Crooked Tree

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Release Date
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Crooked Tree, the Nonesuch Records debut album from singer, songwriter, and musician Molly Tuttle and her band Golden Highway, was recorded live at Nashville’s Oceanway Studios. The album 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. These thirteen tracks, all written or co-written by Tuttle, explore her lifelong love of bluegrass. "Molly Tuttle’s fingers move so quickly, she could pick your pocket without breaking stride," says the New York Times. NPR calls it "a set of dashingly virtuosic songs." Grammy Nominee for Best New Artist, Best Bluegrass Album.

Description

Grammy Nominee for Best New Artist, Best Bluegrass Album

Acclaimed singer, songwriter, and musician Molly Tuttle released her Nonesuch Records debut album, Crooked Tree, April 1 with her new bluegrass collective Golden Highway; vinyl followed May 13. The album's title track is out today; you can watch Tuttle and her band perform it live 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 though 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.

“I always knew I wanted to make a bluegrass record someday,” Tuttle says. “Once I started writing, everything flowed so easily: sometimes I’ve felt an internal pressure to come up with a sound no one’s heard before, but this time my intention was just to make an album that reflected the music that’s been passed down through generations in my family. I found a way to do that while writing songs that feel true to who I am, and it really helped me to grow as a songwriter.”

Here's Tuttle and the band performing the album track "She'll Change":

Tuttle and Golden Highway—Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (fiddle), Dominick Leslie (mandolin), Shelby Means (bass), and Kyle Tuttle (banjo)—embarked on an extensive headline tour in celebration of the new album on January 20, 2022. 

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.

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Jerry Douglas and Molly Tuttle
Engineered by Sean Sullivan
Assistant Engineering by Ryan Yount and Ethan Howard
Mixed by Sean Sullivan
Mastered by Paul Blakemore
Recorded, mixed, and overdubbed at Oceanway Studios (Studio B), Addiction Studios, and The Doghouse Studio in Nashville, Tennessee

Art Direction and Design by Nick Steinhardt
Additional Design by Alexander Wicklas
Photography by Samantha Raffaela Muljat

ns_album_releasedate
Album Status
Artist Name
Molly Tuttle
Golden Highway
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Molly Tuttle, vocals (1-13), guitar (1-13)
Jerry Douglas, dobro (1-6, 8, 9, 11-13), harmony vocals (4)
Ron Block, banjo (1-3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11-13), guitar (7, 10), harmony vocals (1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11)
Dominick Leslie, mandolin (1-3, 5-7, 9-13)
Jason Carter, fiddle (1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13)
Mike Bub, upright bass (1, 2, 5-9, 13), bass (12)
Tina Adair, harmony vocals (1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13)
Margo Price, vocals (2)
Billy Strings, vocals (3), guitar (3)
Christian Sedelmyer, fiddle (3, 7, 10, 11, 13)
Viktor Krauss, upright bass (3, 7)
Ketch Secor, vocals (4), fiddle (4)
Morgan Jahnig, upright bass (4), harmony vocals (4)
Cory Younts, harmonica (4), harmony vocals (4)
Jerry Pentecost, drums and percussion (4), harmony vocals (4)
Mike Harris, banjo (4), harmony vocals (4)
Mason Via, mandolin (4), guitjo (4), harmony vocals (4)
Melody Walker, harmony vocals (4)
Lindsay Lou, harmony vocals (4)
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, fiddle (5)
Darol Anger, fiddle (7, 10, 13)
Sierra Hull, mandolin (8)
Dan Tyminski, vocals (10)
Todd Phillips, upright bass (10, 11)
Gillian Welch, vocals (12)
Jack Tuttle, vocals (13)

reissues?
new-release
Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
LP+MP3
Price
19.00
UPC
075597911732
Label
CD+MP3
Price
13.00
UPC
075597911756
Label
96/24 HD FLAC
Price
13.00
UPC
075597905427
Label
MP3
Price
12.00
UPC
075597905397

News & Reviews

  • Congratulations to Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, who won the International Folk Music Awards' Album of the Year for City of Gold, which had also won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, and to Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra), who received the International Folk Music Awards 2024 People’s Voice Award, presented to "an individual who unabashedly embraces social and political commentary in their creative work and public careers," in a ceremony at the Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, last night.

     

  • Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, fresh off their second consecutive GRAMMY win for Best Bluegrass Album last week, for City of Gold, have announced their "Down the Rabbit Hole" US tour this spring and summer. The dates begin April 18 and run through June with stops in Atlanta, Memphis, Milwaukee, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, Omaha, St. Louis, and more. The new shows follow the band’s Big Ears Festival set next month and coincide with stops at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

  • About This Album

    Grammy Nominee for Best New Artist, Best Bluegrass Album

    Acclaimed singer, songwriter, and musician Molly Tuttle released her Nonesuch Records debut album, Crooked Tree, April 1 with her new bluegrass collective Golden Highway; vinyl followed May 13. The album's title track is out today; you can watch Tuttle and her band perform it live 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 though 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.

    “I always knew I wanted to make a bluegrass record someday,” Tuttle says. “Once I started writing, everything flowed so easily: sometimes I’ve felt an internal pressure to come up with a sound no one’s heard before, but this time my intention was just to make an album that reflected the music that’s been passed down through generations in my family. I found a way to do that while writing songs that feel true to who I am, and it really helped me to grow as a songwriter.”

    Here's Tuttle and the band performing the album track "She'll Change":

    Tuttle and Golden Highway—Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (fiddle), Dominick Leslie (mandolin), Shelby Means (bass), and Kyle Tuttle (banjo)—embarked on an extensive headline tour in celebration of the new album on January 20, 2022. 

    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.

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Molly Tuttle, vocals (1-13), guitar (1-13)
    Jerry Douglas, dobro (1-6, 8, 9, 11-13), harmony vocals (4)
    Ron Block, banjo (1-3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11-13), guitar (7, 10), harmony vocals (1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11)
    Dominick Leslie, mandolin (1-3, 5-7, 9-13)
    Jason Carter, fiddle (1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13)
    Mike Bub, upright bass (1, 2, 5-9, 13), bass (12)
    Tina Adair, harmony vocals (1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13)
    Margo Price, vocals (2)
    Billy Strings, vocals (3), guitar (3)
    Christian Sedelmyer, fiddle (3, 7, 10, 11, 13)
    Viktor Krauss, upright bass (3, 7)
    Ketch Secor, vocals (4), fiddle (4)
    Morgan Jahnig, upright bass (4), harmony vocals (4)
    Cory Younts, harmonica (4), harmony vocals (4)
    Jerry Pentecost, drums and percussion (4), harmony vocals (4)
    Mike Harris, banjo (4), harmony vocals (4)
    Mason Via, mandolin (4), guitjo (4), harmony vocals (4)
    Melody Walker, harmony vocals (4)
    Lindsay Lou, harmony vocals (4)
    Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, fiddle (5)
    Darol Anger, fiddle (7, 10, 13)
    Sierra Hull, mandolin (8)
    Dan Tyminski, vocals (10)
    Todd Phillips, upright bass (10, 11)
    Gillian Welch, vocals (12)
    Jack Tuttle, vocals (13)

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Jerry Douglas and Molly Tuttle
    Engineered by Sean Sullivan
    Assistant Engineering by Ryan Yount and Ethan Howard
    Mixed by Sean Sullivan
    Mastered by Paul Blakemore
    Recorded, mixed, and overdubbed at Oceanway Studios (Studio B), Addiction Studios, and The Doghouse Studio in Nashville, Tennessee

    Art Direction and Design by Nick Steinhardt
    Additional Design by Alexander Wicklas
    Photography by Samantha Raffaela Muljat