Kimber Ludiker is a contest champion who became a bandleader. She won the Grand National Championship at the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest in Weiser, Idaho, in 2009 and 2010. In 2010 she founded Della Mae, the all-woman bluegrass band that earned a Grammy nomination in 2014 and the IBMA New Artist of the Year award in 2013. She has led the band for more than 15 years.
Why Ludiker matters
Most contest champions stay in the contest world. Ludiker took a Texas-style contest background and used it to build a touring bluegrass band that plays in more than 30 countries. She also runs youth programs that feed the next generation of players. If you hear a young fiddler at a festival jam who learned at the California Bluegrass Association Youth Academy or IBMA Kids on Bluegrass, Ludiker had a hand in it.
Life and career
Ludiker grew up in Spokane, Washington, in the Ludiker fiddling family. Della Mae describes her as a fifth-generation fiddler. She came up through the Northwest contest circuit and won the junior division at Weiser in 2000.
She entered the open division at the Grand Master Fiddler Championship in Nashville and placed fifth in 2006, third in 2007, and third again in 2008. Deanie Richardson judged one of those years and later said Ludiker “completely blew me away.” In 2009 and 2010 Ludiker won the Grand National Championship at Weiser, the top title in American contest fiddling.
Ludiker founded Della Mae in Boston in 2010 with Amanda Kowalski, Grace Van’t Hof, and Avril Smith. Celia Woodsmith joined in 2011, and the band released its first album, I Built This Heart, that year. Rounder Records released This World Oft Can Be in 2013. That record was nominated for the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, and the IBMA named the band Emerging Artist of the Year the same year. Later albums include Della Mae (2015), Headlight (2020), Family Reunion (2021), and Magic Accident (Compass, 2026), produced by Alison Brown.
The IBMA gave Ludiker its Momentum Award for Mentor of the Year in 2022. She directs the California Bluegrass Association Youth Academy, co-coordinates IBMA Kids on Bluegrass, and directs the Ashokan Bluegrass Camp. In 2025 she and Deanie Richardson began releasing a twin fiddle record for Mountain Home Music Company. She now lives in the Washington, D.C. area.
Playing style
Ludiker plays with a contest fiddler’s clean intonation and long, smooth bow. Weiser rewards variation, tone, and danceable time, and all three show up in her band work. In Della Mae she often plays under a singer, so she leans on double stops, fills between lines, and short breaks that stay close to the melody.
Her twin fiddle work with Richardson shows the other side of her playing. On Cacklin’ Hen the two play in harmony the whole way through instead of trading solos. Ludiker matches Richardson’s improvised leads note for note. On her own tune No-See-Um Stomp the pair take what she calls a “controlled chaos” approach, departing from each other and swarming back. Both tracks use a traditional bluegrass band behind them: Cody Kilby on guitar, Kristin Scott Benson on banjo, Tristan Scroggins on mandolin, and Hasee Ciaccio on bass.
Influences and legacy
Ludiker names Laurie Lewis as the player who made her fall in love with bluegrass, and Lewis counts Ludiker among the young women she mentored. Della Mae’s mission, in the band’s words, is to feature and uplift women instrumentalists, songwriters, and singers. Ludiker has said she hopes young girls will have more recordings of instrumentals played by women to learn from.
She shares the contest world with Katrina Nicolayeff, Tashina Clarridge, and Alex Hargreaves, who placed beside her at the Grand Master championship in the late 2000s. Tony Ludiker and Dennis Ludiker carry the same family name on the champions lists. She has recorded with Darol Anger, Alison Brown, Special Consensus, Roland White, and Louisa Branscomb. Guitarist Courtney Hartman played in Della Mae from 2009 to 2018.
Signature tunes and songs
No-See-Um Stomp Cacklin’ Hen Family Tree Angeline the Baker Boston Town.
Essential recordings
This World Oft Can Be, Della Mae (Rounder, 2013) Della Mae, Della Mae (Rounder, 2015) Headlight, Della Mae (Rounder, 2020) Magic Accident, Della Mae (Compass, 2026)
Awards and honors
National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest, Junior division (2000) National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest, Grand National Champion (2009, 2010) Grand Master Fiddler Championship, third place (2007, 2008) IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year, with Della Mae (2013) Grammy nomination, Best Bluegrass Album, with Della Mae for This World Oft Can Be (2014) IBMA Momentum Award, Mentor of the Year (2022)
Watch and listen
Ludiker plays her championship division set at the 2008 Grand Master Fiddler Championship. Listen for the variations she builds on each pass through the tune.
Della Mae plays Ludiker’s tune No-See-Um Stomp. The first part is the swarm, and the second part is the bites.
What to learn from Ludiker
Learn Cacklin’ Hen from the Richardson and Ludiker single. The two fiddles stay in harmony the whole way, so you can pull the second fiddle line by ear and hear how it fits under the lead. The technique to steal is her harmony playing. Find a friend who knows a tune, then play a third above or below the melody and stay there through the whole tune, breaks included. That is the twin fiddle sound Bill Monroe used, and it works in any jam with two fiddles.
Sources
National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest champions, University of Idaho Library Grand Master Fiddler Championship past winners Kimber Ludiker, IBMA award recipients Della Mae, IBMA award recipients Meet the Dellas, Della Mae Della Mae, Compass Records Deanie Richardson and Kimber Ludiker announce twin fiddle collection, Mountain Home Music Company Cacklin’ Hen from Deanie Richardson and Kimber Ludiker, Bluegrass Today No-See-Um Stomp from Deanie Richardson and Kimber Ludiker, Bluegrass Today Magic Accident, Della Mae, Bluegrass Today IBMA announces 2022 Momentum Award winners, Bluegrass Today About, Laurie Lewis Della Mae, Wikipedia
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the bluegrass fiddle guide for more champions. Ludiker records twin fiddles with Deanie Richardson and learned from Laurie Lewis. Tony Ludiker and Dennis Ludiker share her family name on the Weiser rolls, and Katrina Nicolayeff took the Grand National title the year after her.