Singer and songwriter Donna Hughes has written well over 250 songs, inspired by everything from family experiences, to heart break. Her songs have been recorded by numerous artists, including Alison Krauss & Union Station. The band included Donna’s original song, 'My Pool Old Heart' on their Grammy award-winning album, Lonely Runs Both Ways.

Her new Rounder album, 'Gaining Wisdom' is produced by Tony Rice and will include guest support from Alison Krauss, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rhonda Vincent and many others. Despite the presence of a large selection of A-list musicians, it is Hughes' versatility as a performer, coupled with her profound gifts as a writer, that makes Gaining Wisdom such a consistent revelation. Hughes' songs are emotional, yet are grounded in experience and reality - making them both moving and believable. Gaining Wisdom opens with the bittersweet 'One More Time,' a song reflecting upon the happier days of a fading relationship, which features the harmony vocals of Alison Krauss and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

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. 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 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.