Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Biography

Molly Rose Tuttle was born on January 14, 1993, in Santa Clara, California, and raised in Palo Alto. She began playing guitar at age 8 and made her onstage debut at age 11 with her father, Jack Tuttle, a bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and instructor. By age 15, she joined the family band The Tuttles with AJ Lee, alongside siblings Sullivan on guitar and Michael on mandolin, establishing her early roots in the bluegrass tradition.[1][2][6]

Tuttle's career advanced rapidly after moving to Nashville in 2015, where she collaborated with peers and heroes in bluegrass, Americana, and folk scenes. She formed The Molly Tuttle Band and became the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association's Guitar Player of the Year in 2017, repeating in 2018 alongside the Americana Music Association's Instrumentalist of the Year. In 2021, she assembled Golden Highway—featuring mandolinist Dominick Leslie, banjoist Kyle Tuttle, fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, and bassist Shelby Means—releasing the Grammy-winning album Crooked Tree in 2022 and City of Gold in 2023, both earning Best Bluegrass Album honors. Her style blends traditional bluegrass flatpicking, clawhammer, and crosspicking guitar with singer-songwriter sophistication, pushing genre boundaries.[1][2][3][5][6]

Tuttle's accolades include IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 2023 and multiple awards for Crooked Tree, cementing her legacy as a trailblazing guitarist and innovator who honors bluegrass roots while expanding its reach into modern Americana.[2][3][4]

Fun Facts

• Molly Tuttle was the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association's Guitar Player of the Year award in 2017 at age 24, and she won it again in 2018.[1][2][6]
• She began playing guitar at age 8 and performed onstage with her father Jack Tuttle at age 11.[2]
• Tuttle moved to Nashville in 2015 and has since become a Nashville-based artist despite her California roots.[2][4][5]
• In 2018, she joined the supergroup First Ladies of Bluegrass with Alison Brown, Missy Raines, Sierra Hull, and Becky Buller for a performance at Rockygrass Festival.[2]

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Laurie Lewis - role model and inspiration (general stylistic influence) [early career]
• Kathy Kallick - mentor who provided songwriting guidance and encouragement (early song feedback sessions) [early career]
• Hazel Dickens - role model (general stylistic influence) [early career]
• Alison Krauss - role model (general stylistic influence) [early career]
• Bill Monroe - indirect influence via Kathy Kallick's encouragement to write from personal perspective (N/A) [early career]
• Jack Tuttle - father and early onstage collaborator/teacher (family performances) [childhood, age 11]

Key Collaborators

• Dominick Leslie - mandolinist in Golden Highway (Crooked Tree (2022), City of Gold (2023)) [2021-present]
• Kyle Tuttle - banjoist in Golden Highway, brother (Crooked Tree (2022), City of Gold (2023)) [2021-present]
• Bronwyn Keith-Hynes - fiddle player in Golden Highway (Crooked Tree (2022), City of Gold (2023)) [2021-present]
• Shelby Means - bassist in Golden Highway (Crooked Tree (2022), City of Gold (2023)) [2021-present]
• AJ Lee - bandmate in The Tuttles with AJ Lee (family band performances) [age 15 onward]
• Sullivan Tuttle - brother, guitarist in The Tuttles (family band) [early career]
• Michael Tuttle - brother, mandolinist in The Tuttles (family band) [early career]
• Alison Brown - supergroup First Ladies of Bluegrass (Rockygrass Festival performance) [2018]
• Missy Raines - supergroup First Ladies of Bluegrass (Rockygrass Festival performance) [2018]
• Sierra Hull - supergroup First Ladies of Bluegrass (Rockygrass Festival performance) [2018]
• Becky Buller - supergroup First Ladies of Bluegrass (Rockygrass Festival performance) [2018]

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia