Donna Hughes

New Album, "Gaining Wisdom" produced by TONY RICE available now!
Performed at some of the finest venues, like B.B. King's in NYC, Eddie's Attic in Atlanta, Merlefest, The Bluebird Cafe' in Nashville, The Birchmere in D.C., and many other great clubs & festivals across the country. Donna writes all her own songs. She wrote the song "My Poor Old Heart,” which was recorded by Alison Krauss & Union Station for their Grammy-Winning "Lonely Runs Both Ways" album, and the song was performed at the 2005 CMA Awards. Donna also wrote "Sad Old Train," which was recorded by the Seldom Scene, featuring awesome vocals by Lou Reid, released August 14 on their new album "Scenechronized." Donna wrote 9 of the 15 songs on her 1st album, "Somewhere In Time," and all 21 of the songs on her 2003 "Same Old Me" release. She wrote 12 of the 14 tracks on the her Rounder release, "Gaining Wisdom," produced by Tony Rice.
Some places where Donna has performed: B.B. King's Blues Club in NYC, The Bluebird Cafe' in Nashville, Eddie's Attic in Atlanta, The Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, Station Inn in Nashville, Orange Peel in Asheville, Handlebar in Greenville, Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, Merlefest in Wilkesboro, Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, and many more~ To request an appearance in your area, write to: [email protected]
"In whatever musical context she chooses, Donna has the potential to go as far as she wants. The idea of producing this album intrigued me, because Donna is unique enough as a writer and performer to establish herself as a distinctive voice both within today’s bluegrass scene and beyond it. I truly believe this album is going to amaze everybody, regardless what category or genre they want to fit it into. As we were recording, I remember telling her, 'This album will be your calling card, and will open doors for you that you cannot imagine.' I believed that then, and as I listen to her new album, I believe it more than ever. Donna is very personable with her tunes – she writes from the soul. As a performer, she has many avenues to choose from." ~Tony Rice
“As a longtime worshipper of Tony Rice, I knew that his involvement with this CD was a confirmation of the depth, substance, and talent of Donna as an artist and songwriter. She will garner many new fans with this work, and please the ones who already are lucky enough to know her music.” ~Mary Chapin Carpenter
"Gaining Wisdom" is Hughes’ first nationally-released album. The album was produced by the legendary Tony Rice, and features contributions from an elite group of supporting musicians and harmony vocalists such as Alison Krauss, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rhonda Vincent, Carl Jackson, and Alecia Nugent.
“In Donna,” Rice says, “I heard something that was down to earth, with a definitive southern flavor to it. And yet there was something different about her voice and the way she structured her music that implied a more flexible, adventurous approach.” The resultant sound of Gaining Wisdom is deeply influenced by both Rice’s progressive acoustic sensibilities and Hughes’ own wide-ranging musical tastes.
Hughes spent lot of time writing material for her first bluegrass album, 2001’s Somewhere in Time, and lots of money promoting it, as well as her 2003 album, "Same Old Me." Donna didn't just send them to chart reporting DJ's, she sent the albums to all bluegrass DJ's, festival promoters, Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Associations, publications for review, and any professional with a hand in the business to get the word out. Her songs were chosen for DJ's "Hot Picks," published by Bluegrass NOW, as early as 2001. Those 1st two albums picked up word-of-mouth buzz and won her a devoted following among both bluegrass fans and critics. Union Station bassist Barry Bales heard a track from Same Old Me on WNCW’s bluegrass program, and brought Hughes to the attention of Alison Krauss, who quickly became a fan of Hughes’ powerful, insightful songcraft. It was ironic, since Donna stood in line waiting for the trade show to open the doors after lunch one afternoon at IBMA in 2001, with five copies of her "Somewhere In Time" album under her arm, and she stood right behind Barry Bales! She did not have the courage to hand him an album at that time, so it seemed so wonderful to her that he would find out about her anyway, through the radio, and would take the time to call her on the phone and ask for her songs!
The "Same Old Me" album also brought Tony Rice into the fold. “I was over at the home of my friends Steve and Kathi Fox,” he recalls, “and they had Same Old Me on the hi-fi. After a few songs, I had to ask ‘Who is that?’ The more I listened to her music that day, the more I heard in it. The idea of producing an album of hers intrigued me…As a performer, she has great flexibility. She could sit down at a really good Steinway at one venue, and the next night play guitar in front of a straight-ahead bluegrass band. This makes producing her a great challenge: you want to illuminate what is recognizable and classic about her music – to make clear her very strong ties to bluegrass – while remaining true to what is so special about Donna.”
“Shortly before Christmas of 2003,” Donna recalls, “I received a phone call out of the blue from Tony Rice. He asked if he could produce my next album…it amazed me at the time, because my car CD changer was filled with Tony Rice albums! It was such a welcome relief to get recognition from such an extraordinary musical hero, after all of my hard work.”
“She has the rare ability,” raves Union Station bassist Barry Bales, “to take song topics that others have overdone and write about them from a new perspective.”
While Hughes is a strong rhythm guitarist, piano was her first instrument, and producer Rice was insistent that it play a part in Gaining Wisdom. “Donna sent me demos of songs she’d written,” Rice recalls, “and sometimes she’d play them on the piano. Piano is not a standard bluegrass instrument, of course, but the more I heard her piano playing and how it colored her songs, the more I liked it and the more I felt it had to be heard on this album.”
Hughes learned to play classical piano by listening to her mother perform pieces by Bach and Beethoven and then learning them by ear. “I think being exposed to classical music has helped me to construct more innovative-sounding bluegrass chord progressions,” she remarks, “that is different from your run-of-the-mill three-chord patterned songs.” Her knack for composing in minor keys is immediately evident on the haunting “Father Time.” The subject of time’s passing is one that fascinates Hughes.“ Donna sees different instruments as a means of stimulating different approaches and perspectives in her songs.
Her quest to continually uncover new perspectives is what makes Hughes so remarkable as both a writer and performer, and why she has been referred to by the renowned bluegrass/country writer and producer Carl Jackson as “One of the best new singer-songwriters in the world of bluegrass…” With fellow maverick Tony Rice at the helm, Gaining Wisdom makes a powerful statement from an artist who has only just begun her career.
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