Singer/songwriter Donna Hughes was among the featured performers at last weekend’s Ossipee Valley Bluegrass Festival in Portland, ME.

To help promote their appearance, Donna and her guitarist, Rebecca Frazier, did a television spot for WCSH on July 26, which has been posted online. Donna did a version of Where Are You Darlin,’ from her Gaining Wisdom CD, and talked with the show hosts for a bit before singing Little Bluebird from her Same Old Me release.

In this clip, Rebecca shows why she has been gaining the attention of flatpickers since her days with Hit & Run Bluegrass.

Donna normally performs with a full band, but she and Rebecca went duo for this TV segment. Maybe the rest of the band had some trouble getting it together for a morning show?

Singer/songwriter Donna Hughes’ recently released her new CD, Gaining Wisdom, and has been touring some to support the release. Today she’ll be on XM satellite radio with host Kyle Cantrell at 11 AM EST. I’m sure they’ll be discussing and playing tracks from the new recording.

As she performs this spring and summer, Donna at times will have a full band with her and at other times it will be more intimate, with her on guitar with one accompianist.

Her tour schedule is available on her website, along with sample clips from the CD as well as a wealth of other information.

Bluegrass fans everywhere are indebted to the songwriters who create the songs performed by our favorite artists. One such writer is Donna Hughes. I first met Donna in NC at a birthday party. There were many of us there jamming and playing songs we like, some traditional, some newer. Donna would occasionally sing one of her songs and we would all be amazed at the writing of this young woman. Not long after that she wrote a song that was later recorded by Alison Krauss and Union Station, My Poor Old Heart.

Now Donna is releasing a new record on the Rounder label that features 12 original tracks written by Donna, as well as two tracks additional tracks she did not write (I won’t tell you what they are, but you’ll want to hear them.). The album title is Gaining Wisdom and release date is scheduled for February 27, 2007.

Legendary guitarist Tony Rice took the helm as producer of the project. A job he sought out and initiated.

I was over at the home of my friends Steve and Kathi Fox, 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.

Tony called Donna and suggested that she record another album of her material and let him produce it. Donna, being a long time fan of Rice’s music, was quick to agree and soon a deal was cut with Rounder Records. (more…)

This is our second week of GrassCast episodes focused on bluegrass songwriters. Episode 34 is a discussion with Donna Hughes, whose song Poor Old Heart was recorded by Alison Krauss & Union Station on the CD Lonely Runs Both Ways. Donna has a new project of her own that will be released on Rounder Records when completed.

This GrassCast is 11 minutes in length and the file download size is 13 MB.

Below is an mp3 file for you to listen here or download. The GrassCast is also available in the iTunes music store as an enhanced podcast containing photos and hyperlinks relative to the subject matter being discussed in the interview.

Listen now:
Direct Download: ep34_donna_hughes.mp3
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Rounder Records has announced a projected March ‘06 release date for All This Time, the third Rounder CD for singer/songwriter Donna Hughes. 14 of the 16 tracks are Hughes originals, and the CD is produced by Tony Rice - who also plays guitar on the majority of the tracks.

In addition to Tony Rice, the supporting cast on All This Time, includes: Sam Bush, Tim Stafford, Rob Ickes, Ron Stewart, Scott Vestal, Rickie Simpkins, Wayne Benson, Wyatt Rice, Bryn Bright, Mike Bub, Katie Penn and Obil Perez. Mary Chapin Carpenter supports Donna with harmony vocals on a numbers of cuts, as do Carl Jackson and Sonya Isaacs.

Hughes contributed a song to Lonely Runs Both Ways, the current release from Alison Krauss & Union Station. Her song, My Poor Old Heart, is not only featured on the AKUS CD, but was also performed by the band on the IBMA Awards Show in The Ryman Auditorium on October 29.

BRANCE ADDS: I spoke with Donna at IBMA and she told me that Alison will be performing My Poor Old Heart on the CMA Awards Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Tuesday November 15th. The event will be broadcast live (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the CBS Television Network.