Saw Molly Tuttle play last Sunday...

ii Cybershot ii · #1 10-02-2019, 10:50 AM

Holy crap I was blown away! It was seriously mesmerizing. It was just her playing solo for 1 hour, and my goodness I can not express how impressed I was. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!

Aside from that, I was able to check out her gear afterwards just by being close to the stage:

She was plugged straight into a Tone Dexter, and that was straight into the PA. Her tone was incredible. Sounded 100% like a mic'd acoustic. I believe she uses a K&K pickup in her guitars. She also uses Dunlop 207 jazztone picks. This was the extent of her setup. Simple and brilliant.

AndrewG · #2 10-02-2019, 10:56 AM

Yes she's quite something from the few videos I have seen of her. Seems to be a nice, modest and reserved person too.

Brent Hahn · #3 10-02-2019, 11:15 AM

That guy in the back yelling "What percentage of straight pickup???" was me.

davidbeinct · #4 10-02-2019, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

That guy in the back yelling "What percentage of straight pickup???" was me.

Isn’t that basically the “Whoo, Free Bird!” of a Molly Tuttle show?

ii Cybershot ii · #5 10-02-2019, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

That guy in the back yelling "What percentage of straight pickup???" was me.

Hahaha I was wondering who that was

Allen Shadd · #6 10-02-2019, 02:11 PM

On a side note, her younger brother Sullivan (Sully) just got 2nd place in the national flatpicking championship at Winfield KS two weeks ago. It runs in the family.

DesertTwang · #7 10-02-2019, 02:52 PM

So I'm curious as to whether Molly really uses ONLY a K&K pick-up (the Pure Mini, I presume?), and nothing else? No on-board mic? No external mic, ...?

ii Cybershot ii · #8 10-02-2019, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allen Shadd

On a side note, her younger brother Sullivan (Sully) just got 2nd place in the national flatpicking championship at Winfield KS two weeks ago. It runs in the family.

Haha wow. Her dad, Jack Tuttle, has been a guitar teacher and musician her whole life, so he taught them growing up. That could have something to do with it, I figure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DesertTwang

So I'm curious as to whether Molly really uses ONLY a K&K pick-up (the Pure Mini, I presume?), and nothing else? No on-board mic? No external mic, ...?

Yea me too. I tried to do some internet digging, it really seems like that's all it is! And I was pretty close to her guitars and did not see anything in the soundholes.

mr. beaumont · #9 10-03-2019, 09:01 AM

I am very envious of her picking hand. Looks totally effortless.

Allen Shadd · #10 10-03-2019, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ii Cybershot ii

Haha wow. Her dad, Jack Tuttle, has been a guitar teacher and musician her whole life, so he taught them growing up. That could have something to do with it, I figure.

His dad backed him up on rhythm in the contest. He played well, chose the Collings CW as his prize guitar for 2nd place. I encouraged him to come back next year and he seemed to like that idea.

Glennwillow · #11 10-03-2019, 10:39 AM

I think Molly Tuttle is great to listen to. As a guitar player she lights up a lot of my interests. And as AndrewG pointed out she comes across as modest, genuine, someone you'd really like to get to know personally. Her personality shines right through her music, and I enjoy seeing that.

I was listening to her on YouTube over speakers recently in our living room and my wife asked, "Who is that?" I told her and my wife said, "Her singing is totally lifeless, without expression." I was stunned.

I'm hearing her terrific guitar playing and what I consider a pleasant voice, and my wife only hears her singing and feels that there she comes up short.

So, I'm a fan, but if she comes around here live, I probably won't be taking my wife.

- Glenn

mr. beaumont · #12 10-03-2019, 10:59 AM

That's interesting.

I find Molly's voice to be devoid of any forced "blues" or "twang," which is so commonplace in roots type music. I like it. It's just her natural singing voice, no "effects." It's refreshing.

DukeX · #13 10-03-2019, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

...I'm hearing her terrific guitar playing and what I consider a pleasant voice, and my wife only hears her singing and feels that there she comes up short.

So, I'm a fan, but if she comes around here live, I probably won't be taking my wife.

- Glenn

Take her and I bet she becomes a fan.

Shuksan · #14 10-03-2019, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

I was listening to her on YouTube over speakers recently in our living room and my wife asked, "Who is that?" I told her and my wife said, "Her singing is totally lifeless, without expression." I was stunned.

I'm hearing her terrific guitar playing and what I consider a pleasant voice, and my wife only hears her singing and feels that there she comes up short.

So, I'm a fan, but if she comes around here live, I probably won't be taking my wife.

- Glenn

Well, I got to see her perform last night and there was nothing lifeless or expressionless about her voice. Her singing really stood out as a strength. IMO, she has developed into a much stronger singer over the past several years. If you were listening to a video of an early performance of hers, maybe that had something to do with your wife's take on it. I don't think her voice is quite as tonally distinctive as some other singers, but she has been learning how to put it to very good and effective use and she doesn't suffer from any of those weird exaggerated countryish vocal affectations. If you were listening to a song off her current album, I can see where your wife might be coming from because her vocals in the recordings of those songs don't come off nearly as strong as they did when she sang them last night on stage.

The show last night was a knock out. She was backed by a good band. The venue was small and I was standing at the edge of the stage less than ten feet from her so I had a great close up view of her guitar playing. Her right hand is incredible whether doing flat picking, claw hammer, or finger style. Fast, accurate, and clean with lots of dynamics. Her picking in White Freightliner (played solo) left me and several others around me just shaking our heads in awe.

The songs on her new album definitely are branching out beyond her bluegrass background and don't really serve primarily as a showcase for her guitar playing skills. I'm guessing that's intentional on her part and she may have wanted to focus on her song writing and singing for the album. She played almost all the songs of the album and I have to say they come off stronger performed live. The set also included a number of very cool covers. I highly recommend seeing her if you have the chance.

tippy5 · #15 10-03-2019, 08:28 PM

I just checked her tour schedule. No CA dates left this year.
She is playing Portland Ore. tonight.
I couldn't believe how low her prices were - 22$ door.

I guess it's just videos for me until she decides to come around.
Go Molly Go !