Della Mae

bluegrass · country

Della Mae is an American bluegrass band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 2009, its name taken from the traditional bluegrass song Big Spike Hammer. Fiddler Kimber Ludiker founded the group with Amanda Kowalski, Grace Van't Hof and guitarist Avril Smith; singer and guitarist Celia Woodsmith, who also plays washboard, joined in 2011, and bassist and co-lead singer Vickie Vaughn has held the low end since 2020, completing the current quartet of Woodsmith, Ludiker, Smith and Vaughn. The band self-released I Built This Heart in 2011 before signing to Rounder Records, whose 2013 album This World Oft Can Be was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album at the 56th Grammy Awards; the same year the International Bluegrass Music Association named Della Mae its Emerging Artist of the Year. Two further Rounder records followed, the self-titled Della Mae in 2015 and Headlight in 2020, along with the self-released Family Reunion in 2021. The all-woman group has performed in more than thirty countries and at major American festivals, and has been outspoken about the place of women in roots music. Its newest album, Magic Accident, is out in 2026 on Compass Records, produced by the banjoist Alison Brown. The band calls it its most collaborative record, with every member contributing original songs and working with outside co-writers, and with Becky Warren, Mary Bragg, Jen Gunderman and Jamie Dick among the additional collaborators. Live performance is the setting the band points to as the fullest version of the material.

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