Molly Tuttle
Molly Rose Tuttle (born January 14, 1993)[1] is an American vocalist, songwriter, banjo player, guitarist, recording artist, and teacher in the bluegrass tradition. She is noted for her flatpicking, clawhammer,[2] and crosspicking[3] guitar prowess. She has cited Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick, Alison Krauss and Hazel Dickens as role models.[4] In 2017, Tuttle was the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association's Guitar Player of the Year award.[5] In 2018 she won the award again, along with being named the Americana Music Association's Instrumentalist of the Year. In 2023, Tuttle won the Best Bluegrass Album for Crooked Tree and also received a nomination for the all-genre Best New Artist award at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.[6] Also in 2023, Tuttle and Golden Highway won International Bluegrass Music Awards for album Crooked Tree and the title track in the categories of Album of the Year and Song of the Year, respectively, while Tuttle won Female Vocalist of the Year.[7]
Molly Tuttle
Molly Rose Tuttle
January 14, 1993
Santa Clara, California, U.S.
Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Musician, singer-songwriter
Guitar, banjo
2006–present
Biography[edit]
Early career[edit]
Born in Santa Clara, California and raised in Palo Alto, Tuttle began playing guitar at age 8.[8][9][10] At age 11, she played onstage with her father Jack Tuttle, a bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and instructor.[10] At age 15, she joined her family band The Tuttles with AJ Lee. Her siblings Sullivan (guitar) and Michael (mandolin), and mandolist AJ Lee[11] are also in the band.[12]
In 2006, at age 13, Tuttle recorded The Old Apple Tree with her dad, an album of duets.[13] Tuttle graduated from Palo Alto High School in 2011.[14][15]
In 2011, the Tuttles self-released their Introducing the Tuttles album,[16] and the Endless Ocean album in 2013.[17]
In 2012, Tuttle was awarded merit scholarships to the Berklee College of Music for music and composition,[18] received the Foundation for Bluegrass Music's first Hazel Dickens Memorial Scholarship,[19] won the Chris Austin Songwriting Competition at the Merlefest Music Festival,[20] and appeared with her dad on A Prairie Home Companion.[21]
Collaborations[edit]
While studying at the Berklee College of Music, in 2014, Tuttle met and joined the all-female bluegrass group the Goodbye Girls.[20] They combine bluegrass, jazz, and Swedish folk music.[22] Other members are Allison de Groot (banjo), Lena Jonsson (fiddle), and Brittany Karlson (bass). They released an EP Going to Boston in 2014, and the album Snowy Side of the Mountain in 2016.[23] The band has also toured Jonsson's home country Sweden several times.[24]
Tuttle also recorded Molly Tuttle & John Mailander, a duet EP with fiddler John Mailander.[25]
In 2018, she joined Alison Brown, Missy Raines, Sierra Hull, and Becky Buller in a supergroup. The quintet performed at the Rockygrass festival in Lyons Colorado on July 27, 2018. Initially known as the Julia Belles, the group later became known as the First Ladies of Bluegrass. Additional gigs were booked at Analog at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville on September 18, 2018 and the IBMA Wide Open Bluegrass Festival on September 28, 2018. She also collaborated with Billy Strings on the songs "Sittin' on Top of the World" and "Billy in the Lowground."
The First Ladies of Bluegrass are featured on the first single from a full-length CD by Missy Raines titled Royal Traveler released in 2018 on Compass Records.[26]
Personal life[edit]
Tuttle was diagnosed with alopecia areata when she was three years old, which quickly progressed to alopecia universalis, resulting in total body hair loss.[36]