Big Howdy a progressive bluegrass band that nods to the past while barreling into the future.
Dede Wyland: vocals, guitar A native of Wisconsin, singer and guitarist Dede honed her bluegrass skills from 1975 through 1979 playing throughout the Midwest and Central states with the Milwaukee-based band ’Grass, Food & Lodging. She then moved to New York, where she became a founding member of Tony Trischka and Skyline, one of the leading progressive bluegrass groups of the 1980s. She toured internationally with Skyline through the ’80s. During those years her clear, powerful voice made her a perennial nominee in the annual awards poll of the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA). As one of the few women at the time who was performing in a high-profile touring bluegrass band, Dede was a role model and an artistic influence for a generation of female bluegrass musicians who would shape the music in the years to come. After leaving Skyline in 1987, Dede moved to Tucson, Arizona, and then to the Washington-Baltimore area in 1990, performing regionally and concentrating on her work as a vocal coach. Since 1999, Dede’s singing has won her a shelf full of “Wammie” awards from the Washington Area Music Association. Her first full-length solo recording, “Keep the Light On” (Patuxent Music 189) was released in 2009 followed by her 2018 release “Urge for Going” (Patuxent Music 303). Her career is the subject of its own chapter in Murphy Hicks Henry’s 2013 book Pretty Good for a Girl: Women in Bluegrass (University of Illinois Press).
Randy Barrett: vocals, banjo, guitar Randy is a singer, songwriter, banjoist and fiddler who has been a mainstay of the DC bluegrass scene for more than three decades. The DC native has won six Washington-area Music Awards and his songs have been recorded by Jim Hurst, Dede Wyland and Chesapeake, among other artists. Randy has recorded two albums: Each & Every Day and Lights of Home. He also appears on the 
Patuxent Banjo Project, which features top players from the greater Washington, DC area. Randy is a board director of the Bluegrass Country Foundation, which operates Bluegrass Country Radio. He is also proprietor of Greenway Violins in Falls Church, VA.

 
Ira Gitlin: vocals, bass Ira Gitlin, a native of New York City, is widely known and respected in Washington-Baltimore bluegrass, folk, and roots-music circles as a versatile multi-instrumentalist, teacher and writer. A former National Bluegrass Banjo Champion and multiple Wammie award winner, Ira has backed up such nationally known performers as Bill Harrell, the Johnson Mountain Boys, Laurie Lewis, Peter Rowan, and Peter “P.D.Q. Bach” Schickele and has played on dozens of recording projects. He can be seen performing frequently with the Blue Moon Cowgirls, Karen Collins & the Backroads Band, the Oklahoma Twisters and other DC-area artists. 
 Ira has written about bluegrass music in the pages of Bluegrass Unlimited, Banjo NewsLetter and Bluegrass Now, and he has contributed liner notes to several commercial recordings. He has lectured on the history of bluegrass for the Smithsonian Associates, and in 2005 he delivered a paper at the world’s first academic symposium on bluegrass. In 1993, Ira was a one-day winner on the television game show Jeopardy.
Tom McLaughlin: vocals, mandolin, guitar Tom grew up in western New York state far from civilization. When he was ten he saved up $15 and ordered a guitar from the Sears catalog and then wore out his older sister's folk and rock & roll records learning to play it. During his college years, while honing his Clapton impersonation, he became aware of bluegrass and gradually picked up banjo, fiddle and mandolin. After several postgraduate years of working with increasingly loud country-rock bands he got tired of hauling amps and of trying to play a fiddle in tune while wearing earplugs and joined a bluegrass band as mandolin player. He is a contest winner on guitar, mandolin and fiddle, and a Winfield finalist on guitar and mandolin. Tom is a former member of the Fiasco Brothers, Special Delivery, the Neon Valley Boys, Rock Creek, Roadside Attraction and the Providence Mandolin Orchestra. He currently performs with Big Howdy, the Oklahoma Twisters (western swing) and Corner Pocket (swing).
Big Howdy VIDEOS
Big Howdy Upcoming gigs

Thursday, March 2, 2023

The Quarry House

8401 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD.

301-844-5504

7:30-10pm (no cover)

 

Thursday, March 9th

The New Deal Cafe

113 Centerway

Roosevelt Center
Greenbelt, MD 20770

301-474-5642

7-9pm

 

Thursday, June 8th

Private Event

Brooklandville, MD

*Why not get Big Howdy to play music at your big event? Email Big Howdy at mrbarretone@gmail.com

 

Saturday, June 10th

Private Event

Chevy Chase, MD

*Why not get Big Howdy to play music at your big event? Email Big Howdy at mrbarretone@gmail.com

 

Thursday, June 29

Cherry Hill Park – Concert in the Park

312 Park Ave, Falls Church, VA. 22046

7PM

For more information: https://www.fallschurchva.gov/632/Concerts-in-the-Park

*For a fun evening, bring a blanket or folding chairs and a
picnic dinner!

 

Saturday, July 1

Hank Dietle’s Tavern

Big Howdy’s Inaugural Bluegrass Showcase
w/Special Guests!

11010 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852

5-7pm

 

Saturday, August 5

Hank Dietle’s Tavern

Big Howdy’s Inaugural Bluegrass Showcase w/Special Guests!

11010 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852

5-7pm

 

Wednesday, August 16

Hubert Humphrey Park

(In front of the Friendship Heights Village Center)
4433 S Park Ave, Chevy Chase, MD 20815

7-8PM

*In the event of inclement weather, concerts will be moved indoors!

 

Saturday, Sept 9

Bluegrass on the Farm

18400 Muncaster Road, Derwood MD

Afternoon event, set time - TBD

 

Saturday, Sept 30

Brentsville Bluegrass Festival

Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre
12229 Bristow Rd.
Bristow, VA 20136
(703) 365-7895

10AM -12PM

For more information:
https://www.pwcva.gov/department/parks-recreation-tourism/brentsville-bluegrass-concert-series

 

Sunday, Oct 1

Takoma Park Street Festival

7000 Carroll Ave

Takoma Park, MD

10AM – 5PM, rain or shine

Set time: TBD

 

Saturday, Oct 7

Hank Dietle’s Tavern

Big Howdy’s Bluegrass Showcase w/Special Guests

11010 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
MD 20852

5-7pm

 

Saturday, Nov 4

Hank Dietle’s Tavern

Big Howdy’s Bluegrass Showcase w/Special Guests

11010 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
MD 20852

5-7pm

 

Saturday, December 2

Hank Dietle’s Tavern

Big Howdy’s Bluegrass Showcase w/Special Guests

11010 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
MD 20852

5-7pm

 

 

 

Contact Big Howdy WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Submitting Form...

The server encountered an error.

Form received.

 Hire Big Howdy FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT CONTACT dedewyland@gmail.com

© 2023 bighowdyband.com

 

Photography by Kendall Barrett