Album review: Molly Tuttle – Rise

Incredible, award-winning musicianship and a mature songwriting talent makes Molly Tuttle one to watch

Taking to the stage to perform long before her teens, Tuttle is the first woman in the 27-year history of the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards to be crowned Guitar Player Of The Year. And on Rise, it’s immediately obvious why.

Sounding far wiser and more sure-footed than most 24-year-olds, Tuttle combines her sweet, soft vocal and undeniable songwriting nous with virtuoso flat-picking talent – a standard bluegrass technique, using a pick to pluck individual guitar notes.

The result is astonishingly accomplished, fast and fluid songs that blend bluegrass with country and Americana influences, and invigorate them with compelling melodies and reflective lyrics.

Tuttle tackles ambition and acquiescence in the fiddle-dressed Good Enough, offers evocative imagery in the heartbroken You Didn’t Call My Name, insanely fleet-footed fun in Friend For A Friend and even an electric guitar solo in Save This Heart – not to mention Super Moon’s thrilling, cymbal-dashed rush of guitar plucks.

Confident songwriting, soft vocals and deft delivery make Rise a refreshing and vital record.

Rating: 4/5 stars