You sometimes hear the prejudice about bluegrass that it is a music movement with little innovation and mainly practiced by white men of middle age or older. Anyone who has been to the Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival before, of course, knows better. But with Della Mae there is a band playing at Noordplein this year that can refute all three assumptions in one go anyway. Della Mae - with members from various North American states - consists of only young women, one more virtuoso on her instrument than the other. Their sound is anchored in bluegrass, but also has influences from old time country, with songs prayed in strong storytelling with committed content. They have already performed in more than 30 countries, or rather proclaimed their musical message of peace and connection. The women of Della Mae are on a mission in which they want to show that women can make music at the highest level. And they don't just relate that to themselves, they extend it: they literally and figuratively take the stage to increase the opportunities for young girls and women to achieve something in music by recruiting new talents in various fields and different phases in their careers. It is an honor to receive this band in Rotterdam.