September 10, 2025 • 25 mins
On this episode of Takin’ A Walk, host Buzz Knight is joined by Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and guitarist Molly Tuttle. Known for her groundbreaking flatpicking style and deeply authentic songwriting, Molly has become one of the brightest voices in Americana and bluegrass. She talks about the journey that’s shaped her artistry, the inspiration behind her new music, and how she continues to blend tradition with innovation. From life on the road with her band Golden Highway to reflections on songwriting and resilience, this episode is a chance to hear Molly share her story in her own words.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I don't want to like shoehorn fast guitar licks into
every single song. But at the same time, it's like
such a big part of what I do is I'm
a guitar player, and I want to be able to
express myself on the instrument as well as, like through
my lyrics and my singings.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
What do you get when you blend dazzling flat pick
and fearless songwriting and a steady curiosity about what roots
music can sound like? Today, I'm buzznight. Welcome to Taking
a Walk, and you get Molly Title, a Grammy winning
musician who keeps reimagining the boundaries of Americana. She's not
(00:38):
just a virtuoso on the guitar, She's a storyteller, unafraid
to weave together tradition and innovation. On today's episode, we're
going to talk about our brand new project, So Long
Little Miss Sunshine, Fresh Territory for Molly, another leap forward
in her already remarkable journey. We'll talk to Molly Tuttle.
(01:01):
I'm taking a walk after these words, Taking a walk,
Molly Tuttle. We've been trying to get you on this
Sangled podcast for a while, and now it's happening. I'm
so excited.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Well, I know, thanks for having me. Yeah, I'm so
excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Thank you so much. We're gonna get into a lot
of stuff, certainly the new work and what's been going
on with that. But I do want to ask you
first before we get into So Long, Little Miss Sunshine.
Since we call this podcast Taken a Walk, Molly, if
you could take a walk with somebody living or dead,
(01:40):
who might you take a walk with? And where would
you take that walk?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Oh wait, that's such a good question.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
The first person who kind of popped into my head
would be Joni Mitchell taking a walk with her. And
my favorite place to probably take a walk would be
maybe somewhere like in Big sur That's like the prettiest
place to me. I love going on hikes there, not.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
A bad spot for sure. Yeah, So congrats on So
Long Little Miss Sunshine. Before I sort of dissect it
from your point of view, I thought it might be
interesting to give our listeners a glimpse into what's on
your personal musical playlist these days, because I think that's
(02:27):
often a window into the creative road people are taking.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Totally. Yeah, I think, like I listened to all sorts
of stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
I love going back and listening to the you know,
like music from the seventies and eighties and nineties and
kind of like people like some of my favorite songwriters
are like Gordon Lightfoot and.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
I love the Eagles. I feel like some of the
new songs.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
On the record were inspired by them, Cheryl Crow, and
then my favorites from growing up where like Gillian Welch
and Hagel Sildickens, and of course like traditional bluegrass music
is what I grew up listening to with my dad
and I still I love listening to that too, Like
gol Monroe and the Stanley Brothers are probably my favorite.
(03:13):
As far as like newer music coming out, I'm always
kind of listening to different albums as.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
They come out.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Like this summer, I've been loving listening to the new
Lucas Nelson album and the new Tyler Childers album. I
kind of listened to a lot of records in that
sort of you know, country but a little more throwback
country or sort of I don't know. I guess they
used to call it all the country, but I know
there's so much discussion about like what do we call
(03:41):
these people who aren't on like the mainstream commercial country track,
but yeah, I love that type of music. I love
listening to Charlie Crockett and Sierra Farrell. But yeah, I
also like some of the music I listened to a
lot leading up to making this record was like indie
rock stuff like I love the Boy Genius album that
came out a couple years ago, and Phoebe Bridges is
(04:01):
one of my favorites. In high school, I listened to
a ton of Emmy I rock, like The National is
one of my favorite bands, and I love Boni Vere.
So those are the albums that sort of I guess
when you're like at that age, maybe fourteen to sixteen,
I feel like the music you listen to then leaves
like a really big impression on you. And I was
really into like indie rock stuff in high school, so
(04:23):
I still listen to that a lot too.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
See that sheds a light on someone who's a tremendous
creator like you, who is not afraid to take different
twists and turns. So yeah, I want you to describe
your creative evolution to those insanely territorial bluegrass fans who
are so fixated. I love them to death. But they're
(04:48):
so fixated on certain things. So describe your creative evolution
certainly for this project.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Yeah, I mean, this project was kind of it felt
like a continuation of what I had been doing prior
to making my last two bluegrass records, Crooked Tree and
City of Gold. It was like I knew I wanted
to make some traditional not traditional, but like make some
real bluegrass records at some point, and then all of
a sudden, I started writing all these bluegrass songs and
(05:17):
I put together the band Golden Highway, and that was
like so much fun. But at the same time, I
had this other project I had been cooking up at
the same time, which became my new record, So Long
a Little Miss Sunshine, and the music that I kind
of made like I did a cover record during the
pandemic where I recorded all my parts at home and
it was called but I'd Rather Be with You, And
(05:39):
then my record When You're Ready. They're both kind of
in the more like you know, singer songwriter, ind ye
folk realm, I guess.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
A little more so this one.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Felt like I was kind of returning to making a
solo record, whereas my last two records felt like I
really wanted to make them have that kind of band
feel like I didn't record with my live band Golden Highway,
but I still wanted to have that kind of like playful,
like energy if you're just at a bluegrass jam. And
then we made the second record, City of Gold with
(06:11):
the live touring band, and then we had kind of
even jelled more as a band, so we had more
of that kind of back and forth. But this record,
I kind of wanted to, you know, step out as
like a solo artist.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
A bit more.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
So.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
One thing that I've struggled with the most is like
figuring out how does my guitar playing fit into like
maybe a different style, because when I'm playing bluegrass, it's
so in my wheelhouse to just like I know, you know,
I know how to play a bluegrass guitar solo. Maybe
I work at my solos really hard to make them
(06:45):
good on the record and like work out like a
complicated solo or complicated.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Lik here and there. But I generally know how that goes.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
So it's kind of like a fun challenge for me
to write these songs that are more in the like
kind of you know, singer song writer realm and then
still figure out how do I take like a virtuosic
guitar solo mid song because that's not like something that
you hear a lot on this type of music. So
that was something I felt like I did, like better
than ever before on my new record. And it was
(07:15):
really fun working with Jay Joyce because he's a great
guitar player and he had all these ideas for me
on how to like kind of weave my guitar playing
into these songs and into this production style that is
a little more like rock, country.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Pop, whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah, I feel like we came up with a sound
that I have a hard time really like saying what
genre it is, but yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
It was a fun experience.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
But I think that's cool that it's not, you know,
this particular genre you know definition. I love that about it.
I love that about this work that you've done. Can
you talk about the themes or stories that you explored
on this new album and how you sort of got
to those stories.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yeah, it's definitely an album about kind of becoming yourself,
being like unafraid to be yourself, and some of the
songs are like sort of have a coming of age
theme to them. Like the last song on the album
Story of My Soul called Life, I was just kind
of going through these little moments that I remember throughout
my life that were moments when I learned something, or
I grew as a person, or like became who I
(08:18):
am now in like golden state of mind. That song
is all about kind of, you know, accepting where you're
at and and still seeing like the positive side of life.
So I think there's definitely that's one of the themes.
Definitely travel and like road trips and explore exploration of
both yourself and the world around you is a theme
as well that shows up on a couple of songs.
(08:40):
But I think like one song that I felt like
sort of encapsulated it for me was when we wrote
Old Me New Wig. It's all about just kind of
stepping into yourself and saying goodbye to like your insecurities
or something you need to let go of that you've
been maybe holding.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
On too for too long.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
So this album is just kind of about being unafraid
to be yourself.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
How much in your life did these jam sessions, these
family jam sessions that I think there's so many people
wish they were a fly on the wall for that's
your family jam sessions. How much did those impact you
then and when you think about your world now impact.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You now, Yeah, they had a big impact on me,
even just stuff that I take for granted, like playing
with my brothers and my dad growing up.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
It's like you just learn how to play with other people.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Listen, listen to other people, Listen to the bass and
make sure you're playing at the same tempo as them,
and you know, trade around the solos, and you learn
to just kind of listen and react to what's happening.
Maybe someone is playing their solo and they accidentally skip
to a different part of the song, and you learn
to just kind of like go with them and you know,
(09:54):
try to do what's best for the song.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
And also we started playing shows.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
When I was like eleven or two, twelve years old,
and just even basic things like you need to make
a set list, to need to rehearse the whole set
before you play it on stage. Stuff like that that
kind of like I feel lucky that I learned it
as a little kid. I didn't have to, you know,
learn it by trial and error later on when I
was playing with my own band. But yeah, I think
(10:21):
anyone who's like trying to get better at music, I
just say, like, go find anyone else to play with,
because playing with other people is such a good way
to kind of improve. Even if you're like playing with
people who maybe aren't as advanced as you, you're still
learning something. You're learning how to play, you know, maybe
slower than you normally would. You're learning how to listen
and be supportive to someone who might not be at
(10:42):
your level. But also I think finding people who are
more advanced than you is is really helpful too. And
that happened to me when I was a kid and
I would play with my dad's other students who were
maybe a couple of years older than me, and they
were more advanced, and that made me want to work
really hard and practice more so that I could improvise
like they could and take solos like they could. So yeah,
(11:03):
and I remember too as a kid, I ended up
going to Nashville and doing a kids on Bluegrass thing
where I met people like Sierra Hall, who is like
now one of my close friends here in Nashville, but
seeing her play when she was maybe the twelve or so,
and being like, wait, I have never heard a kid
who is around my same age, just absolutely shredding like that.
(11:23):
That kind of was the moment where I was either
gonna quit playing all together or like double down and
be like, you know, maybe I'll never play exactly like her,
but like it inspired me to want to work harder
so that I could play with her someday.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I think it's so amazing what's going on, this revolution
with you and Sierra and of course Billy and so
many others that is bringing this music and this intersection
of genres to a wider audience. Could you have ever
imagined when you started out that this revolution would be
(12:03):
taking place that I think we're in the middle of,
which I think is just so tremendous.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Yeah, it's so exciting. Yeah, I mean, I guess when
I was a kid.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
We had like Oh Brother where Artau came out, and
that felt like its own kind of revolution. Where my
dad is a bluegrass teacher. He teaches all the bluegrass
instruments and does private lessons, so you can even go
I'm always giving him shout outs, even though he's trying
to slow down on the teaching these days. You can
go to his website and even sign up for like
an online lesson with him Jack Tuttle. But I remember
(12:36):
when that movie came out, suddenly my dad was busier
than ever with students.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Everyone wanted to learn bluegrass.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
So it's kind of like a similar thing happening now
where the music has sort of popped into more of
the mainstream awareness.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
And I think it's great.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Because it's such a good way for people to connect,
like in real life. And you know, I went to
like Billy's Billy Strings show here in Nashville at bridge
Stone Arena and hearing like this music, like he's playing
like a Bill Monroe song to like ten thousand people,
And I just wish that like my grandfather, who played
the banjo and kind of started that love of bluegrass
(13:11):
in my family, could have been there, because you wouldn't
have believed it. He would have been absolutely dumbfounded advice
seeing that. But it's it's just cool to see the
community and people just all getting together to share this
love of music. And so many of the fans play
bluegrass themselves, so that's another way for people to connect.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
I think we need that more than ever.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
In our current world when we're also online and glued
to our phones and you know, people are writing comments
online and getting into fights, and then they meet up.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
In real life and maybe they would actually get along.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
So yeah, everyone should pick up a banjo and go
to their local bluegrass jam.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
We'll be right back with more of the Taken a
Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taken a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Was there any unexpected challenges with this new project or
breakthroughs while creating new material, any particular with certain songs
that were in these aha moments?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Yeah, like, I think certain songs just really I can't
think of any like massive challenges. But we definitely went
back and forth a lot about like who is gonna
play on the record, Like what is the instrumentation? How
far removed are we gonna take it from the work
I'd done before. We brought in my partner, Catch Secor
(14:35):
to play a bunch of fiddle and banjo and mandolin
because we still wanted to have those stringed instruments on
the album. And then certain songs like I Remember the
Highway Knows That one took a long time for me
to write and I was just kind of writing it
from this simple fingerpick to guitar part that I thought
of that I thought was cool, but it took forever
(14:55):
for me to figure out, like how do I put
words to this?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
And then when we got into the studio.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
That was one where like it was like a nice
song and kind of like just chugged along, But then
Jay was he came up with this whole other part
that you hear midway through where suddenly I'm switching to
flat picking and I'm taking this big solo on it.
So there were songs like that that just took, you know,
a couple months to kind of slowly develop and make
(15:23):
it into their final form that ended up on the album.
Another one was like everything Burns. I think we just
I was so on the fence about like the song itself.
I'm like, do we record it? Do we not record it?
And then when Jay came in one day, he's like,
I was up til four am, and I made this
whole instrumental section midway through, and I have ideas we
(15:44):
totally rewrote the chorus and this and that. So songs
like that they really transformed and became pretty different both
lyrically and like just arrangement wise than they were before.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
So it was like it was really.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Fun to spend a couple months last fall just every
day going into this you and kind of developing these
songs slowly.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Your guitar playing, it's it's renowned for its precision, it's
tremendous emotion. How do you balance the technical skill with
this heartfelt expression.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, I think that's something that like I find to
be a challenge because I don't want to like shoehorn.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Fast guitar likes into every single song.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
But at the same time, it's like such a big
part of what I do is I'm a guitar player,
and I want to be able to express myself on
the instrument as well as like through my lyrics and
my singing. So yeah, I think this was a record
where I felt like that was what we spent the
most time on. Was we had the songs, but then
(16:48):
we would spend so much time on the guitar parts
because we knew we wanted them to be. Even if
I'm not taking like face melting solo with a million
notes in each song, we at least wanted them to
be interesting and kind of catch.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Your in a way.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So yeah, I think ultimately I always want to like
serve the song first and like play what is going
to make the song sound good and kind of fit
the emotion of the song. But I do try to,
you know, come up with parts that are a little
more kind of sophisticated than just you know, when I'm
writing a song, usually I'm just kind of strumming chords
(17:25):
and not really playing much on the guitar, and then
that's kind of the last part that comes like, Okay,
well what do I what am I going to play
on the guitar?
Speaker 3 (17:33):
So I'm not just kind of.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Strumming strumming along, But if you listen to like any
of my first demos, it's just I'm not even like
holding a pick. Sometimes I'm just kind of like, the
guitar is such an afterthought when I first write the songs,
except on the ones where I'm coming up with the
guitar part first. There's like a few where I'll come
up with the guitar part I really like and then
write the song, But usually it's kind of the other
way around.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah, how do you maintain creativity and motivation and you
face the pressures of touring and of an industry that
is so incredibly you know, competitive.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yeah, it's it's definitely like a it's a lot to
be touring so much, and then you want to be
recording your best work when you're home, but it's hard
to like stay constant with the writing songs and going
into the studio, and so rarely you have a very
(18:29):
long chunk of time at home, at least for me,
and I play like at least one hundred dates most years,
but that's not even including all the days that you're
traveling in between shows.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
So yeah, it can be really tough.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
But for me, like I generally try to remember that,
like I'm the only real reason I'm doing this is
to try to make people happy, you know, bring like
joy to people's lives. Like I go out there and
I love seeing the audience having a good time.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
And I also try to kind of with my music.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
I try to have a message too of like for me,
it's like really important to kind of bring this message
of like it's okay to be who you are, be yourself,
because that's like a journey that I've been on personally,
and I write a lot about it in my songs.
So that's basically what keeps me going is like even
if I'm tired, I'm at least trying to do my
best to brighten someone's day, spread a little love throughout
(19:25):
the world, and even if I'm really tired, even if
I'm I have a cold or this or that, like
I'm just gonna get on stage and do my best.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
And yeah it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
It's like I don't think a lot of people essentially,
when you're starting out in like the roots music or
the bluegrass or any world that's not like you know,
main a mainstream genre. Most of us aren't getting into
this because we want to be famous or we want
to make the most money or sell the most records.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Like we genuinely love music.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
And I would be playing music no matter what, even
if like I was teaching music or just working at
a venue or playing in.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Other people's bands this or that.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
I just kind of you know, I love playing music
and that's I'm gonna do that as long as I
can so.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
And you love finding interesting covers throughout your yeah career,
you really you blow people away with your execution as
some of these covers. Over time, there's a cover I
want you to talk about on the new album.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Yes, Yeah, it's like I can't even escape it now,
like I didn't after I made a cover record during
the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I think I can't.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
I think maybe recorded ten tracks on that, so ten covers.
I was like, I'm done with covers. I'm not gonna
record any more covers. And then on this record, one day,
Jay Joyce was like, I really want to cover that song.
I love it, and I had just heard it like
on I forget where I'd heard it, but it had
really caught my ear, and I was like, oh, I
remember that song.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I loved that song.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
So it felt kind of fortuitous that he then like
the next day I'd mentioned he wanted to do like
a slow down, kind of trippy version of it, so
I was like.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Yeah, let's do it, like, I'll learn it tonight.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
So I learned it that night and we came in
and recorded just in a couple hours, just me and
him and catch played some banjo. A couple of weeks later,
we actually tracked the record for real, and then when
he sent me the whole thing, he had put that
one in the middle and I listened down. I was like, hey,
I actually like it works like I'm down, Let's let's
put it on the album. And it's been such a
(21:25):
fun little surprise for people like who both listen to
the record, and then when we do it. We've been
doing it live and I just like watching people's faces
because they don't know what song it is at first,
and then they're like wait what and they try to
sing along, but it's like pretty different than the original version.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
So and that's Charlie, that's Icona Pop and Charlie x X.
But I love it.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yes, yeah, yeah, wow, Yeah. I love how your expression
of kind of wonderment comes out when you're thinking about
people going, I know that song. Wait a minute, she's
twisting it up a little bit differently. Yeah, find in
her way, which is so so cool. Yeah for someone
who's been such a risk taker and continues to be,
(22:08):
I want I want to close with this question. I
know for you, there's got to be some influential people
who have been risk takers who clearly influenced you and
your risk taking. Who are some of those people?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Ooh yeah, I mean I like so many of my
heroes kind of play all different genres and styles, like
people like Bailaflex. You're in nashville've gotten to play with him,
and he like, I think I heard that he's one
Grammy's in the most different categories of anyone else, and
(22:44):
so someone like that, especially as I'm releasing this new record,
that is sort of a different stylistic jump for me. Like,
I really admire people like that who just kind of
follow their heart and experiment with different sounds whenever they want.
I did watch the Bob Dylan movie this spring, and
he is definitely like a risk taker as well, that
I admire.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
I've been a big Bob Dylan fan as long as
I've been.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
He was kind of the first person who I listened
to his music and I was like, maybe I could
write a song, and he kind of.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Inspired me to start songwriting.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
I know.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
I mentioned Joni Mitchell earlier, and she's one of my
favorites as well, another person who like wasn't afraid to
mix up her sound and take risks. But yeah, there's
too many to count. I'm trying to think another hero
of mine, and like she doesn't really mix up her
(23:36):
sound as much as others as Gillian Welch here in Nashville.
I feel like she's kind of carved her own thing
that's so different from what anyone else is doing, and
that's kind of brave in its own way. Is just
sticking truly to who you are and crafting your own sound.
That's uniquely you. I got to see her play at
the Rhyman earlier this spring, and it was like one
of the best shows I've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
It was so cool.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
But yeah, there's one more person I want to ask
you about who I know must have had some influence
or does have an influence. It's Jerry Douglas.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yes, I love Jerry. He produced both Cricketry and City
of Gold with me. We co produced them together. It
was so much fun working with such a musical hero
like that. And he's just like been such a great
mentor to me as well, Like if I ever have
career questions or unsure about this or that. Like he's
(24:28):
done so many different things. He's led his own band,
he's been a band member of like Alison Krausen Union Station,
He's produced albums, He's played on so many different albums.
So he's kind of, you know, worn all these different
hats in the music industry. And so that's someone I
really look up to as well. And he always has
the best advice and it's just always such a joy
(24:49):
to get to play with.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Fair to say, he's a bit of a savant, don't
you think.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Yeah, yeah, he just knows exactly what to play at
all the right times to make the song sound that
much better.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
I dare say, Molly Tuttle, I consider you a savant
as well. Thank you, thank you for being on. Congrats
on so long, little miss Sunshine, and I'm so grateful
that you took the time to be on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Thank you God, thanks for having me. I'll see you
next time.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
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I don't want to like shoehorn fast guitar licks into
every single song. But at the same time, it's like
such a big part of what I do is I'm
a guitar player, and I want to be able to
express myself on the instrument as well as, like through
my lyrics and my singings.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
What do you get when you blend dazzling flat pick
and fearless songwriting and a steady curiosity about what roots
music can sound like? Today, I'm buzznight. Welcome to Taking
a Walk, and you get Molly Title, a Grammy winning
musician who keeps reimagining the boundaries of Americana. She's not
(00:38):
just a virtuoso on the guitar, She's a storyteller, unafraid
to weave together tradition and innovation. On today's episode, we're
going to talk about our brand new project, So Long
Little Miss Sunshine, Fresh Territory for Molly, another leap forward
in her already remarkable journey. We'll talk to Molly Tuttle.
(01:01):
I'm taking a walk after these words, Taking a walk,
Molly Tuttle. We've been trying to get you on this
Sangled podcast for a while, and now it's happening. I'm
so excited.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Well, I know, thanks for having me. Yeah, I'm so
excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Thank you so much. We're gonna get into a lot
of stuff, certainly the new work and what's been going
on with that. But I do want to ask you
first before we get into So Long, Little Miss Sunshine.
Since we call this podcast Taken a Walk, Molly, if
you could take a walk with somebody living or dead,
(01:40):
who might you take a walk with? And where would
you take that walk?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Oh wait, that's such a good question.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
The first person who kind of popped into my head
would be Joni Mitchell taking a walk with her. And
my favorite place to probably take a walk would be
maybe somewhere like in Big sur That's like the prettiest
place to me. I love going on hikes there, not.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
A bad spot for sure. Yeah, So congrats on So
Long Little Miss Sunshine. Before I sort of dissect it
from your point of view, I thought it might be
interesting to give our listeners a glimpse into what's on
your personal musical playlist these days, because I think that's
(02:27):
often a window into the creative road people are taking.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Totally. Yeah, I think, like I listened to all sorts
of stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
I love going back and listening to the you know,
like music from the seventies and eighties and nineties and
kind of like people like some of my favorite songwriters
are like Gordon Lightfoot and.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
I love the Eagles. I feel like some of the
new songs.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
On the record were inspired by them, Cheryl Crow, and
then my favorites from growing up where like Gillian Welch
and Hagel Sildickens, and of course like traditional bluegrass music
is what I grew up listening to with my dad
and I still I love listening to that too, Like
gol Monroe and the Stanley Brothers are probably my favorite.
(03:13):
As far as like newer music coming out, I'm always
kind of listening to different albums as.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
They come out.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Like this summer, I've been loving listening to the new
Lucas Nelson album and the new Tyler Childers album. I
kind of listened to a lot of records in that
sort of you know, country but a little more throwback
country or sort of I don't know. I guess they
used to call it all the country, but I know
there's so much discussion about like what do we call
(03:41):
these people who aren't on like the mainstream commercial country track,
but yeah, I love that type of music. I love
listening to Charlie Crockett and Sierra Farrell. But yeah, I
also like some of the music I listened to a
lot leading up to making this record was like indie
rock stuff like I love the Boy Genius album that
came out a couple years ago, and Phoebe Bridges is
(04:01):
one of my favorites. In high school, I listened to
a ton of Emmy I rock, like The National is
one of my favorite bands, and I love Boni Vere.
So those are the albums that sort of I guess
when you're like at that age, maybe fourteen to sixteen,
I feel like the music you listen to then leaves
like a really big impression on you. And I was
really into like indie rock stuff in high school, so
(04:23):
I still listen to that a lot too.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
See that sheds a light on someone who's a tremendous
creator like you, who is not afraid to take different
twists and turns. So yeah, I want you to describe
your creative evolution to those insanely territorial bluegrass fans who
are so fixated. I love them to death. But they're
(04:48):
so fixated on certain things. So describe your creative evolution
certainly for this project.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Yeah, I mean, this project was kind of it felt
like a continuation of what I had been doing prior
to making my last two bluegrass records, Crooked Tree and
City of Gold. It was like I knew I wanted
to make some traditional not traditional, but like make some
real bluegrass records at some point, and then all of
a sudden, I started writing all these bluegrass songs and
(05:17):
I put together the band Golden Highway, and that was
like so much fun. But at the same time, I
had this other project I had been cooking up at
the same time, which became my new record, So Long
a Little Miss Sunshine, and the music that I kind
of made like I did a cover record during the
pandemic where I recorded all my parts at home and
it was called but I'd Rather Be with You, And
(05:39):
then my record When You're Ready. They're both kind of
in the more like you know, singer songwriter, ind ye
folk realm, I guess.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
A little more so this one.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Felt like I was kind of returning to making a
solo record, whereas my last two records felt like I
really wanted to make them have that kind of band
feel like I didn't record with my live band Golden Highway,
but I still wanted to have that kind of like playful,
like energy if you're just at a bluegrass jam. And
then we made the second record, City of Gold with
(06:11):
the live touring band, and then we had kind of
even jelled more as a band, so we had more
of that kind of back and forth. But this record,
I kind of wanted to, you know, step out as
like a solo artist.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
A bit more.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
So.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
One thing that I've struggled with the most is like
figuring out how does my guitar playing fit into like
maybe a different style, because when I'm playing bluegrass, it's
so in my wheelhouse to just like I know, you know,
I know how to play a bluegrass guitar solo. Maybe
I work at my solos really hard to make them
(06:45):
good on the record and like work out like a
complicated solo or complicated.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Lik here and there. But I generally know how that goes.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
So it's kind of like a fun challenge for me
to write these songs that are more in the like
kind of you know, singer song writer realm and then
still figure out how do I take like a virtuosic
guitar solo mid song because that's not like something that
you hear a lot on this type of music. So
that was something I felt like I did, like better
than ever before on my new record. And it was
(07:15):
really fun working with Jay Joyce because he's a great
guitar player and he had all these ideas for me
on how to like kind of weave my guitar playing
into these songs and into this production style that is
a little more like rock, country.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Pop, whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah, I feel like we came up with a sound
that I have a hard time really like saying what
genre it is, but yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
It was a fun experience.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
But I think that's cool that it's not, you know,
this particular genre you know definition. I love that about it.
I love that about this work that you've done. Can
you talk about the themes or stories that you explored
on this new album and how you sort of got
to those stories.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yeah, it's definitely an album about kind of becoming yourself,
being like unafraid to be yourself, and some of the
songs are like sort of have a coming of age
theme to them. Like the last song on the album
Story of My Soul called Life, I was just kind
of going through these little moments that I remember throughout
my life that were moments when I learned something, or
I grew as a person, or like became who I
(08:18):
am now in like golden state of mind. That song
is all about kind of, you know, accepting where you're
at and and still seeing like the positive side of life.
So I think there's definitely that's one of the themes.
Definitely travel and like road trips and explore exploration of
both yourself and the world around you is a theme
as well that shows up on a couple of songs.
(08:40):
But I think like one song that I felt like
sort of encapsulated it for me was when we wrote
Old Me New Wig. It's all about just kind of
stepping into yourself and saying goodbye to like your insecurities
or something you need to let go of that you've
been maybe holding.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
On too for too long.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
So this album is just kind of about being unafraid
to be yourself.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
How much in your life did these jam sessions, these
family jam sessions that I think there's so many people
wish they were a fly on the wall for that's
your family jam sessions. How much did those impact you
then and when you think about your world now impact.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You now, Yeah, they had a big impact on me,
even just stuff that I take for granted, like playing
with my brothers and my dad growing up.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
It's like you just learn how to play with other people.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Listen, listen to other people, Listen to the bass and
make sure you're playing at the same tempo as them,
and you know, trade around the solos, and you learn
to just kind of listen and react to what's happening.
Maybe someone is playing their solo and they accidentally skip
to a different part of the song, and you learn
to just kind of like go with them and you know,
(09:54):
try to do what's best for the song.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
And also we started playing shows.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
When I was like eleven or two, twelve years old,
and just even basic things like you need to make
a set list, to need to rehearse the whole set
before you play it on stage. Stuff like that that
kind of like I feel lucky that I learned it
as a little kid. I didn't have to, you know,
learn it by trial and error later on when I
was playing with my own band. But yeah, I think
(10:21):
anyone who's like trying to get better at music, I
just say, like, go find anyone else to play with,
because playing with other people is such a good way
to kind of improve. Even if you're like playing with
people who maybe aren't as advanced as you, you're still
learning something. You're learning how to play, you know, maybe
slower than you normally would. You're learning how to listen
and be supportive to someone who might not be at
(10:42):
your level. But also I think finding people who are
more advanced than you is is really helpful too. And
that happened to me when I was a kid and
I would play with my dad's other students who were
maybe a couple of years older than me, and they
were more advanced, and that made me want to work
really hard and practice more so that I could improvise
like they could and take solos like they could. So yeah,
(11:03):
and I remember too as a kid, I ended up
going to Nashville and doing a kids on Bluegrass thing
where I met people like Sierra Hall, who is like
now one of my close friends here in Nashville, but
seeing her play when she was maybe the twelve or so,
and being like, wait, I have never heard a kid
who is around my same age, just absolutely shredding like that.
(11:23):
That kind of was the moment where I was either
gonna quit playing all together or like double down and
be like, you know, maybe I'll never play exactly like her,
but like it inspired me to want to work harder
so that I could play with her someday.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I think it's so amazing what's going on, this revolution
with you and Sierra and of course Billy and so
many others that is bringing this music and this intersection
of genres to a wider audience. Could you have ever
imagined when you started out that this revolution would be
(12:03):
taking place that I think we're in the middle of,
which I think is just so tremendous.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Yeah, it's so exciting. Yeah, I mean, I guess when
I was a kid.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
We had like Oh Brother where Artau came out, and
that felt like its own kind of revolution. Where my
dad is a bluegrass teacher. He teaches all the bluegrass
instruments and does private lessons, so you can even go
I'm always giving him shout outs, even though he's trying
to slow down on the teaching these days. You can
go to his website and even sign up for like
an online lesson with him Jack Tuttle. But I remember
(12:36):
when that movie came out, suddenly my dad was busier
than ever with students.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Everyone wanted to learn bluegrass.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
So it's kind of like a similar thing happening now
where the music has sort of popped into more of
the mainstream awareness.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
And I think it's great.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Because it's such a good way for people to connect,
like in real life. And you know, I went to
like Billy's Billy Strings show here in Nashville at bridge
Stone Arena and hearing like this music, like he's playing
like a Bill Monroe song to like ten thousand people,
And I just wish that like my grandfather, who played
the banjo and kind of started that love of bluegrass
(13:11):
in my family, could have been there, because you wouldn't
have believed it. He would have been absolutely dumbfounded advice
seeing that. But it's it's just cool to see the
community and people just all getting together to share this
love of music. And so many of the fans play
bluegrass themselves, so that's another way for people to connect.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
I think we need that more than ever.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
In our current world when we're also online and glued
to our phones and you know, people are writing comments
online and getting into fights, and then they meet up.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
In real life and maybe they would actually get along.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
So yeah, everyone should pick up a banjo and go
to their local bluegrass jam.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
We'll be right back with more of the Taken a
Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taken a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Was there any unexpected challenges with this new project or
breakthroughs while creating new material, any particular with certain songs
that were in these aha moments?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Yeah, like, I think certain songs just really I can't
think of any like massive challenges. But we definitely went
back and forth a lot about like who is gonna
play on the record, Like what is the instrumentation? How
far removed are we gonna take it from the work
I'd done before. We brought in my partner, Catch Secor
(14:35):
to play a bunch of fiddle and banjo and mandolin
because we still wanted to have those stringed instruments on
the album. And then certain songs like I Remember the
Highway Knows That one took a long time for me
to write and I was just kind of writing it
from this simple fingerpick to guitar part that I thought
of that I thought was cool, but it took forever
(14:55):
for me to figure out, like how do I put
words to this?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
And then when we got into the studio.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
That was one where like it was like a nice
song and kind of like just chugged along, But then
Jay was he came up with this whole other part
that you hear midway through where suddenly I'm switching to
flat picking and I'm taking this big solo on it.
So there were songs like that that just took, you know,
a couple months to kind of slowly develop and make
(15:23):
it into their final form that ended up on the album.
Another one was like everything Burns. I think we just
I was so on the fence about like the song itself.
I'm like, do we record it? Do we not record it?
And then when Jay came in one day, he's like,
I was up til four am, and I made this
whole instrumental section midway through, and I have ideas we
(15:44):
totally rewrote the chorus and this and that. So songs
like that they really transformed and became pretty different both
lyrically and like just arrangement wise than they were before.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
So it was like it was really.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Fun to spend a couple months last fall just every
day going into this you and kind of developing these
songs slowly.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Your guitar playing, it's it's renowned for its precision, it's
tremendous emotion. How do you balance the technical skill with
this heartfelt expression.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, I think that's something that like I find to
be a challenge because I don't want to like shoehorn.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Fast guitar likes into every single song.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
But at the same time, it's like such a big
part of what I do is I'm a guitar player,
and I want to be able to express myself on
the instrument as well as like through my lyrics and
my singing. So yeah, I think this was a record
where I felt like that was what we spent the
most time on. Was we had the songs, but then
(16:48):
we would spend so much time on the guitar parts
because we knew we wanted them to be. Even if
I'm not taking like face melting solo with a million
notes in each song, we at least wanted them to
be interesting and kind of catch.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Your in a way.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So yeah, I think ultimately I always want to like
serve the song first and like play what is going
to make the song sound good and kind of fit
the emotion of the song. But I do try to,
you know, come up with parts that are a little
more kind of sophisticated than just you know, when I'm
writing a song, usually I'm just kind of strumming chords
(17:25):
and not really playing much on the guitar, and then
that's kind of the last part that comes like, Okay,
well what do I what am I going to play
on the guitar?
Speaker 3 (17:33):
So I'm not just kind of.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Strumming strumming along, But if you listen to like any
of my first demos, it's just I'm not even like
holding a pick. Sometimes I'm just kind of like, the
guitar is such an afterthought when I first write the songs,
except on the ones where I'm coming up with the
guitar part first. There's like a few where I'll come
up with the guitar part I really like and then
write the song, But usually it's kind of the other
way around.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah, how do you maintain creativity and motivation and you
face the pressures of touring and of an industry that
is so incredibly you know, competitive.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yeah, it's it's definitely like a it's a lot to
be touring so much, and then you want to be
recording your best work when you're home, but it's hard
to like stay constant with the writing songs and going
into the studio, and so rarely you have a very
(18:29):
long chunk of time at home, at least for me,
and I play like at least one hundred dates most years,
but that's not even including all the days that you're
traveling in between shows.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
So yeah, it can be really tough.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
But for me, like I generally try to remember that,
like I'm the only real reason I'm doing this is
to try to make people happy, you know, bring like
joy to people's lives. Like I go out there and
I love seeing the audience having a good time.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
And I also try to kind of with my music.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
I try to have a message too of like for me,
it's like really important to kind of bring this message
of like it's okay to be who you are, be yourself,
because that's like a journey that I've been on personally,
and I write a lot about it in my songs.
So that's basically what keeps me going is like even
if I'm tired, I'm at least trying to do my
best to brighten someone's day, spread a little love throughout
(19:25):
the world, and even if I'm really tired, even if
I'm I have a cold or this or that, like
I'm just gonna get on stage and do my best.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
And yeah it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
It's like I don't think a lot of people essentially,
when you're starting out in like the roots music or
the bluegrass or any world that's not like you know,
main a mainstream genre. Most of us aren't getting into
this because we want to be famous or we want
to make the most money or sell the most records.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Like we genuinely love music.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
And I would be playing music no matter what, even
if like I was teaching music or just working at
a venue or playing in.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Other people's bands this or that.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
I just kind of you know, I love playing music
and that's I'm gonna do that as long as I
can so.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
And you love finding interesting covers throughout your yeah career,
you really you blow people away with your execution as
some of these covers. Over time, there's a cover I
want you to talk about on the new album.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Yes, Yeah, it's like I can't even escape it now,
like I didn't after I made a cover record during
the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I think I can't.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
I think maybe recorded ten tracks on that, so ten covers.
I was like, I'm done with covers. I'm not gonna
record any more covers. And then on this record, one day,
Jay Joyce was like, I really want to cover that song.
I love it, and I had just heard it like
on I forget where I'd heard it, but it had
really caught my ear, and I was like, oh, I
remember that song.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I loved that song.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
So it felt kind of fortuitous that he then like
the next day I'd mentioned he wanted to do like
a slow down, kind of trippy version of it, so
I was like.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Yeah, let's do it, like, I'll learn it tonight.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
So I learned it that night and we came in
and recorded just in a couple hours, just me and
him and catch played some banjo. A couple of weeks later,
we actually tracked the record for real, and then when
he sent me the whole thing, he had put that
one in the middle and I listened down. I was like, hey,
I actually like it works like I'm down, Let's let's
put it on the album. And it's been such a
(21:25):
fun little surprise for people like who both listen to
the record, and then when we do it. We've been
doing it live and I just like watching people's faces
because they don't know what song it is at first,
and then they're like wait what and they try to
sing along, but it's like pretty different than the original version.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
So and that's Charlie, that's Icona Pop and Charlie x X.
But I love it.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yes, yeah, yeah, wow, Yeah. I love how your expression
of kind of wonderment comes out when you're thinking about
people going, I know that song. Wait a minute, she's
twisting it up a little bit differently. Yeah, find in
her way, which is so so cool. Yeah for someone
who's been such a risk taker and continues to be,
(22:08):
I want I want to close with this question. I
know for you, there's got to be some influential people
who have been risk takers who clearly influenced you and
your risk taking. Who are some of those people?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Ooh yeah, I mean I like so many of my
heroes kind of play all different genres and styles, like
people like Bailaflex. You're in nashville've gotten to play with him,
and he like, I think I heard that he's one
Grammy's in the most different categories of anyone else, and
(22:44):
so someone like that, especially as I'm releasing this new record,
that is sort of a different stylistic jump for me. Like,
I really admire people like that who just kind of
follow their heart and experiment with different sounds whenever they want.
I did watch the Bob Dylan movie this spring, and
he is definitely like a risk taker as well, that
I admire.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
I've been a big Bob Dylan fan as long as
I've been.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
He was kind of the first person who I listened
to his music and I was like, maybe I could
write a song, and he kind of.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Inspired me to start songwriting.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
I know.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
I mentioned Joni Mitchell earlier, and she's one of my
favorites as well, another person who like wasn't afraid to
mix up her sound and take risks. But yeah, there's
too many to count. I'm trying to think another hero
of mine, and like she doesn't really mix up her
(23:36):
sound as much as others as Gillian Welch here in Nashville.
I feel like she's kind of carved her own thing
that's so different from what anyone else is doing, and
that's kind of brave in its own way. Is just
sticking truly to who you are and crafting your own sound.
That's uniquely you. I got to see her play at
the Rhyman earlier this spring, and it was like one
of the best shows I've ever seen.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
It was so cool.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
But yeah, there's one more person I want to ask
you about who I know must have had some influence
or does have an influence. It's Jerry Douglas.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yes, I love Jerry. He produced both Cricketry and City
of Gold with me. We co produced them together. It
was so much fun working with such a musical hero
like that. And he's just like been such a great
mentor to me as well, Like if I ever have
career questions or unsure about this or that. Like he's
(24:28):
done so many different things. He's led his own band,
he's been a band member of like Alison Krausen Union Station,
He's produced albums, He's played on so many different albums.
So he's kind of, you know, worn all these different
hats in the music industry. And so that's someone I
really look up to as well. And he always has
the best advice and it's just always such a joy
(24:49):
to get to play with.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Fair to say, he's a bit of a savant, don't
you think.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Yeah, yeah, he just knows exactly what to play at
all the right times to make the song sound that
much better.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
I dare say, Molly Tuttle, I consider you a savant
as well. Thank you, thank you for being on. Congrats
on so long, little miss Sunshine, and I'm so grateful
that you took the time to be on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Thank you God, thanks for having me. I'll see you
next time.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Lynn Hoffman
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com