New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Acclaimed singer, songwriter, and musician Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway's new album, Crooked Tree, is out today on CD and digital via Nonesuch Records-Tuttle's first release on the label; the vinyl is due May 13. You can get it and hear it here. Recorded live at Nashville's Oceanway Studios, Crooked Tree was produced by Tuttle and Jerry Douglas and features collaborations with Sierra Hull, Old Crow Medicine Show, Margo Price, Billy Strings, Dan Tyminski and Gillian Welch. The album explores Tuttle's love of bluegrass, which she discovered through her father, a music teacher and multi-instrumentalist, and her grandfather, a banjo player. Across these thirteen tracks, all of which were written/co-written by Tuttle, she honors the bluegrass tradition while also pushing the genre in new directions.
Tuttle has released a video for the album track "Castilleja," which she co-wrote with Ketch Secor. You can watch the video, made by Robert Edridge-Waks, here:
Here is some of the critical acclaim for Crooked Tree:
"Molly Tuttle's fingers move so quickly, she could pick your pocket without breaking stride. Though she's only been releasing albums for three years, the sharpest ears in Americana music have taken notice." -The New York Times
"Tuttle's guitar playing, with its sly sense of rhythm and incisive, articulate lines, is a central protagonist in arrangements that steer the possibilities of a bluegrass band toward cinematic sophistication. The poised clarity of her singing suggests that she's taken in everything around her, from her immediate surroundings out to distant horizons, before plotting where she'll stand." -NPR Music
"Crooked Tree feels like the album Molly Tuttle was destined to make." -Uncut
"Everything sounds alive, vital, and perfectly in focus." -Mojo
"Ask anyone who has heard her, and they'll likely say Molly Tuttle is too talented to stay in one lane." -Billboard
"Flatpicking prodigy...alongside lightning-fast picking, the album showcases song-sized world-building." -Tennessean
"One of the best six-string players on planet earth." -American Songwriter
"Crooked Tree may be the best album of the year so far; the musicianship and songwriting on the album stand without parallel." - Top40-Charts.com
"You can practically hear the crackle of flames rising from Tuttle's acoustic…such is the speed and precision of her award-winning, dead-on-perfect picking." -Guitar World
"She's risen to the highest pantheons of gifted young guitarists, and excelled in such a way as to assure her own superstardom...wonderful new record" -Bluegrass Today
"In our contemporary time of great political divide, Tuttle's recent single 'Big Backyard'…is a nugget of peace and wisdom." -Nashville Scene
"Crooked Tree feels like a party where everyone is invited." -No Depression
"A satisfyingly solid collection of new originals." -Glide
"Crooked Tree is the Molly Tuttle record we've been waiting for, one that is firmly rooted in bluegrass, but imbued with her own sharp style as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter." -Arts Fuse
"Dazzling guitar work…her finest album to date." -Holler
"Tuttle manages to deftly navigate a steep challenge-staying true to tradition while giving it a contemporary facelift for her strong songwriting to shine through." -Country Standard Time
In celebration of the new music, Tuttle and Golden Highway-Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (fiddle), Dominick Leslie (mandolin), Shelby Means (bass) and Kyle Tuttle (banjo)-are currently in the midst of their extensive headline tour with upcoming shows at New York's Brooklyn Made, Philadelphia's Milkboy, Savannah's District Live, Tampa's The Attic and Alexandria's Birchmere among others. See below for the complete itinerary.
In addition to Tuttle (vocals, guitars), Douglas (dobro), Keith-Hynes (fiddle) and Leslie (mandolin), Crooked Tree also features musicians Darol Anger (fiddle), Ron Block (banjo), Mike Bub (upright bass), Jason Carter (fiddle), Viktor Krauss (upright bass), Todd Phillips (upright bass), and Christian Sedelmyer (fiddle) with additional harmony vocals from Tina Adair, Lindsay Lou, and Melody Walker.
Raised in Northern California, Tuttle attended Berklee College of Music and moved to Nashville in 2015. In the years since, she has released two full length albums: her 2019 debut, When You're Ready, and …but i'd rather be with you, a covers album released in 2020. NPR Music praised When You're Ready saying, "Tuttle applies remarkable precision to her pursuit of clarity … handsomely crafted melodies that gently insinuate themselves into the memory," while the Wall Street Journal added, "stunning acoustic guitar-picking … invigorating, mature and attention-grabbing first album." Additionally, of …but i'd rather be with you, the New Yorker said, "the record's star is 'She's a Rainbow' … in Tuttle's reading, the song uses a bluegrass spirit to look to the past-and a feminist allegiance to peek at the future."
An award-winning artist, Tuttle was named Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards and the International Bluegrass Music Association's Guitar Player of the Year in both 2017 and 2018, the first woman in the history of the IBMA to receive the honor. Tuttle has performed around the world, including shows with Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, Hiss Golden Messenger, Jason Isbell, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Dwight Yoakam as well as at several major festivals including Bonnaroo, Newport Folk, and Pilgrimage.
MOLLY TUTTLE & GOLDEN HIGHWAY ON TOUR
Apr 1 Stone Mountain Arts Center Brownfield, ME
Apr 2 Higher Ground South Burlington, VT
Apr 3 Bull Run Shirley, MA
Apr 6 Brooklyn Made Brooklyn, NY
Apr 7 Levon Helm Studios Woodstock, NY
Apr 8 Outpost in the Burbs Montclair, NJ
Apr 9 Milkboy Philly Philadelphia, PA
Apr 10 Baltimore Soundstage Baltimore, MD
Apr 20 District Live Savannah, GA
Apr 21 The Attic Tampa, FL
Apr 22 Bok Tower Gardens Lake Wales, FL
Apr 23 Moon Crush Miramar Beach, FL
Apr 24 Princess Theatre Decatur, IL
Apr 28 The Guild Theatre Menlo Park, CA
Apr 30 Stagecoach Indio, CA
Jun 4 Brevard Music Center Brevard, NC
Jun 9 Spoleto Festival Charleston, SC
Jun 10 Visualite Theatre Charlotte, NC
Jun 11 Cat's Cradle Carrboro, NC
Jun 17 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Telluride, CO
Jun 23 The Sinclair Cambridge, MA
Jun 24 Green River Festival Greenfield, MA
Jun 25 Caramoor Katonah, NY
Jun 26 Red Wing RootsMusic Festival Mount Solon, VA
Jun 27 Birchmere Alexandria, VA
Jul 2 High SierraMusic Festival Quincy, CA
Jul 20 KettleHouse Amphitheater* Bonner, MT
Jul 21 The ELM* Bozeman, MT
Jul 24 Northwest String Summit North Plains, OR
Aug 28 Sacred Rose Festival** Bridgeview, IL
Sep 2 Earl Scruggs Music Festival Mill Spring, NC
Sep 3 Blue Ridge Music Center Galax, VA.
