Since she first began writing songs a little over a decade ago she has composed over 250, recording over half of them. Her songs have been recorded by Alison Krauss and Union Station (My Poor Old Heart on their Lonely Runs Both Ways album), the Seldom Scene (Sad Old Train) and more artists.  Twelve of her originals, along with two unique covers (including Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time”), compose Gaining Wisdom, Hughes’ first nationally-released album on Rounder Records. The album was produced by the legendary Tony Rice, and features contributions from an elite group of supporting musicians and harmony vocalists such as Alison Krauss, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rhonda Vincent, Carl Jackson, and Alecia Nugent.
 
Hughes cultivated a love of acoustic music born of hearing the bluegrass bands brought in to perform at her local church as she was growing up. She began writing and recording in earnest in 1996, cutting an album’s worth of songs. Continuing to write relentlessly, Hughes spent five years gathering material for her first bluegrass album, 2001’s Somewhere in Time. That album picked up word-of-mouth buzz and won her a devoted following among both bluegrass fans and critics, and was followed by the twenty-one track collection Same Old Me in 2003. Union Station bassist Barry Bales heard a track from Same Old Me on WNCW’s bluegrass program, and brought Hughes to the attention of Alison Krauss, who quickly became a fan of Hughes’ powerful, insightful songcraft.
The album also brought Tony Rice into the fold. "Shortly before Christmas of 2003,” Donna recalls, “I received a phone call out of the blue from Tony Rice. He asked if he could produce my next album…it amazed me at the time, because my car CD changer was filled with Tony Rice albums! “In Donna,” Rice says, “I heard something that was down to earth, with a definitive southern flavor to it. And yet there was something different about her voice and the way she structured her music that implied a more flexible, adventurous approach.”
 
“She has the rare ability,” raves Union Station bassist Barry Bales, “to take song topics that others have overdone and write about them from a new perspective.”   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 made a powerful statement from an artist who has only just begun her career.

MUSIC ROW - "There is also an uncontested DisCovery Award winner in this stack of platters. Donna Hughes is a songwriter that you all need to pay heed to, even you non bluegrassers. DONNA HUGHES/Bottom Of A Glass / Writer: Donna Hughes; Producer: Tony Rice; Publisher: Flying Hound, BMI; Rounder (track) — Hughes is the newest female sensation in bluegrass. She’s not only an expressive vocalist, but an extraordinary songwriter as well. She shines on this debut single, a lickety-split cautionary tale of a wayward male. Her instrumental support on this Gaining Wisdom CD is jaw dropping. In addition to producer Rice, the cast includes Sam Bush, Rob Ickes, Scott Vestal and other top-drawer pickers, not to mention such harmony vocalists as Carl Jackson, Alecia Nugent, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Sonya Isaacs, Alison Krauss and Rhonda Vincent. Buy and believe."
 
USA TODAY - "Find Me Out on a Mountain Top," Donna Hughes: Sumptuously doleful tune that sounds like — but isn’t — a century-old Appalachian lament.
 
 
Charting  
 
"Gaining Wisdom" reached #13 on XM Radio’s Bluegrass Junction Top 40 Albums chart and the singles “Too Many” and “Bottom of a Glass” reaching #6 and #28, respectively, on Bluegrass Junction’s Top 30 Tracks Chart.  The album debuted at #10 on the Billboard Bluegrass Album Chart and reached #4 on the Cashbox Magazine Bluegrass Album Chart.
 
Other chart successes were:  Bluegrass Now Magazine Fan Choice Top 20 (reached #4); Bluegrass Now Magazine Top 30 Albums [retail sales (#20)]; Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine’s National Bluegrass Survey Top 30 Singles Chart (“Bottom of a Glass" reached #15); Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey Top 15 Album Chart (#14); Bluegrass Music Profiles Top 20 Singles Chart (#3); Bluegrass Music Profiles Top 10 Album Chart (#5); BluegrassRadio.org Top 15 Singles (#10); Nashville FM (Germany) Top 15 Bluegrass Albums (#15); Festival Radio Top 24 (#8 "Sad Old Train" and "Not Anymore" #24), and; Prime Cuts of Bluegrass - National Bluegrass Music Programmer's Top 5 ("Bottom of a Glass" reached #4).
 
Hughes’ second album on Rounder Records entitled “Hellos, Goodbyes, and Butterflies” produced by J.D. Crowe is set to be released shortly.
 
Donna has performed at some of the finest venues, like B.B. King's in Times Square/NYC, Eddie's Attic/The Variety Playhouse & the Red Light Cafe' in Atlanta, Merlefest, The Birchmere in D.C., The Station Inn/The Bluebird Cafe'/The Radio Cafe' & the French Quarter in Nashville, Orange Peel in Asheville, Handlebar in Greenville, Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, Bear Trap Music Festival in Wyoming, Ossippee Bluegrass Festival in Maine, Dollywood, and many more and many other great clubs/coffee houses/ wine shops & festivals across the country.