Molly Tuttle Dissolves Golden Highway, Retools with New Band
Molly Tuttle’s Grammy-winning bluegrass band Golden Highway is being disbanded, and she is re-emerging with an all-girl band that is likely to have a louder sound. She revealed this titanic change on social media on Tuesday (5-13). Tuttle’s future dates will all feature the new lineup, save for a headlining appearance at Rockygrass in Colorado with the Golden Highway lineup in late July.
“Excited for a new chapter… Can’t wait to get out on the road this summer with an all new incredible band,” Tuttle said in a statement. “We have been in rehearsals all week and I can promise you won’t want to miss this!”
After commencing her solo career in earnest by signing to Compass Records in 2017 and releasing more folk-oriented albums, the world-class flatpicker the native California formed the Golden Highway bluegrass band in 2021, calling it her “dream” band. It included Shelby Means on bass, Kyle Tuttle on banjo, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes on fiddle, and Dominick Leslie on mandolin, all of whom were noted musicians at the time.
The collaboration released their debut album Crooked Tree in April of 2022, and ended up earning them the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. It also secured Tuttle a nomination for the all-genre Best New Artist. Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway’s 2023 album City of Gold also would go on to win the Best Bluegrass Album Grammy, and put Tuttle at the top of the genre with the likes of frequent collaborator Billy Strings.
Now Molly Tuttle’s backing band will consist of drummer Megan Jane, bassist Vanessa McGowan, guitarist/mandolin player Mary “Mair” Meyer, and multi-instrumentalist Ellen Angelico. All of them are Nashville-based session and live musicians who are known and respected throughout town, with Mair also known as a solo artist and singer/songwriter.
The new Molly Tuttle lineup will play their first show together at the Mercury Lounge in New York City on June 24th.
As for Golden Highway, multiple members have already been pursuing solo careers. Fiddle player Bronwyn Keith-Hynes has been active as a solo artist in bluegrass, including being nominated for a Grammy Award for her 2024 album I Built A World. Shelby Means also just recently announced her debut self-titled album out May 30th, with multiple singles out now. Banjoist Kyle Tuttle released his latest album Labor of Lust in 2024.
“Wishing my Golden Highway bandmates all the success in each of their exciting new adventures,” Tuttle said.
This is certainly a significant development in the bluegrass world, with many wondering if the new band lineup will take Molly Tuttle out of it where Molly is considered one of the genre’s leading ladies and guitarists, racking up multiple Guitar Player of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).
May 13, 2025 @ 7:49 pm
I don’t follow her but this seems on the surface as monumental.
May 13, 2025 @ 8:06 pm
To put it in a different context, this would be like Tyler Childers walking away from The Food Stamps, or Jason Isbell walking away from The 400 Unit. Bluegrass is a little different. People come and go more often. But you’re 2 for 2 winning bluegrass Grammys. To blow that up right now IS monumental. Molly’s taking a big leap here. Only time will tell if it was the right decision. They can always get back together in the future.
May 13, 2025 @ 8:13 pm
Dang! I didn’t see that comin’… I fully expected Molly to cut and release another solo album by Fall 2025.
There are always personnel changes in bluegrass bands. I see it reported monthly in Bluegrass magazine. Assembling an all-female band is not all that unusual. I am a fan of Sister Sadie who have been around for years and recently underwent a personnel change. However adding a full time drummer in a bluegrass band will certainly make a difference in recordings and stage performances.
Anyway, cheers to Molly; She will continue to be a success in music.
May 13, 2025 @ 8:19 pm
As long as they kill it live. It’s all the same for me. Can’t wait to catch them in NYC. Hope this’ll lead to a new full blown record soon.
Also this Willi Carlisle record shaping to be aoty contender with these tracks dropping
May 13, 2025 @ 10:44 pm
Well, I never heard of the Mercury Lounge, but I Googled it appears to be a dive on Houston Street, a few steps from Katz’s Deli. That seems like a good enough reason to buy tickets and go to Katz’s after the show.
May 14, 2025 @ 1:01 pm
It IS sort of a dive bar but it frequently books great acts, especially when they are breaking in new material; in the last 25 years or so the performers I’ve seen there have included Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Buddy and Julie Miller, Steve Earle, Justin Townes Earle, Patti Smith, and Norah Jones. Lady Gaga sometimes plays there when she’s working on new material.
May 13, 2025 @ 9:53 pm
I saw this coming from a hundred miles away and knew about it a few months ago. Molly started in Bluegrass, moved to Nashville and then put out Americana style records like When Your Ready and Rise, only to transition back to Bluegrass. I fully anticipate her to be back in Bluegrass sometime between 1-20 years 😛 You always come back to Bluegrass. Once you are hooked, you are hooked.
May 14, 2025 @ 7:16 am
Bluegrass picking is her strong suit.
May 15, 2025 @ 1:08 am
Being Molly Tuttle is her strong suit.
May 16, 2025 @ 6:48 am
Comment of the year!
May 13, 2025 @ 11:17 pm
Dang! This is a surprise. I wonder how dynamics will change with all female..I thought Golden Highway had a nice balance of male/female. But if it’s Molly’s vision you gotta trust it. Artists are always evolving. It’s a surprise to us, but I’m sure was a long time coming. I’ll miss GH, but excited to hear the new sound.
-Alyssa McMurray
May 13, 2025 @ 11:38 pm
Sad news to me… 🙁
May 14, 2025 @ 1:46 am
I am surprised. Her and her band have produced some wonderful music. A very classy bluegrass act. It will be interesting to hear her new band. Maybe she is moving away from the bluegrass sound? I hope not.
May 14, 2025 @ 2:06 am
Personally a little disappointed, ive enjoyed her music. But ill give this a listen once they releaae some sounds.
May 14, 2025 @ 3:50 am
She’s great! She keeps great musicians around her. I look forward to this and whatever she does next. And after that.
May 14, 2025 @ 10:44 am
She’s following Billy Strings move to appeal to fans of Americana and blues and jamband fans
May 14, 2025 @ 4:33 am
Holy shit! Glad Bronyn is on such a roll.
May 14, 2025 @ 5:10 am
This is sad news. For me, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway were, alongside Billy Strings and Sierra Hull, among the formative innovators of bluegrass and creative minds of the bluegrass revival.
And even though I think Bronwyn Keith-Hynes and Shelby Means are outstanding solo artists alongside Molly Tuttle, Golden Highway were always more than the sum of their parts.
And Molly Tuttle herself was this outstanding musician in the interaction with these very musicians from Golden Highway.
Apparently, the only consistent thing about Molly Tuttle is the volatility in her projects.
It’s possible that we’ll later date the dissolution of Golden Highway as the beginning of the end of the bluegrass revival.
Is anything known about the reasons for Golden Highway’s dissolution?
May 14, 2025 @ 5:13 am
Should say Mary Meyer in the band, not Mulroney. Both are known as “Mair”.
May 14, 2025 @ 7:22 am
It’s been corrected, though I’m still not 100% sure if she wants to go by Mary Meyer of “Mair” for this band. Perhaps we will know more when we get a single or more info. Molly simply tagged the new players on social media. I think at the moment she’s just trying to warm the public to what’s about to happen.
May 14, 2025 @ 9:25 am
At least nobody else has the surname “Tuttle” this time, although it did provide some fun on stage!
May 14, 2025 @ 9:30 am
Ha! True that.
Though Sully Tuttle never gets his proper due in these conversations. That dude can PICK.
May 14, 2025 @ 7:03 am
Really surprising and that band was good as about any in live concerts. I’m glad I saw them several times, at the same time I’m excited to see what the future brings for all of them because they are all talented as hell.
May 14, 2025 @ 8:41 am
I was initially surprised by this but also not so much when I read the details. What I had noticed is the Molly’s instincts and where the songs over the last few years are very distinctly her voice and not Ketch is when they have a lot of classic San Francisco Pop/Rock in them. Adding a drummer seems like a very clear indication that she’s going to veer off into a new variation of Jamgrass.
May 14, 2025 @ 9:10 am
I caught a Tuttle show last year. With Golden Highway she was doing Jamgrass. In her set she had 2 long jams in between the more standard songs. White Rabbit is one she loves to jam out on. It felt very counter- culture – esque. I’m guessing the new band is gonna be Americana and much lighter on grass. Like so many musicians, she likes to do different styles. I sense that she wants to be a rock star of sorts. Honestly. My sense is she’s bored with bluegrass and wants to rock out. So many gals in Country end up doing the same thing. Its a trend. A predictable one at that.
May 14, 2025 @ 9:23 am
I disagree that her newer material is more her voice and not Ketch Secor. I think it’s the opposite way around. “City Of Gold” is way more Vaudevillian and less singer/songwriter than “Crooked Tree,” and I directly attribute that to the Ketch Secor shticky influence. Though of course, all of this is subjective so I respect your opinion.
Tuttle definitely had some “Jamgrass” aspects to her shows, but Golden Highway was definitely not a jamgrass outfit in my estimation. This was not Leftover Salmon or String Cheese Incident. This was a traditional bluegrass lineup that stretched the boundaries on a few songs. Again, this is a subjective assessment, but Golden Highway was much more traditional in my estimation.
May 14, 2025 @ 9:49 am
I think you misunderstood. I don’t disagree with you there at all but that’s also why where it sounds less that way like perhaps, “Alice in the Bluegrass” it stands out. (I’d have to think for a while to come up with clearer examples because I haven’t listened in a while.) I think you are right that Jamgrass is the wrong point though that comes to me because she works in the Grateful Dead. But I think that Bay Area rock next to bluegrass seems to be her thing. Consider that aside from the Dead her favorite and most effective covers are from Rancid and Jefferson Airplane. I just suspect that the drummer means she’s going to lean into the Bay Area rock a bit.
May 14, 2025 @ 9:56 am
Yes, I agree with that! The music has taken a more psychedelic, Haight-Ashbury aspect to it, and it might be that Molly was setting us up for a transition to a more ’67-’69 San Francisco sound infused with her bluegrass influences. This could be really cool, and take her more towards Billy Strings in aspect, but with a more vintage perspective.
Though Molly has been wildly successful and critically acclaimed, she still might look at Billy Strings and say, “How do it get to THAT level?” And assess she won’t do it with a conventional string band.
We’ll just have to see. My guess is we’ll get a single and a new album announcement sooner than later.
May 14, 2025 @ 10:59 am
For various reasons, we disagree on what constitutes Jamgrass. To me, it’s a band who plays through the template of bluegrass, but often goes into extended or lengthy ” jams”. But it should be said that many Jamgrass bands will play some traditional style songs within a set. Yonder Mountain String Band is one such example. Infamous Stringdusters as well. They usually do a few jams during a live show, but also do shorter, more traditional sounding material. For the record, I approve of Jamgrass and don’t see it as insulting to call someone Jamgrass. Yet, I get criticized by not just you, but others if i dare say the name Jamgrass in association with Strings and Tuttle. I think it’s possible to be both things as in the case of these two examples. I have seen Tuttle evolve over time. I saw her do a pair of long jams in between her regular songs. And yes with White Rabbit she gets trippy. Call it psyche if you need to, but it turned into a 15 minute jam.
Of course I see Molly as a bluegrass artist, but there’s nothing insulting by using the term jamgrass as a sub-category to what she does. Same with Strings, though he does get very jam heavy at times depending on his mood and the setting.
May 14, 2025 @ 11:16 am
I totally get it Kevin. I just try to look at these things as a percentage, and the difference in perspective could be the sets we’re catching. With Strings, it’s usually 50/50 jamgrass to bluegrass, though that percentage could shift one way or another on a given night. From the Golden Highway sets I’ve witness (probably 3 in the last two years), I would put that percentage at about 80 bluegrass, 20 jamgrass, though it might be different for different sets.
I don’t see jamgrass as a pejorative, though I do think it came be polarizing when presenting artists with that term. So I think it’s my inclination to balance it out with the context that if you do to one of these shows, you’re going to see plenty of straight bluegrass, though how much might vary between shows.
May 14, 2025 @ 11:22 am
Definitely a little bummed about this one. Golden Highway was pretty epic. Just from a logistical standpoint though, it has to be getting hard to stay together. Have noticed a few times recently where it seemed like Golden Highway was in one place and Bronwyn Keith Hynes band was in another, though I think they were all off by a day or two.
May 14, 2025 @ 1:52 pm
GH was just such a killer band to see live, whether you liked their flavor of bluegrass or not.
I sure hope Molly keeps up that part of the bargain, as she opened the doors for so many new young bluegrass and acoustic music fans overall.
I’ll miss seeing Shelby Means too, she is some serious eye candy!
May 14, 2025 @ 5:05 pm
She is only 32. It was bound to happen at some point. My guess she will go the same direction as her old roommate and succeed.
Happy to have seen her at small venue.
May 15, 2025 @ 2:41 pm
Dang, I’m extra glad I caught them last year now. Their live show was fantastic. I never got into her albums too much and was on the fence about seeing her live, but figured it was worth checking out the hype. I was sold in the first 30 seconds and considered it at the level of my favorite live performers. I’m sure she’ll continue to put on great shows, but the mention of drums has me a little concerned/curious.
May 15, 2025 @ 6:02 pm
I see the addition of a drummer as a big signal she will be moving more towards country. I can’t imagine her abandoning bluegrass totally, but she has to take care of herself, and blugrass musicians typically don’t get rich. Hopefully she will find a nice blend that will please us SavingCountryMusic fans while rewarding her financially. Good luck Molly.
May 16, 2025 @ 9:53 am
“The collaboration released their debut album Crooked Tree …”
Dominic and Bronwyn were the only members of Golden Highway to appear on Crooked Tree, and Bronwyn for only one tune. Artist name notwithstanding, the album was not a collaboration with the musicians in the Golden Highway band; the assembly of the band to tour behind the album came after it was already recorded.
May 16, 2025 @ 10:28 am
Yes, that’s a fair detail to highlight and I meant to mention it in the article. But it’s also important to note that “Crooked Tree” was released as “Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway,” even though Jerry Douglas pulled from a different crop of musicians. Molly also announced the band to coincide with the announcement of the album, so she did consciously want “Golden Highway” to mark this era of her career, including “Crooked Tree.”
May 16, 2025 @ 10:14 am
Co-written with Kevin Griffin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miciYf7ogpk
May 16, 2025 @ 10:29 am
Tuttle is definitely releasing these teases in an attempt to soften any blow of her leaving bluegrass. I’llreserve judgement until we hear something in full.
May 22, 2025 @ 12:33 pm
bluegrass is very confining as a genre, and Molly has clearly been wanting to branch/do new things. She has already won BG album of the year Grammy twice, she has been at the top of the newgrass and bluegrass scene for years now, what’s left for her here? I am really looking forward to seeing how she brings in the rock and country and indie/alt/jam into her music. The drummer is clear indication that she will be playing very little BG with this new band. IMO anyway.
May 30, 2025 @ 2:44 pm
She just previewed a new track on instagram. I’m sorry to say it’s a100% departure and sounds like Taylor Swift song. It is not good.
June 21, 2025 @ 8:52 pm
I just saw Molly with the new band last weekend at the All Good Now Festival in Columbia, MD. She is definitely not leaving bluegrass; Is Billy Strings leaving bluegrass because he is filling stadiums? I thoroughly enjoyed the band and the set. Whether they are “better” or not as good as Golden Highway is moot. Both bands are great, and VERY different from each other. Yes, they have drums now, and the bassist divides her time approximately 50/50 between electric and doghouse. Sometimes an electric guitar is used by a band member, other times not, and Ellen also plays dobro when needed. Sam Bush has had drums since forever and nobody says he left bluegrass– it just ramps up the sound in a different way. Last Sunday Molly did “She’s a Rainbow”, but she recorded that one already. Last time I saw her with Golden Highway she did “White Rabbit”– both are famous rock songs, and both sounded like diamonds to me. Let’s not be like the traditionalists of the 1960’s who never wanted anybody to change anything. When the musicians mix up the sound, that gives it an opportunity to live for another 30 or 40 years. If all bluegrass today sounded like Flatt, Scruggs, Monroe, the Osbornes and Jim & Jesse I probably would have lost interest after about fifteen minutes. Been listening to bluegrass since the late 80’s and loving all the innovations.