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Bluegrass singer Donna Hughes coming to Mountaineer Opry House
MILTON — It has been quite a ride for Donna Hughes. Over the past five years, the singer-songwriter has gone from a locally known musician in North Carolina to releasing a new album on Rounder Records called "Gaining Wisdom," produced by one of the true legends of bluegrass music, Tony Rice. She has also seen one of her original songs recorded and performed on national television by Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas. Friday, she continues her journey in the music business when she brings her band to the Mountaineer Opry House.
The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, and tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $5 for kids 12 years and younger.
Hughes grew up as a classically trained piano player, yet after seeing live bluegrass bands in her church and around her part of North Carolina, she was struck with the bluegrass bug. Her focus soon became songwriting because she felt more comfortable singing her own songs than trying to imitate other singers. In 2003, she recorded her second album titled "Same Old Me" and that CD found its way into the hands of Tony Rice. The world-renown guitarist was so impressed by Hughes' music that he brought her to Rounder Records and produced her latest album "Gaining Wisdom," bringing in an all-star cast to flesh out her original songs.
Around the same time that the "Gaining Wisdom" project was coming together, Barry Bales, bass player for Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, heard one of Hughes' songs on a local North Carolina station and then asked her to send him some of her original compositions for consideration for the next Union Station album.
"A few months later he sent me an e-mail saying they had recorded (one of my songs)," said Hughes. "But, I didn't know what that meant because songs get recorded and a lot of times they don't make it to the final process. We went back and forth on e-mail a few times. Then, when I got a thank-you note in the mail from Alison, I knew it was for real."
Hughes' original composition, "My Poor Old Heart," was chosen to appear on the Grammy award-winning Union Station album called "Lonely Runs Both Ways." Another highlight for Hughes and her family was when the group performed the song on the Country Music Association awards television show. It would be a bittersweet experience, however, as her father was suffering from brain cancer as the showed aired.
"I saw Jerry Douglas at the IBMA (annual bluegrass convention) and he said, 'You know, we're doing your song at the CMA awards,'" said Hughes. "I went around skipping and jumping and telling everybody, and my Dad called all of his friends and told them. Then, by the time the show came on a week or two after that, my Daddy had slipped into a vegetative state and didn't know where he was, much less who was Alison and what was she doing. He had brain cancer and he passed away a couple of weeks after that. When we were sitting on the couch watching it, I was crying tears of joy and tears of sadness all at the same time. I was excited, but it was hard because without my Dad, I don't think I could have done any of this."
