Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway - Crooked Tree

by Zena Grieg

published: 21 / 6 / 2022

Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway - Crooked Tree

Label: Nonesuch
Format: CD

Eclectic bluegrass and country rock on third album from singer-songwriter Molly Tuttle

Review

Singer-songwriter Molly Tuttle has released her new album, her third, a return to country after her excursion into more folk music-aligned territory. Produced by veteran dobro player, Jerry Douglas, ‘Crooked Tree’ is an eclectic collection, all original songs, made with her new bluegrass band Golden Highway, who ably complement Tuttle’s accomplished guitar playing. Highlights of this thirteen-track collection include: the opener, the energetic ‘She’ll Change’ with its jaunty banjo, mandolin and fiddle backing, about a woman living exuberantly by her own rules; a melodic duet with country star Margo Price on ‘Flatland Girl’; the eco anthem ‘Big Backyard' , a collaboration with Old Crow Medicine; the existential title track with its environmentalist lyrics: “Perfect trees were driven down the mountain to the mill/They turned them into toothpicks and twenty dollar bills” and its ultimate defiance: “The crooked trees were left there after all the work was done/Now they go for weeks and never witness anyone/No one left to tell them if they’re growing right or wrong but the whispering wind.” Also impressive are:- the bubbly ‘Over The Line’ with Sierra Hull; ‘Nashville Mess Around’ featuring unexpected yodelling by Tuttle, who has a loyal following in South Germany, Switzerland and Austria; ‘San Francisco Blues’ with its lament on the prohibitive cost of real estate, forcing long-time residents out; the catchy, playful duet with Gillian Welch ‘Side Saddle’; and the emotive, autobiographical closer ‘Grass Valley’, remembering her first trip as a child to the annual bluegrass festival and the seminal moment this was in her life: “I didn’t know it then, but my life turned a page.” Highlighting Tuttle’s storytelling prowess alongside her musical virtuosity, ‘Crooked Tree’ is an intriguing, sparkling next chapter for this talented songwriter.

Track Listing:-

1 She'll Change
2 Flatland Girl
3 Dooley's Farm
4 Big Backyard
5 Crooked Tree
6 Castilleja
7 The River Knows
8 Over The Line
9 Nashville Mess Around
10 San Francisco Blues
11 Goodbye Girl
12 Side Saddle
13 Grass Valley