6:00pm • $15 • Tickets on Eventbrite and at the door
The monthly Big Howdy Bluegrass Showcase is moving to Sunday Sept. 10 this month due to scheduling conflicts.
September’s event features Kimber Ludiker and Avril Smith of the band Della Mae
• Kimber Ludiker is a Grand National Fiddle Champion. Born of fiddle-playing parents–who met competing with each other at a fiddle contest!–this Washington state native excelled from an early age at Texas-style fiddling and went on to win multiple fiddle championships including the Washington State Championship, Colorado State Championship and the aforementioned Grand National Fiddle Championship in Weiser, Idaho. She has performed with Mark O’Connor, Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Hanneke Cassel, and her brother Dennis, a well-known fiddle/mandolin player from Austin, TX. As a founding member of the all-“girl” group Della Mae, she is widely regarded as a pillar of the new-generation fiddle scene. She brings a good-hearted spirit and a great work ethic to the group, and we’re delighted to have her with us as much as her busy schedule permits.
• Avril Smith is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist and is widely recognized as a highly accomplished electric and acoustic guitarist and mandolin player.
Avril currently plays guitar in several touring Americana, bluegrass and alt country projects including the Grammy-nominated band Della Mae; Ms. Adventure, a trio featuring Vickie Vaughn (Patty Loveless) and Kimber Ludiker (Della Mae); and award-winning songwriter Becky Warren with whom she has toured opening the Indigo Girls.
Avril’s mastery of a wide range of styles makes her a sought-after on-stage and studio performer. She has been featured in Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and has reviewed guitars for Acoustic Guitar Magazine.
Avril has performed at top venues and festivals including the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage (Washington D.C.), Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival (Oak Hill, NY), the Birchmere (Alexandria, VA), the Knitting Factory (New York, NY), Freight & Salvage (Berkeley, CA), the Rock-n-Roll hall of fame (Cleveland, Ohio), and on the south lawn of the White House.
Avril has played with Emmylou Harris, Steve Martin, Pete Seeger, Hazel Dickens, Tom Morello, the Indigo Girls, Jill Sobule, Darol Anger, Dar Williams, and John Kadlecik, among others.
Avril plays a 2018 Bourgeois large soundhole OM acoustic guitar, a 2009 Outlier Stringed Instruments OM acoustic guitar, a 1987 Paul Reed Smith custom electric guitar and a 2006 Lawrence Smart mandolin. She teaches guitar and mandolin students in the Washington, D.C.-area and online via Skype or FaceTime.
Big Howdy is a DC-based progressive bluegrass band featuring the duet singing of Dede Wyland and Randy Barrett. The group offers a mix of original songs plus reinterpretations of classic country, bluegrass and roots material. Dede is a nationally recognized vocalist while Randy is a well-established singer songwriter and banjoist. Together with Ira Gitlin on bass and Tom McLaughlin on mandolin, Big Howdy sounds unlike any other band. And that's the way they like it.
Dede Wyland - Vocals Guitar
Randy Barrett - Vocals, Banjo, Guitar
Ira Gitlin - Vocal, Bass
Tom McLaughlin - Vocals, Mandolin, Guitar