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Stairway to Heaven

Led Zeppelin · 1971 · solo by Jimmy Page
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Guitar hero

Molly Tuttle

The flatpicker who rewrote who wins bluegrass guitar awards

Molly Tuttle grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, the daughter of bluegrass teacher and multi-instrumentalist Jack Tuttle. She started on guitar as a young child and was soon performing with her father and siblings in the family band The Tuttles, which also featured young mandolinist AJ Lee. Those years on the California bluegrass circuit gave her deep command of traditional repertoire, and she developed her flatpicking and clawhammer-style guitar playing well before adulthood.

She went on to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, then moved to Nashville, where she played with the string band The Goodbye Girls and began writing songs seriously. Her 2017 EP Rise announced a thoughtful songwriter as well as a dazzling picker. That same year she became the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association's Guitar Player of the Year award, and she won it again the following year.

Her debut full-length When You're Ready arrived in 2019, followed in 2020 by a covers album that recast songs by rock, punk and folk acts in acoustic settings. She then formed Golden Highway, and their 2022 album Crooked Tree, featuring guests including Billy Strings, won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, while Tuttle was also nominated for Best New Artist.

The follow-up City of Gold won the same Grammy category, making her a back-to-back winner. She has spoken openly about living with alopecia, often performing without a wig, and has become a visible role model for young women in bluegrass. More recent work has pushed toward pop and Americana songwriting while keeping her picking front and centre.

The 10 greatest Molly Tuttle solos

  1. 1
    Crooked Tree
    Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway · solo by Molly Tuttle · 2022
  2. 2
    Dooley's Farm
    Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway · solo by Molly Tuttle · 2022
  3. 3
    Take the Journey
    Molly Tuttle · solo by Molly Tuttle · 2019
  4. 4
    She'll Change
    Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway · solo by Molly Tuttle · 2022
  5. 5
    Castilleja
    Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway · solo by Molly Tuttle · 2022
  6. 6
    Big Backyard
    Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway · solo by Molly Tuttle · 2022
  7. 7
    El Dorado
    Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway · solo by Molly Tuttle · 2023
  8. 8
    Olympia, WA
    Molly Tuttle · solo by Molly Tuttle · 2020
  9. 9
    She's a Rainbow
    Molly Tuttle · solo by Molly Tuttle · 2020
  10. 10
    Standing on the Moon
    Molly Tuttle · solo by Molly Tuttle · 2020

The sound

Tuttle is a precise, fleet flatpicker with a clean, singing tone, but her signature is 'clawhammer guitar', a technique she adapted from old-time banjo in which she strikes down with the back of her fingernail and catches the thumb string for a rolling, percussive drive. She crosspicks smoothly, phrases solos melodically rather than just racing, and uses a capo and alternate voicings to create ringing, open textures. Her playing sits comfortably between tradition and modern songcraft, supporting her voice without ever losing its instrumental bite.

  • Pre-War Guitars Co. dreadnought (guitar) A vintage-style dreadnought built for loud, woody bluegrass projection.
  • Martin dreadnought (guitar) The classic bluegrass body style she learned on and has played throughout her career.
  • Open-back banjo (guitar) She plays banjo too, and its clawhammer technique shaped her guitar style.
  • Capo (effect) Used constantly to put songs in singable keys while keeping open-string ring.
  • Flatpick (effect) A heavy pick for the strong attack her flatpicking solos demand.

Covers

  • Olympia, WA, originally by Rancid She keeps the punk energy but channels it through fast bluegrass picking.
  • She's a Rainbow, originally by The Rolling Stones The baroque-pop hook translates charmingly to acoustic strings.
  • Standing on the Moon, originally by Grateful Dead An intimate, understated take that honours the song's wistfulness.
  • Zero, originally by Yeah Yeah Yeahs A bold choice that reimagines dance-rock as a string-band tune.
  • How Can I Tell You, originally by Cat Stevens A tender folk reading built on delicate fingerpicked accompaniment.

Timeline

  • 1993 Born in California and raised in the Bay Area
  • 2017 Releases the EP Rise
  • 2017 First woman to win IBMA Guitar Player of the Year
  • 2018 Wins IBMA Guitar Player of the Year again
  • 2019 Releases debut album When You're Ready
  • 2020 Releases the covers album ...but i'd rather be with you
  • 2022 Releases Crooked Tree with Golden Highway
  • 2023 Crooked Tree wins the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album; releases City of Gold
  • 2024 City of Gold wins the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album

Facts

  1. Her father, Jack Tuttle, is a well-known bluegrass teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  2. She played in her family's band, The Tuttles, as a youngster.
  3. She was the first woman to win IBMA Guitar Player of the Year.
  4. She won that IBMA guitar award in consecutive years, 2017 and 2018.
  5. She developed a guitar technique adapted from clawhammer banjo.
  6. She studied at Berklee College of Music.
  7. She has spoken publicly about living with alopecia and often performs without a wig.
  8. Her 2020 covers album reworked songs by acts ranging from Rancid to the Rolling Stones.
  9. Billy Strings guests on her song Dooley's Farm.
  10. She won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album two years in a row with Golden Highway.