Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Molly Tuttle emerged as a standout acoustic guitarist and banjo player whose songwriting and vocal work have also drawn widespread notice, advancing from her early performances alongside her father’s bluegrass ensemble to rank among the foremost figures in contemporary folk, bluegrass, and Americana by her mid-twenties. Valued for her precise flatpicking, clawhammer, and cross-picking technique, she launched a solo path in 2015 and delivered her debut album, When You’re Ready, in 2019. The buoyant single “Crooked Tree,” which preceded the similarly titled full-length release, appeared in early 2022; that project served as her introduction on Nonesuch Records and her first collaboration with the bluegrass ensemble Golden Highway. Guests on the record included Margo Price, Billy Strings, Old Crow Medicine Show, Sierra Hull, Dan Tyminski, and Gillian Welch, and the album received the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album at the 65th Annual ceremony. City of Gold arrived in 2023, again showcasing Golden Highway on a vigorous collection of Western-inflected bluegrass, folk, and country material that Tuttle co-produced with dobro master Jerry Douglas. The songs were composed during the band’s hundred-date national tour the previous year and featured the singles “El Dorado” and “San Joaquin” plus the Dave Matthews collaboration “Yosemite,” securing Golden Highway a second Bluegrass Album of the Year Grammy.