Hughesville, Md.ย –ย The 5th show of the Jay Armsworthy Bluegrass Concert Series will be Sunday March 25 at the American Legion Post 238 on the corner of MD Rte. 381 & Rt. 231 in Hughesville.ย
For the first time to Southern Maryland and the first female artist to appear in the annual Bluegrass Concert Series, Donna Ulisse and her band, The Poor Mountain Boys, will headline the show.ย Presented by Jay Armsworthy and the Sons of the American Legion, the show will start at 2:00 pm.
Donna Ulisse is a key ๏ฌgure in the Bluegrass, folk and acoustic music scene as a singer and songwriter. Her single โIt Could Have Been the Mandolinโ topped the Bluegrass Unlimited chart at #1 for two months in a row in 2016 and in the same year she was also named 2016 IBMA (Int’l Bluegrass Music Association) โSongwriter of the Yearโ. She won the IBMA award for โSong of the Yearโ in 2017 as co-writer of the Bluegrass hit “I Am a Drifter” recorded by Volume Five. In February of 2018 she won the SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America) โSongwriter of the Yearโ Award.ย
Her eleventh album โBreakinโ Easyโ was released September of 2017 by Mountain Home Music Company and was produced by bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson. Edward Morris, writer for CMT.com has hailed her as โone of the most commanding voices in Bluegrass musicโ while Wade Jessen of Billboard Magazine wrote, โItโs hard to know which is more exciting, Donnaโs singing or her songwritingโ. Her TV credits include โHee Hawโ; she was a regular guest on The Nashville Network’s โNashville Nowโ show as well โCrook and Chaseโ.
She appeared on NBC’s โHot Country Nightsโ with Merle Haggard, Crystal Gayle and Steve Wariner. Most recently she was also a guest on RFD-TV’s โSimply Bluegrassโ show hosted by Ricky Skaggs featuring a “who’s who” of Bluegrass and has hosted โBluegrass Ridgeโ for the Heartland Network which has several of her videos in rotation.
As a songwriter, Ulisse has had songs recorded by Bluegrass artists Claire Lynch, Darin and Brooke Aldridge, Doyle Lawson, Larry Stephenson Band, Volume Five and many more. Her song โButler Brothersโ was on the 2014 Grammy winning album โStreets of Baltimoreโ by the Del McCoury Band.
She authored the book โThe Songwriter in Me: Snapshots of My Creative Processโ and is a sought after songwriting instructor at workshops across the country when she is not touring with her talented band of musicians, The Poor Mountain Boys. For more information on Donna, visit www.donnaulisse.com.
Opening the show will be 15 Strings from the Southern Maryland area. They are a talented trio of musicians who perform Bluegrass, traditional, and acoustic tunes on banjo, guitar, mandolin and bass.ย
The doors open at Noon at the American Legion with food available for sale by the Sons of the American Legion.ย The show starts at 2:00 pm and tickets are available at the door for $20.00 per person, under the age of 12 admitted free with a paid adult.ย Although not required, non-perishable food donations will be collected for the Helping Hands Food Pantry of Southern Maryland.ย For more information on the show, please call 301-737-3004 or visit the website at www.americanlegionbluegass.com.