an element evident in the origin of their name. “Della Mae is a woman who pops up in a lot of bluegrass songs and who’s a victim of physical abuse—she done her man wrong, and now he’s gonna get her,” Ludiker explains. “From the beginning, this band has been about reclaiming her story and changing the conversation for women, especially those whose stories haven’t been told.”
Over the years, Della Mae have worked toward that goal by teaming up with the U.S. State Department, and traveling to over 30 countries in an effort to improve opportunities for women all across the globe. "Advocating for women's rights is the backbone of this band, and we realized that adding public service work to our touring was an important way we could make a difference."
