Molly Tuttle to Return in Spring 2019 with New Release
Photo Courtesy of Molly Tuttle
Rising bluegrass singer-songwriter Molly Tuttle is hardly new to the stage – in fact, she’s been playing guitar since she was 8. Now, at just 25, Tuttle is the first and only woman to have won the Guitar Player of the Year award at the International Bluegrass Music Awards, and her skills have won the hearts and ears of countless roots music listeners.
If Tuttle’s robust clawhammer and deft flatpicking techniques seem insurmountable, they are at least matched by her aptitude for songwriting. Tuttle explains, “I think my songwriting goes into who I am as a musician. Writing songs inspires different things on guitar, and vice versa.”
Her 2017 debut EP, Rise, is a testament to her personal and artistic growth, permeated by a “sense of longing – for someone, for a feeling, for a state of being,” as well as her versatility and bold musical vision that shine through in each track.
On “Save This Heart,” Tuttle delivers full-bodied vocals and a powerful demonstration of her clawhammer techniques. Her mastery of the technical, combined with the resonant lucidity of her voice, culminate in a final product that thrums with fierce urgency and raw revelation. “Darling don’t forsake my hand. Swear the light is not too far. Think I finally understand what you’ve known clearly from the start,” Tuttle sings.
Tuttle layers sweet vocals over mellow guitar on “Good Enough,” as she croons about the struggles of producing music: “Couldn’t sleep last night, too many demons floating ‘round my head... I’m finally learning how to let some doors stay shut. It gets so hard but I’m not giving up.”
If Tuttle’s explosive debut into the bluegrass scene has raised expectations for her future endeavors, she hardly seems discouraged. “I love coming up with interesting guitar parts that don’t really fit – that don’t sound like any specific genre or any other guitar player,” Tuttle explains. “I am hoping to create my own sound. To find some new ground.”
Tuttle’s debut full-length album is set for release in the spring of 2019. Check out her previous releases below and stay tuned for new music in the next few months.