Della Mae

Della Mae emerged in the early 2010s by blending bluegrass with an agile, wide-ranging approach shaped equally by modern singer/songwriters and longstanding customs. Their Rounder debut This World Oft Can Be reached listeners beyond the festival circuit in 2013 and secured a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album the following year. After that breakthrough the group issued only one further release, the self-titled 2015 set, before stepping away for an extended pause. Five years later they resurfaced in the new decade with the albums Headlight and Family Reunion.

Fiddler Kimber Ludiker assembled the band in Boston, Massachusetts during 2009 alongside mandolinist Jenni Lyn Gardner, guitarist/banjoist Courtney Hartman, bassist Amanda Kowalski, and vocalist Grace Van't Hof. Each member already possessed deep experience in roots and bluegrass circles, having backed artists such as Willie Nelson, the Del McCoury Band, and Leon Russell, which allowed the new ensemble to begin performing on established stages right away. The EP Acoustic appeared in 2010, followed by the self-released I Built This Heart in 2011. Later that year Celia Woodsmith came aboard as lead singer once Van't Hof exited. When Kowalski departed in 2012, Shelby Means stepped in, and the revised lineup cut This World Oft Can Be as their first project for Rounder.

The album proved decisive, widening the group's reach and yielding the 2014 Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. Della Mae promoted it through extensive touring and online performances. Means exited before the band entered the studio with producer Jacquire King for the 2015 self-titled record.

Once that album wrapped in May 2016, the members opted to pause their touring schedule. Over the ensuing years they focused on separate endeavors, then regrouped without Hartman in 2018. Joined by bassist Zoe Guigueno, they issued the single "Bourbon Hound" in December 2018—their first new material in three years—then followed with The Butcher Shoppe EP in March 2019. During the next twelve months the remaining core of Ludiker, Woodsmith, and Gardner collaborated with producer Dan Knobler on a fourth album that incorporated electric guitars and a stronger rhythm section. Headlight arrived in January 2020. The next year brought Family Reunion, which mixed original songs such as "These Days" with interpretations of material by Gillian Welch, John Hartford, and Hazel Dickens.