Molly Tuttle has broken boundaries and garnered the respect of her peers, all while winning over fans with her confessional songwriting and incredible flatpicking guitar technique. Graced with a clear, true voice and a keen melodic sense, the emerging 25-year-old is poised for a long and exciting career.
And we couldn't be more thrilled that the award-winning singer/songwriter is joining us for a very special Live at Fraser performance on March 11. Get your tickets here for this one-of-a-kind experience.
Tuttle’s critically acclaimed EP Rise earned her Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards, and a residency at the Ryman, supporting Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit. She has continued to accumulate accolades winning Folk Alliance International’s honor for Song of the Year for “You Didn’t Call My Name,” and taking home her second trophy for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitar Player of the Year -- the first woman in the history of the IBMA to win that honor.
Now the Nashville-based artist is evolving her signature sound with a full-length album that showcases her astonishing range and versatility.
Tuttle grew up in a musical family. She took violin lessons as a young girl and over time grew more interested in guitar. “My dad brought me home a little guitar and he would sit with me whenever I wanted to play it and show me something,” she recalls in a press release. “He was really encouraging, and I think that’s what made me stick with the guitar. I liked having a fun thing to do with my dad and practicing didn’t feel like a chore.”
After graduating from high school in California, Tuttle moved to Boston to study guitar and songwriting at Berklee College of Music. “I developed a much better understanding of the fingerboard.” she says. “That gave me the freedom to play more of what I heard in my head and to try to play something that was meaningful to me.”
That sense of freedom has made its way into her debut When You’re Ready. The full-length album, produced by Ryan Hewitt ( The Avett Brothers, The Lumineers) and featuring Sierra Hull on mandolin and Jason Isbell on backing vocals, emanates a true progression of her talent and musical ambition. “This album feels like more of a collaboration with new people I’ve met since moving to Nashville, which is really cool,” she says.
Tuttle finds inspiration in many songwriters, including Hazel Dickens, Gillian Welch and Neko Case, and it was seeing Townes Van Zandt ascribed by those she admired that led her to discovering “White Freightliner Blues.” Tuttle's interpretation of the song has become a showcase for her accomplished playing and an inspiration to the next generation of pickers. “I love seeing any young person trying to play one of my songs or just learning something from me,” she says. “One of my goals is to inspire the next generation, especially young girls, to play guitar. I think if girls see a woman doing something, it helps them think, ‘I can do that, too.’”
Learn more about Molly Tuttle’s 3/11 performance at WGBH here. She'll be joined by the popular traditional Celtic trio
The Friel Sisters. And check out
Tuttle's 2018 Mountain Stage performance here. Accompanied by Duncan Wickel on fiddle and mandolin, Hasee Ciaccio on bass, and Wes Corbett on banjo, her pristine playing and vocals shine bright while performing songs from her breakthrough EP.
