Lisa Kay Howard Archives - Bluegrass Today

DC bluegrass power couple Wally Hughes and Lisa Kay Howard-Hughes, known to many friends as Wallisa, have announced that they are leaving Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike after 11 years touring and recording with the group.

Smith so enjoyed the band she had assembled, all of them capitol-area pickers, that she moved to the area as well.

Wally played fiddle and reso-guitar, and Lisa Kay the mandolin, both singing harmony with Val, and both insist that they have nothing but the deepest fondness for her going forward.

Lisa Kay tells us that…

“We have truly had a wonderful experience performing with Valerie all over the country and beyond. So many great opportunities! We consider her to be a dear friend and wish her all the best going forward. Getting to sing with her is one of my favorite things.”

Wallys adds how much he enjoyed one of his Liberty Pike band mates in particular.

“For many of those years, we had the honor of performing with the venerable Tom Gray, who was one of my inspirations for playing music, and a hero of mine on the stage and river. Watching Tom stand up in his canoe to check the rapids ahead, or hearing his bass lines on a solo or backup, puts me in awe.”

Valerie wishes them both the best, and thanks them for all the good times.

“Lisa Kay Howard-Hughes and Wally Hughes will be moving on from Liberty Pike in the immediate future. It’s been almost 11 years together and we’ve had an amazing run.

When I needed a touring band on the East Coast in 2014, Lisa and Wally and Joe Zauner and Tom Gray stepped up and took me in. We’ve been to nearly half the States and several foreign countries, and recorded a number of cuts which have received solid radio play over the years. Most of all, we became the best of friends.

In bluegrass music, keeping a touring band together for 11 years is just short of miraculous. I’ve been very blessed and I wish them all the best.

All good things come to an end, but our memories live on. These folks were an integral part of one of my best configurations after 35 years of touring. Wishing them the best of luck in music and in life!

Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike will see you on the road and on the radio this Spring and beyond.”

Wally and Lisa Kay plan to keep active in bluegrass, both with their band Level Best, which also includes James Field, Ed Lick, and Joe Hannabach, with whom they will tour Europe this summer, and with a new outfit they are starting called the Howard/Hughes Project, which is headed to Ireland in April.

Kip Martin’s friends filled a church sanctuary Sunday in Crofton, MD, opening their hearts and wallets for the ailing bass player.

The former Sunny Mountain Boy was hundreds of miles away, surrounded by family in a hospice setting near Nashville, where relatives said he was comfortable in his final hours. But he was certainly in the DC suburbs in spirit, as a string of former music colleagues swapped songs and stories about Martin for the 200 or so folks who filled the pews.

Keith Arneson, who organized the benefit, said more than $4,000 was raised through donations at the door and in a raffle for festival tickets, music lessons and gear, and a handful of instruments, including a mandolin donated by Eastman Strings, a guitar and a harmonium. A few thousand more was sent through an online donation site set up for those who couldn’t attend.

Wayne Taylor, who hosted the event at his church, set the mood for the three-hour show, singing the last line of What a Wonderful World, and then, as the final chord still rang, adding, “We love you, Kip.” For the rest of the afternoon and evening, many of the musicians who performed had something to say about the man they were honoring.

Despite the somber reason for the benefit – to help with medical bills and final expenses – the mood was upbeat, much like a memorial service for a much-loved uncle who was talented, intelligent, funny and, well, somewhat of a rascal. Kip Martin is all of those things.

The stage and the audience were sprinkled with well known personalities from Washington D.C.’s vibrant bluegrass scene: Frank Solivan and his band mates from Dirty Kitchen, fiddlers Chris Sexton, Wally Hughes and Patrick McAvinue, band leader and radio host Lisa Kay Howard-Hughes, Dudley Connell of the Seldom Scene, radio host Katy Daley and many more. The DC Bluegrass Union, which Kip founded before moving to Nashville several years ago, was well represented.

The night ended with an open jam, with nearly two dozen pickers, pros and fans alike, joining in Will The Circle Be Unbroken. There were more than a few misty eyes at the end. But there was also proof, once again that the bluegrass community knows how to take care of its own.

Tag: Lisa Kay Howard

Wally and Lisa Kay Hughes leaving Liberty Pike

Kip Martin feted Sunday afternoon