Album Review – Molly Tuttle’s “When You’re Ready”
Without embellishment or hyperbole, California native Molly Tuttle can be presented with almost universal consensus throughout the music community as one of the greatest living instrumentalists of our time, and in any genre or discipline you’re inclined to discuss. Her skills are beyond simple mastery of a given technique or style. In the implementation of her signature, customized clawhammer approach to guitar playing or her flatpicking method, Molly Tuttle has attracted fans, students, and disciples well beyond her native discipline of bluegrass to be considered a marvel the world over. And it’s not just the astuteness she exhibits with the instrument, it’s the effortlessness of the delivery that is both awe-inducing and inspiring. Watching the guitar playing of Molly Tuttle isn’t just enjoyable, it makes you want to be a better person, and more importantly, compels you to undertake that task.
It’s for this reason that Molly Tuttle became the first ever woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitarist of the Year in 2017—an honor she then retained in 2018. She also won the 2018 Instrumentalist of the Year from the Americana Music Association, and all before she had released an official debut album. But perhaps most astounding when basking in the talent that is Molly Tuttle is her gifts are not just confined to the fretboard. Despite her studious application of guitar skills, she manages compelling prowess as a singer and songwriter as well. Molly Tuttle’s talents spill out into all of the necessary attributes a world-class artist needs to excel, including intangibles such as disposition, appeal, infectiousness, and the commanding power with music that wells from all great performers.
It’s fortunate that Molly Tuttle is a multi-tool performer, because however spellbinding it is to witness her fingers be spirited across wood and wire, we live in the age of the song, not the guitar. The days of guitar gods are gone with the muscle cars of the 70’s. It’s not that listeners still don’t appreciate the skill of lead players and improvised solos, but with so many musical prodigies instructed from impressionable ages these days, it’s not as unusual to see a super skilled musician as it once was. However, you can still distinguish yourself from the swell of professional music hopefuls and find your way into a listener’s heart with the right melody and story.
It’s with this understanding and a reasonable desire to expand her musical dimensions beyond bluegrass that Molly Tuttle recorded her debut record When You’re Ready for Compass Records. Venturing beyond the more bluegrass approach of her 2017 EP Rise, Molly explores accessible compositions that could be labeled acoustic folk rock, or even folk pop just as much as traditional string music. Certainly the sound still expands out from Molly Tuttle’s acoustic flat top, but the appeal and acceptance it searches for yearns for a wider audience.
“Take The Journey” is the song from this newest collection to consider the marquee performance. It’s both the perfect forum for Tuttle to display her brilliance behind an acoustic guitar, but it also wins appeal with story and message. The arrangement feels both earthy and grounded, yet tastefully progressive. Molly also challenges herself, and allows her voice to find a more expressive range on this record, specifically on the songs “Don’t Let Go,” and the shiver-inducing “Sleepwalking.”
Bluegrass is so often regarded as an older person’s pastime, but Tuttle, who is in her mid 20’s, centers her songwriting around the things that are relevant to her heart, which is the search for love and the frustrations often found in young adulthood. This makes this album feel more fresh and relevant than just another trip through the old trusty string band subject matter about simpler times and smoky hollers. When You’re Ready is the sound of a pining heart.
The one problem is Molly’s songwriting and arrangement rarely gives her the opportunity to showcase her preeminent skill and appeal. Similar to how sometimes great singers fail to write music to their vocal strengths, Tuttle rarely finds the space to show what she’s capable of instrumentally on this record, beyond the stirring moments of “Take The Journey.” A lot of people like to attribute the downfall of Van Halen to the departure of David Lee Roth, but the deeper story is that Roth’s departure paralleled Eddie Van Halen growing tired of being a guitar stud, and he started focusing more on songs and synthesized keyboards where his skills were fine, but nothing special.
Molly Tuttle has expressed not wanting to be hamstrung by genre with this record, but in her desire to not be pigeonholed, a signature flavor for some of these songs feels elusive, while at times the record finds sensibilities fair to label as too saccharine. Along with guitar, Tuttle is terribly skilled with the banjo, but it doesn’t make an appearance on When You’re Ready at all. These concerns are less about genre, and more about trying to forge a musical style totally unique to Molly Tuttle. When you disregard genre, you can break down barriers, but you can also dilute important flavor to music to render it distinct. There is a little mandolin, and overall it’s still fair to label this a roots record. But it may be more indefinable than anything.
Bridging her guitar talent with her desire for a songwriting-first approach will be Molly Tuttle’s greatest challenge, but one worth undertaking. In the present and for years to come, Molly Tuttle will be the benchmark all other acoustic guitarists measure themselves against. When You’re Ready is a great start, and one that will branch her appeal out beyond bluegrass aficionados, while putting a much-needed burst of youth into the acoustic roots scene.
7.5/10
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April 9, 2019 @ 8:41 am
I’m finding the record perfectly pleasant, but I was also hoping for something with a little more edge. More “Take the Journey,” less of everything else.
April 10, 2019 @ 7:16 am
I think I know what you mean. Reminds me of Sarah Jarosz (who I like) in spots, but I think it’s got more juice than Sarah’s music in general. Was hoping for something closer to Sam Bush, maybe. But it’s a very nice album.
April 9, 2019 @ 9:15 am
Thanks for the recommendation. Take the Journey is Dope! Love it a tad slow at points but I’m digging it.
April 9, 2019 @ 10:07 am
She is a wonder. Enjoyed Rise, enjoying this too.
April 9, 2019 @ 10:24 am
Molly ‘s live show is where you will see her unleash that devastating clawhammer technique. Some describe the way she hits the strings a “frailing” technique like what’s used in clawhammer banjo. To me what makes it so mesmerizing is the percussive, slap sound that you get. It’s essentially combining percussion and melody in one package. There was a guy named Michael Hedges , (now dead) who sort of pioneered this kind of style, although he wasn’t bluegrass by any stretch. Molly has made it her own though. Can’t blame her for wanting to write songs, apparently she has the whole package. Shes a stunner! What can you say but WOW!
April 9, 2019 @ 10:49 am
Big fan. She’s an inspiration to my daughter and her friends.
“When you disregard genre, you can break down barriers, but you can also dilute important flavor”
You’re also applying herbicide to the growth of new talent in the genre. To keep a musical community going, you need people like Molly who carry the genre *with* them, even as they bring it into new topics, ideas, and places.
What some people do is to approach making music like a consumer buying condiments off a shelf. Need a little banjo riff? Don’t learn banjo: just sample one! Need some guitar? No problem, just choose one from Awesome Guitar Loops, Vol. XXXIV.
It’s just a kind of consumer collage, not a development.
April 9, 2019 @ 11:03 am
I certainly don’t want to apply herbicide to Molly Tuttle. I am a strong proponent of Molly, and that’s why I feel it’s imporetant to offer constructive criticism. I totally get her desire to put songwriting first and not want to be bordered by the rigid expectations of bluegrass. I just thought at times the result of this approach was a little more pallid than it could have been.
April 9, 2019 @ 1:26 pm
Oh, my comment wasn’t directed at you, Trig, but toward the diluters, the monogenre types, the careless and cynical. Molly definitely isn’t any of those things. I think of her new material as an Americana style of bluegrass. The new generation’s Alison Krauss?
April 9, 2019 @ 2:23 pm
This is a difficult topic, though. But, one that should be discussed. I like Molly Tuttle. Watching her play a guitar is mesmerizing. And, while I haven’t heard all of “When You’re Ready”, I own and enjoy “Rise”. I appreciate the topical songwriting that is fresh in a genre that could use some freshness.
However: it’s hard for me to label this bluegrass – especially a song like Million Miles. Roots? Yes. Americana? Probably. But bluegrass? Not so sure. I hear “do do do” and I think pop music, not country and definitely not bluegrass.
Here’s my question, more for discussion than settled opinion on my past. How is what Molly Tuttle doing to represent bluegrass any different than what Luke Bryan, Marren Morris, Sam Hunt, FGL, et. al., are doing to country? I’m not suggesting her playing, singing, or songwriting are on par with them. But, I am suggesting that maybe she *is* diluting important flavors in bluegrass.
April 9, 2019 @ 3:56 pm
That’s an interesting take. When listening to her record I just enjoyed it as quality country music and really didn’t even think of it as bluegrass, but the implications of her success are certainly something to consider for that genre.
April 9, 2019 @ 6:42 pm
Just to reiterate and be clear: I would agree it’s quality music that, for the most part, I find enjoyable.
It’s similar to wondering why someone like Maren Morris doesn’t just say she’s a pop artist. There’s nothing wrong with that, and she might even be good at it. But, be honest about who you are.
Maybe a good comparison are The Gibson Brothers. They have done quality bluegrass music for years. (“They Called It Music” is a great album.) Last year, they released the “Mockingbird” album that wasn’t bluegrass, but is more country/Americana. They were clear in interviews that this wasn’t bluegrass, but something a little different. They’ve even made it clear while touring if its “The Gibson Brothers” (being a bluegrass show) or “The Gibson Brothers with the Mockingbird Band” (being a country show) so that the bluegrass fans won’t be disappointed or surprised.
April 10, 2019 @ 4:13 am
Hey Red,
Common complaint among the hardcore bluegrass crowd, not unlike the hardcore trad country crowd, ” not bluegrass enough”, not country enough”. I once listened to a woman in a bluegrass music store rage on about how awful Alison Krauss is! Her quote ” I don’t know what she was playing, but it wasn’t bluegrass, and I had to leave immediately!” The contempt this gal had for Krauss bordered on obsession. It’s a common atittude I see at traditional grass festivals. Then there’s folks like Infamous String dusters and Trampled by Turtles who have found a home among the jam band crowd, but are rejected by traditional minded folks. I suppose Molly lives in bluegrass and Americana for the moment but I can tell you that the Americana “No Depression” folks are salivating over her big time. Wouldn’t surprise me if she ends up pegged as an Americana artist with bluegrass roots. Whatever eventuality, she’s making interesting music and driving interest in guitar as well.
April 10, 2019 @ 8:56 am
That is a common complaint. I guess the thing with Alison Krauss is to ask if one is talking about her solo records or her stuff with Union Station. Anything with Union Station – whether the Adam Steffey era or the Jerry Douglas era – is hard to argue that it’s not rooted in bluegrass. Her solo stuff, is harder to pin down. Windy City is rooted in traditional country; Forget About It has more of an AC sound. But both have more traditional instrumentation that When You’re Ready does. Is anything in Alison Krauss’ discography less bluegrass than “Light Came In (Power Went Out)” from Molly Tuttle?
And, maybe that’s a key point here. Molly Tuttle has her guitar, which is a key part of who she is. But the other instrumentation on When You’re Ready is heavy on organ, electric guitar, and piano with maybe a bit of fiddle here or a mandolin there. But where’s the banjo? The dobro? The instrument breaks? Say what you want about the Stringdusters, they sound like a bluegrass band.
I get that bluegrass has always had this debate. But, to say, “Whatever… she’s making interesting music…” is to ignore the original issue. When it comes to discussing diluting the things that make a genre what it is, Molly Tuttle shouldn’t get a pass simply because her music is “interesting.”
April 10, 2019 @ 7:20 am
The big difference for me is her work seems like artistic expression while I think those others are probably more concerned about moving product.
April 9, 2019 @ 11:50 am
Good album. Good but not great. “Million Miles” is outstanding.
All other songs are meandering between different styles without losing the direction.
April 9, 2019 @ 4:07 pm
”Molly Tuttle has expressed not wanting to be hamstrung by genre with this record, but in her desire to not be pigeonholed, a signature flavor for some of these songs feels elusive, while at times the record finds sensibilities fair to label as too saccharine.”
Trigger ..I think your assessment of Molly an this record is ABSOLUTELY DEAD ON THE MONEY . My appreciation of your skills on all fronts – listening , observing and articulating have increased yet again , sir .
There’s a raft of incredibly hard-working and gifted instrumentalists around today . They’ve studied , distilled , absorbed and incorporated the styles, the innovations and the spirit of the greats that have gone before them thanks, in no small part , to the internet and you-tube in particular .
Saying that , and although we are blessed that so many great young talents have indeed invested in this passionate pursuit , what seems to be missing at times is a personal style , that je ne sais quois that sets someone apart . To some extent , that comes with being identifiable in terms of genre AND the right songs .
I’ve been following Molly for several years and cannot deny her talents . However as with Aiofe Donovan , Sarah Jarosz , the Punch Brothers and of late , Sierra Hull and many other great instrumentalists/vocalists , there does seem to be a lack of SONG in their respective arsenals . As great a player as Chet , Roy Clark , Floyd Kramer , and as you point out Eddie V H were , they all realized that to really connect and make an impact you still have to do it on a LISTENER’S terms . You HAVE to play the right songs and showcase your gifts within them . Much of their repertoire was made up of tried and true standards or songs written/chosen because they had the potential to become such .
Musicians love listening to virtuoso musicians , regardless of genre . And many musicians go to bluegrass shows . But most folks at those shows are NOT musicians . They are music listeners . If you want your show to stick in the minds of your audience and leave them with an emotionally memorable experience it is critically important that you pay as much attention to the SONG and the impact of strong accessible and memorable melody and lyric as to your instrumental virtuosity . That may not always be satisfying for an artist but unless and until you can write material as good as those standards you do yourself and your audience a disservice ‘subjecting’ them to an evening of any less . You need to win their trust , their support and their ATTENTION before you can expect them to buy into whatever else you are selling musically .
As a player myslef , I’m a Molly Tuttle fan . As a listener , her songs leave me wanting . But I look forward to her ‘fine-tuning’ her focus in the above respects .
April 9, 2019 @ 4:32 pm
Songwriting is a completely different talent or ability from playing an instrument. Some people can do both. Lillie Mae for instance. Some people can’t.
These two songs are pretty ordinary.
But songwriting can be worked on, and improved with time and effort just like playing.
April 10, 2019 @ 4:31 am
So true Mark. Just saw the documentary on Dean Dillon. He laughingly told how as a young songwriter he got to play a few for Merle Haggard, hoping that Hag would be interested. Hags response to him was ” you need another 70 years of life experience before you will be able to write songs on my level.”! Dillon admits his early efforts were crap. He would of course, get much, much better but it took time.
April 10, 2019 @ 6:14 am
I quite enjoyed this album, but I too missed Tuttle’s instrumentation. It reminded me of my feelings on Amanda Shires’s last release. It was good but almost completely lacked any fiddle playing. If this is the direction that these women want to go in, I applaud them because I enjoy both of their efforts, but I do like to hear them shine on their respective instruments as well.
April 10, 2019 @ 8:36 am
Just gave the full album a run through. I like her voice and there’s a few tunes I really like but over all it’s kind all over the place style wise. I’ll give it a couple more spins
April 10, 2019 @ 9:11 am
Been jamming to this record all week. Remember one time I tried to learn “Good Enough” on my guitar and that didn’t last very long lol…. Maybe I’ll give it another go
April 10, 2019 @ 4:29 pm
I LOVE this album. I’ve listened to it several times from start to finish and find it better each time. Thank you Trigger for the in-depth acknowledgement of her guitar skills. As you say, luckily her voice is also gorgeous and full of power and dynamics. This was the first I’d heard from her, and looking at her earlier music, it’s clear to see that she has grown and is fully realizing her potential in this effort. So looking forward to watching, and hearing, this young master continue her journey!
And I should add, thank you Molly for keeping this album so beautifully feminine. It rocks where it needs to and is gentle and kind enough to soothe and inspire a tired mama during a nap time break in her busy day full of toddlers. ❤️
April 12, 2019 @ 5:31 am
I was hoping for more guitar driven songs like “Take the Journey”
April 19, 2019 @ 1:19 pm
I’ve had this album on repeat for a couple weeks, ever since I saw your review here. Fantastic from start to finish. I love the songwriting, in addition to the singing & sound.
July 23, 2019 @ 8:16 pm
I like Molly very much but this album was terrible. A bunch of mush. Boring. Too much reverb on vocals in many of the songs. Who mixed this? Nothing like the great youtube videos of her performing. I bought two copies so I could share one. I still think she will be a superstar.