Video Feature & Web-Exclusive Interview

Artist:  MOLLY TUTTLE

Video:  “She’s a Rainbow” (The Rolling Stones)

MOLLY TUTTLE ALBUM RELEASE CONCERT
STREAMING AT INSTRUMENTHEAD LIVE TONIGHT

Award-Winning Guitarist-Songwriter to Preview New Record with Intimate, Unplugged Performance via acclaimed music Photographer Michael Weintrob’s New Virtual Concert Platform

Molly Tuttle, one of the brightest guitarists and songwriters, will perform an album release concert this Thursday, August 27 at 8 PM Eastern via Instrumenthead Live, a new streaming service created by acclaimed music photographer Michael Weintrob. The concert stream is available on www.instrumentheadlive.com using broadcast quality audio-video. The stripped-down, acoustic performance will preview Tuttle’s new covers album, …but I’d rather be with you, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.

Tuttle is an exceptional guitarist who has taken home consecutive trophies for the IBMA Guitar Player of the Year (the first woman in the history of the IBMA to win that honor). With this new album she is spreading her wings and casting a wide net of musical styles. The star-studded companion video features inspiring visuals from: Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tom Morello, Nathaniel Rateliff, Lilly Hiatt, Members of Foo Fighters, Dawes, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Milk Carton Kids and many more. This eagerly awaited covers collection arrives via Compass Records this Friday, August 28.

Tuttle unveiled a cover of The Rolling Stones’ psychedelic landmark, “She’s A Rainbow.” The track heralds Tuttle’s eagerly awaited new LP and is joined by an inspiring companion video, conceived by Tuttle as opportunity to express her belief that feminism and the fight for equality require work from all people. With that in mind, she invited famous friends and fans of every gender to join her in the “She’s A Rainbow” video, including Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tom Morello, Nathaniel Rateliff, Lilly Hiatt, The Milk Carton Kids, Danny Clinch, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Wrabel, Sierra Hull, Linda Perry, Katie Pruitt, The Baldie Movement’s Nell Coleman and members of Foo Fighters, Dawes and Old Crow Medicine Show.

Molly Tuttle – Photo credit Zach Pigg

The new album collects 10 striking cover songs recorded during quarantine with the help of renowned industry guru / producer Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers, Andrew Bird). Berg enlisted a number of legendary session musicians—including drummer Matt Chamberlain and keyboardist Patrick Warren—to add instrumentation from their respective home studios. The result is a surprising and inventive collection of songs that cross the musical spectrum and the decades—from iconic artists spanning FKA Twigs to Cat Stevens, Rancid to Karen Dalton—all united by Tuttle’s clear, true voice, astonishing range and incredible musicianship.

With its remarkable scope and adventurous creativity, …but i’d rather be with you presents a further progression of Tuttle’s distinctive talent and musical ambition while hinting towards what is yet to come. Her breathtaking guitar playing will impress the casual listener as well as the seasoned musician. Tuttle has an intuitive approach to songs. Combined with her masterful guitar skills, she showcases stunning musicianship. With only voice and guitar she can inspire and amaze. Tuttle can take something simple and with gentle ease show instinctual brilliance.

We talked with Molly Tuttle about her creative process, how she navigates the current madness to remain hopeful, her journey with alopecia areata and the many stages of acceptance, the need to write a mission statement for your own music, how music can heal and how you can help make the world a better place.

Molly Tuttle – Photo credit Michael Weintrob

MOLLY TUTTLE Interview

with M Music & Musicians magazine publisher, Merlin David

Where were you when we went into lockdown?
Earlier this year, I was talking with Tony Berg about making a record—throwing different ideas back and forth. I was staying in a house in Los Angeles when I got the call—all gigs for the foreseeable future were cancelled. I flew home to Nashville the next day, and we said ‘let’s put this record on hold, but we’ll stay in touch.’

How did the idea for the album …but I’d rather be with you evolve?
A few weeks went by. I was feeling empty. We just had the tornado in Nashville the week before quarantine started. I felt super scattered. I wanted to write songs, but I was creatively drained. So, I made a couple of demos of covers I liked to play. I sent some to Tony. He said, ‘these sound really good. Why don’t we record 10 covers during quarantine? You can just record them at your house and send them to me.’ These songs had gotten me through hard times or brought me a lot of joy. I hope to life spirits and bring much-needed joy.

Which were the first songs you recorded?
I started with “Fake Empire” [The National], then “Olympia, WA” [Rancid], “Standing on the Moon” [Grateful Dead] and “Zero” [Yeah Yeah Yeahs]. I had to dig deeper for the others. Tony really wanted me to do one song.

Molly Tuttle – Photo credit Zach Pigg

Which song?
“She’s A Rainbow” [The Rolling Stones]. I love how that video turned out—just seeing everyone in it is inspiring. Some heroes, some close friends and some I’d lost touch with. Now, we’re back in touch. The video was a fun project.

What did recording “She’s a Rainbow” reveal?
I approached it from a female perspective—celebrating womanhood and femininity. After this video, I realized I want to do more of this—embracing all people—showing it’s OK to be yourself. If you don’t identify as a woman, it’s OK to embrace your feminine side—no matter what you look like, no matter what your gender, orientation or race—it’s just OK to be yourself. Making the video and speaking out on more issues that matter to me is really important. I don’t ever want to feel ashamed talking about equality. It’s not a political issue. It’s a human issue.

Which song was important to make it onto this album?
“Mirrored Heart” [FKA Twigs] was the last song I recorded. It was really hard to pick the last song for the album. Trying to figure that out almost took as long as recording all the other songs. (Laughs) I heard the song last year. I really wanted to cover it, yet I was daunted by it. I didn’t think I could pull it off because I really like the original version. I put a different spin on it and recorded all the parts on my own. Coming up with harmony parts was a lot of fun. So, it’s my guitar and all my harmonies.

Did you previously play some songs in your set?
Yes. I played “Zero” live the most when my previous originals album came out last year. I wanted to do a cover that had the same vibe. I played “Olympia, WA” a little. I played “Standing on the Moon” at my 2019 album release show in San Francisco. It felt like a homecoming because I grew up there. I’ve played that live a couple of times.

Molly Tuttle – Photo credit Michael Weintrob

Were people surprised by your covers?
Even though I previously played “Olympia, WA,” people were still surprised I covered a punk band. It’s high energy. If I practice it too much, it kind of wears me out. (Laughs)

What did you learn about yourself after recording this covers album?
I learned different sides of my musicality by playing songs that are musically diverse. It showed how I’ve been influenced by different artists I admire. I’ve been mostly playing acoustic and bluegrass live, but all these styles have influenced my songwriting. It was fun to put together a picture of all these other influences I’ve had all along. It’s not a full scope of the styles of music I love, but these artists have influenced me in different ways. It’s fun to see the response to these songs, and even more exciting to see how this leads to my next album of originals—to have this as a reference.

Top 5 Musicians who inspired you to become a musician?
Hazel Dickens was my first influence. Then I became obsessed with Gillian Welch. Her songwriting really inspired me. Dave Rawlings, who plays guitar with Gillian, the lines he puts together inspired me to try to find my own voice on guitar. Joni Mitchell’s songwriting and everything about her is so amazing. In the past five years, Beyonce—spiritually. Her messages are so empowering. Everything she does is intentional. I think about her when I’m trying to say something with my music. You won’t hear her in the music I do, but she’s such an incredible artist—as a whole.

Molly Tuttle – Photo credit Zach Pigg

Top 5 favorite albums?
Revival (1996) – Gillian Welch
The Queen is Dead (1986) – The Smiths
Blood on the Tracks (1975) – Bob Dylan
Punisher (2020) – Phoebe Bridges
Fetch the Bolt Cutters (2020) – Fiona Apple

Is there a new album of originals?
I’m still writing songs. I have a batch of songs that keeps growing. I’ve been doing Zoom co-writes—really fun. Also, writing on my own. Not sure when I’ll go in the studio. I like having a lot of songs, then narrowing the list to work on a few.

Who originally inspired you to write songs?
While in high school, the local community college (Foothill College) had a songwriting class once a week. A songwriter, Jim Bruno, ran the class. Everyone shared a new song each week. Some were more professional, some were starting to learn. It was a wonderful environment to start writing songs. We all learned together and from each other.

What songwriting tip would you like to offer?
One of my teachers, Pat Pattison, at Berklee would always say: Writers block is just being afraid to write crap, but crap is the best fertilizer. (Laughs) Don’t be afraid to write a bunch of crap.

What instruments are essential?
I record demos on my phone. I use a Shubb Fine Tune capo. These days, I’m using this Pre-War Guitar Co. out of North Carolina—amazing guitars. I also use Preston Thompson Guitars. I have a new signature model with them—that’s exciting. I mainly play those live. I have other guitars I use for writing songs. I have a Waterloo Guitar from Collings that I really like to write on. I also use a Tele from Fender to write. I have a hollow body from Collings that I like to write on. Different guitar sounds inspire different songs.

Molly Tuttle – Photo credit Zach Pigg

Tell us about your Collings Guitars.
I love my Collings electric hollow body. I used it on this record (“Something’s on Your Mind”). It was the first time I recorded electric on something I’ve done. The guitar is so beautiful. It has such a pretty, mellow sound. I fingerpick on it, which I really like. It’s an amazing guitar. The other one I have from them is a Waterloo—a small body guitar that I really love. It’s so easy to play. The hollow body is a mellow sound. So I’ve been using it live to play some of the fingerpicked songs on the album, like “Fake Empire.” More recently, I’ve been playing those two. Everyone at Collings is so great to work with.

Tell us a “pinch me” moment when you thought “Wow, this is really happening to me!”
One was at the IBMA, the Bluegrass Music Association week. We put together a band of women—Alison Brown, Sierra Hull, Becky Buller, Missy Raines and me. We had Rhiannon Giddens and Gillian Welch sit in. It was so cool. We did another all-women one that Brandi Carlile put together at Newport Folk [The Highwomen]. Dolly Parton was there [Maren Morris, Amanda Shires, Natalie Hemby, Sheryl Crow, Judy Collins, Maggie Rogers, Linda Perry]. There was so much talent on stage. It was insane. We were all looking for Dolly all day. She was hidden away. When she walked out, she walked right past me. I was truly moved. She is larger than life. We all did “9 to 5” together. It was so much fun.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.
Alopecia Areata is an autoimmune disease I’ve had since childhood. I lost all my hair when I was 3 years old. I started wearing wigs at 15. These days, I’ve been wearing wigs most the time on stage, but wanting to not wear them as much. More and more, I’ve been going without it. For this Instrumenthead Live album release party, I’m not wearing my wig—which will be fun. During a photo shoot with Michael Weintrob, I wore a wig for half the photos and didn’t wear a wig for the other half. I threw my wig up in the air for one. Michael has these wonderful Instrumenthead shots where the instrument replaces your head. We put my wig on my guitar. (Laughs) I think it was my Preston Thompson guitar. We’ll auction those amazing photographs and donate money to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. I’ve worked with them for years. I play at their conference and raise money for them. I was scheduled to speak there this year, but it didn’t happen. September is alopecia awareness month. It’s when I usually do more fundraisers. It feels good to tie this album launch in to them. It’ll be nice to raise money with this show.

Molly Tuttle – Photo credit Michael Weintrob

Why did you decide to throw your wig in the air?
It was a couple of years ago when I started taking photographs without my wig. When I first shared my story publicly with my fan base, my friend Kaitlyn (who’s a great photographer) took photographs of me without my wig. Michael was the first photographer when I said let’s try some without my wig, he said, “Yes, let’s do it!” He was totally game and you could feel his excitement. With Alopecia, I have a lot of little steps—with acceptance. It’s something I like about myself now. It wasn’t always the case. Michael’s photograph captures another level of embracing another step along this journey of acceptance. I like that I have some photos with a wig and some photos without it because that’s a more accurate representation of who I am right now. It’s fun to not hide behind it. It is super empowering.

Best advice someone has given you?
One teacher in school [Berklee], Dave Tronzo, would talk about how music is a healing art. We always need to remember that when we’re playing or creating music. I’ve been through therapy to talk about alopecia, among other things. It helped to write a mission statement for myself. It’s something musicians should do. Figure out what your mission statement should be—what you want to express. It’s important to remember that and keep coming back to it.

Molly Tuttle – Photo credit Zach Pigg

How do you remain hopeful?
Connecting with others and believing in the work. Someone said they felt very depressed about the environment and climate change. Another person told them to make that go away—you have to get active. Get out there. Create change. Do whatever you can—speak out, show by actions. It’s how I remain hopeful. It’s difficult to stay hopeful when you’re not doing anything. Taking action signals to yourself that there is still something left to be done.

Best advice you’d give upcoming musicians?
Find what you want to express to the world. Find what you can bring—what kind of message you want to share. Everyone has an important message—a side of themselves they’d like to express. Just be yourself. It doesn’t happen overnight, but keep striving to make the world a better place.

Where can new fans get more info and stay updated?
www.MollyTuttleMusic.com

Instagram: @MollyTuttle

Molly Tuttle – Photo credit Zach Pigg