<\/p>\n
Molly Tuttle<\/a> has received much acclaim for her guitar chops, including winning the International Bluegrass Music Award\u2019s Guitar Player of the Year twice, and the Americana Music Association\u2019s Instrumentalist of the Year award.<\/p>\n Her fretwork, singing and songwriting were also recognized with two Grammy Awards for Best Bluegrass Album with her previous band Golden Highway. \u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to being a superstar of the bluegrass genre, Tuttle\u2019s wonderful new album \u201cSo Long Little Miss Sunshine\u201d shows she can also bring engaging pop sensibilities to her music without compromising her virtuosity. In fact, her guitar playing on the album is arguably even more prominent than on her previous recordings.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss Molly Tuttle when she performs Sunday, Dec. 7 at the Arlington Theatre as part of the UCSB Arts & Lectures series. Tickets are available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tuttle talked to Noozhawk\u2019s Jeff Moehlis about the upcoming show and her various musical pursuits. Here is part of the interview:<\/p>\n Jeff Moehlis<\/strong>: What can people look forward to at your upcoming concert in Santa Barbara?<\/p>\n Molly Tuttle<\/strong>: It\u2019s going to be a really fun show.\u00a0We have Kaitlin Butts<\/a> opening up for us, as well as the great artist Meels<\/a>, and they\u2019re both absolutely amazing.<\/p>\n Then we\u2019re gonna play songs off all my different records, but we are on tour supporting my new record \u201cSo Long Little Miss Sunshine.\u201d It\u2019s been really fun working up the new songs and playing them out there on the road, as well as re-imagining some of the older material as well.<\/p>\n So, we\u2019re putting on a show that really spans lots of different genres and styles, from rocking out on certain songs to stripping it down and doing some fully acoustic segments of the show as well. So, there\u2019s just a lot of different fun and exciting moments, and it\u2019s going to be a great night.<\/p>\n JM:<\/strong> I know the new album is being described as a bit of a departure from your previous recordings. What inspired you to kind of explore a new direction, or do you see it as a new direction?\u00a0Do you see it more as kind of a continuum of what you\u2019ve been doing?<\/p>\n MT:<\/strong> Yeah, I mean for me it\u2019s kind of a continuum of my solo work that I\u2019ve done in the past. In my mind I have my records that are Molly Tuttle, and that\u2019s where I\u2019m free to explore and just try on different styles and genres.<\/p>\n Over the last couple years, I\u2019ve made two records under the name \u201cMolly Tuttle and Golden Highway.\u201d<\/p>\n When I came up with that name, it was just really like I wanted to honor the bluegrass music that I grew up with, and I wanted to differentiate it from my solo stuff as well, to create this new project where I could almost make this art that was paying tribute to my family history with my grandfather playing the banjo and my dad being a bluegrass musician.<\/p>\n I just wanted to make music that you could play around a campfire or a bluegrass jam. So, my last couple records were that.<\/p>\n But this feels like more of a solo record in that I\u2019m just exploring sounds that feel uniquely my own, and just kind of not thinking about genre as much.<\/p>\n