It’s Turntable Tuesday because life is too short not to listen to great music! This week on Turntable Tuesday I want to share some background and album notes from a very recent live music experience where I purchased a new record. Two albums in fact… I mean how could I pass up that limited edition red vinyl? I was at the North Carolina Folk Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina last Friday night and I saw this incredible performance that I just can’t stop thinking about. This is the topic for Turntable Tuesday this week! From Molly Tuttle during the pandemic shutdown…”but i’d rather be with you.” I hope you have seen live music on this scale in the last seven days! What are you listening to? Crank it up!
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Friday, September 10, 2021. The 29th birthday of my only child who lives so far away it pains me but the location makes her happy so I deal with it. I sent her a nice birthday present and a card and that was most of what I could do. On this night I was in Greensboro, North Carolina to see Molly Tuttle and just get out of the house to enjoy live music during a pandemic. I am so glad I went to this show. Fast forward…I went to the merchandise tent and bought Molly’s two vinyl albums after seeing the show. What a night.
I had heard the name Molly Tuttle from the IBMA event in Raleigh and just reading about music in general as I do a lot but sadly I had not checked out a live performance due to other things taking up my time in life. I knew her credentials… In 2017, Molly was the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitar Player of the Year award. In 2018 she won the award again, along with being named the Americana Music Association’s Instrumentalist of the Year. So here I was last Friday and I was close as in only a few feet away from the stage waiting to see what this young California native was all about. Molly is a year younger than my daughter who now thrives in New York City. I was taken back a notch as I watched her play. As most of you who would read this know I go to an enormous amount of live music performances and have a huge music media collection. It takes me about 5 minutes or so to size up a player or a vocalist on a stage. It took me less than that to shake my head and go “wow.” She was so fluid and so fast on guitar I was shaking my head several times going “why have I waited this long to go see this girl play?” I am standing about 20 feet away and thought I should at least take a few cell phone photos as I did not bring a proper camera. I was alone in the middle of the stage area at the time and she just smiled at me playing like it was nothing. She was flawlessly playing with massive speed as she was looking straight at the crowd. Amazing. I am your newest fan and old enough to be your Dad. At that point I am smiling back as in I have found a new virtuoso to go see play a guitar like few can. https://www.mollytuttlemusic.com/bio
So I came home after the show and slept on the music. I had to go see another gig on Saturday so I turned on Apple Music and put Molly on my car speakers as I drove over to the show on Saturday. As I got back home I started reading all about her life in music and other things. I have spent way too much time on You Tube watching videos of Molly play the last day or so. But there are so many great videos!
What made me pick this album for Turntable Tuesday? Well. I will tell you that at the live show the second song was “She’s a Rainbow” from the Rolling Stones. I heard her hit the initial tones for the song and I knew what the song was. It wasn’t just a cover. The guitar work was very unique and different. I am a long-time fan of the Rolling Stones and will be seeing them in concert in less than two weeks for another of my non-stop tours and decades of following them. I thought to myself…Anyone this young covering the Stones must be something different. Here is what she wrote in the album liner notes: “I embarrassingly couldn’t name 10 songs by The Rolling Stones,” “I have never been super into classic rock, to be honest. That being said, I heard this song and fell in love with it. I thought it would be fun to do a version from the female perspective. I don’t know what The Rolling Stones had in mind when they sang this one, but for me it’s a love song to all feminine beings. She comes in colors everywhere, she’s like a rainbow!! YES!”
When she played the song as the second on the set I think I moved closer to the stage to see just how fluent she was on guitar. This girl can play and she somehow grabbed my heart playing this song. Somehow I see Mick and Keith inviting her to play with them on stage. It would be a smash hit with the crowd.
That is most of what I wanted to tell you on this companion blog post this week. I plan to tell you more on my podcast episode. Be sure to listen in to my companion podcast. I am amazed at the growing support and want to share my stories and experiences seeing live music! Subscribe to my mailing list and drop me a line if you want to talk about music!
Until next time I’ll see you, down the road.