Next up is Molly Tuttle, originally from California but now Nashville via Boston. However, if you listen to some of her songs I would swear she hails from somewhere in deepest Shropshire leading the English folk scene there. Whats interesting with Molly is her seamless shift between styles such as folk, straight country and Bluegrass which I guess is largely down to her father, a Bluegrass music teacher.
What shouldn’t be underestimated is her guitar pickin. I compare her as a female version of Richard Thompson, again an underrated guitarist and like Thompson she has at times a classic folk voice with some great traditional tunes to back it up. This style I think is highlighted especially on the older tunes tonight and certainly on one of my favourites ‘Friend and a friend’. There is a more rounded sound on her latest release this years’ ‘When You’re Ready’ and her voice moves somewhere between Suzanne Vega and Sheryl Crow.
Molly is supported tonight by her band which adds depth to the songs with their close harmonies and especially the addition of Christian Sedelmyer on fiddle taking a key spot in moving the songs to the next level.
The set tonight cover all bases from her first EP, the new album, covers and even time for some traditional Swedish folk music which further highlights the on stage dynamics of the acoustic guitar and fiddle showdown. The finger work is so quick that the amount of notes played in that one track must have run into the many hundreds.
We are watching an artist certainly at the top of their game with a faultless performance of a folk, country, Bluegrass mash up. Tricky to pick highlights but let’s go with ‘When You’re Ready’ and ‘Rain and Snow’ with a special mention for the finale of The Band's ‘Cripple Creek’.
Great night, great voices, great band.
Keep on folkin country rockin’ y’all.
PS great jumpsuit