Molly Tuttle: City of Gold (Grammy Listening Party)

Summary

All Of It – Molly Tuttle: City of Gold (Grammy Listening Party)

WNYC | Host: Alison Stewart | February 1, 2024

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Episode Overview

In this episode of All Of It, host Alison Stewart dives deep with Grammy-nominated bluegrass musician Molly Tuttle, focusing on her fourth studio album, City of Gold, which is up for Best Bluegrass Album. The discussion explores Tuttle’s creative evolution, rooted family history in bluegrass, the Californian take on a traditionally Southern genre, and the album’s stories and sounds. The conversation is peppered with full-song listens, personal anecdotes, and reflective moments, offering new and longtime fans insight into Tuttle's artistry ahead of the Grammy Awards.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. From Singer-Songwriter to Bluegrass Band Leader

• Stewart notes Tuttle's earlier albums were more "singer-songwriter-esque," and asks about the shift to bluegrass with a full band:
  • Tuttle describes how, after touring with her band Golden Highway for over 100 shows in a year, the group developed a unique, cohesive sound (02:29).
  • "This genre is part of who I am and my upbringing," Tuttle says, recounting her grandfather and father's bluegrass roots (02:56).
  • The new album was largely inspired by life on the road with the band and the community that formed around them.

2. California's Influence & The Gold Rush Narrative

• Stewart and Tuttle explore how California's history shaped City of Gold:
  • The album’s title references the Gold Rush and the allure of "striking it rich," paralleled by Tuttle’s personal drive to pursue music (06:15).
  • Tuttle: "For me, music has always been my city of gold—something that I've chased after and dreamed about." (06:29)
  • Songs like “El Dorado”, “San Joaquin”, and “Yosemite” tie this historical and geographic context into the music.

3. Family History in Bluegrass Music

• Tuttle outlines her bluegrass lineage:
  • Grandfather: Illinois farmer, exposed to southern music while in the Air Force, started a family band (07:02).
  • Father: Moved from Illinois to California, became a full-time bluegrass teacher in Palo Alto and raised his children in the genre (07:52).
  • She notes, "People don't really think of Silicon Valley as a hub for bluegrass, but there is some great bluegrass that’s come out of California." (08:34)

4. Behind the Songs—Stories & Sound

• “San Joaquin”: Inspired by the train line running through California, Tuttle reveals it’s a tale involving smuggling once-illicit goods—a playful nod to the region's agricultural and countercultural legacy (08:53).
  • "We just want to show what we've got, play it as fast as humanly possible," Tuttle says of the song’s tempo (10:32).
  • She candidly likens performing it live to riding a runaway train: "Once you get on it, it's hard to get off." (10:55)
• “Alice in the Bluegrass”: A whimsical reimagining of Alice in Wonderland set in Kentucky, merging childhood literary influence with bluegrass tradition (13:15).
  • Stewart draws a line to Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”; Tuttle notes they pair the two songs in concert as a medley (15:00).
• Personal Storytelling: On her previous album, Tuttle delved into living with alopecia. She describes how opening up about her experience—removing her wig onstage while singing “Crooked Tree”—became cathartic and communal (15:41).
  • "I just wanted to help other people feel more comfortable in their skin... But then I quickly realized that it was also really helping me." (16:09)

5. Musical Growth – Lessons from Berklee

• Stewart asks for memorable college assignments; Tuttle recounts a lesson from her teacher, Dave Tronzo, asking her to embrace musical discomfort:
  • "That feeling of discomfort is the root of all, you know, prejudice in the world... You need to really work on getting rid of that feeling and embracing all types of music." (11:42)
  • This lesson encouraged Tuttle to remain open, adventurous, and receptive in her musical career.

6. Reflection on Life and Change – “Where Did All the Wild Things Go?”

• Tuttle discusses how the song was inspired by seeing shifts in her social world—friends settling down and wild festival days becoming less frequent as she enters her 30s (16:51).
  • "This is one that I wrote to try to rile up the audiences at our shows, basically." (17:14)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On forming the band’s identity:
  • “We really developed this unique sound as a band that we didn’t have before... we had cultivated this community around us, and I knew I wanted to go back in the studio and record songs inspired by our year out on the road.” — Molly Tuttle (02:29)
• On California as muse:
  • “City of gold to me is like... this dream that you have, and you’re trying to strike it rich in one way or another. For me, music has always been my city of gold.” — Molly Tuttle (06:15)
• On bluegrass in Silicon Valley:
  • “People don’t really think of Silicon Valley as a hub for bluegrass... but there is some great bluegrass that’s come out of California.” — Molly Tuttle (08:34)
• On musical growth:
  • “That feeling of discomfort is the root of all, you know, prejudice in the world... You need to really work on kind of getting rid of that feeling and embracing all types of music.” — Molly Tuttle quoting Dave Tronzo (11:42)
• On sharing her alopecia journey:
  • “It was something that... I just felt like I had this block... It was really healing for me. And I think ultimately, I just wanted to help other people feel more comfortable in their skin.” — Molly Tuttle (15:41)
• On “San Joaquin” live performances:
  • “It's like a train, once you get on it, it's hard to get off. That's just part of this music—you're kind of just showing what you got.” — Molly Tuttle (10:55)
• On growing up:
  • “Everyone's kind of giving up the wild ways we had in our early 20s.” — Molly Tuttle (16:54)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:09–01:53 – [Music] “Next Rodeo”
• 02:08–02:56 – Tuttle on new band energy and bluegrass roots
• 04:37–05:55 – [Music] “El Dorado”
• 06:15–06:49 – Tuttle on California identity and album title
• 08:53–09:23 – Tuttle introduces “San Joaquin”
• 09:28–10:24 – [Music] “San Joaquin”
• 10:32–11:21 – Tuttle on performing fast tempos live
• 11:42–13:05 – Berklee College story: musical discomfort and growth
• 13:15–14:53 – [Music] “Alice in the Bluegrass”
• 15:00–15:18 – Medley with “White Rabbit”
• 15:30–16:31 – Sharing about alopecia and the impact
• 16:51–17:29 – On “Where Did All the Wild Things Go?”
• 17:52–18:26 – [Music] “Where Did All the Wild Things Go?”

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Episode Tone

The conversation is warm, enthusiastic, and gently probing, with Stewart offering space for reflection and laughter. Tuttle is candid and open, balancing stories of personal vulnerability with the exuberance and wit that infuse her music.

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By the end of this episode, listeners have a vibrant portrait of Molly Tuttle: a bluegrass innovator with deep roots, a playful approach to tradition, and a willingness to blend autobiography, history, and imagination. Her love for California and its metaphorical “city of gold” shines as the golden thread throughout.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

Listener support WNYC Studios.

[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Music is our jam here at all of It. So we pay attention to the Grammy Awards which are happening this Sunday. Now, intellectually and spiritually, we know there's not the best when it comes to but it is an opportunity to use the awards ceremony as a way to recognize some great work. Since the nominations were announced, we've been speaking to many of the nominees, including blues singer Betty Lavette, the folk duo the Milk Carton Kids, and R and B singer Emily King. Coming up on the show tomorrow, we'll hear from Brandi Clark and Noah Khan. And today my grammy nominated guest is Molly Tuttle. This year she's up for best bluegrass album, a category she won last year. This time she's up for her fourth solo studio album called City on of Gold. Let's take a listen to Molly and her band Golden Highway. This is Next Rodeo.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

This ain't my first rodeo.

[Narrator/Host]

Been staring down the barrel since I left home through the highs and lows and the hurts like hell still reaching.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

For the ring on the carousel I.

[Narrator/Host]

Bent down this trail a time or two Knocked out, fenced in but I.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

Broke through Life ain't fair, you can't.

[Narrator/Host]

Fight it so take it by the.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

Horns and ride it Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Narrator/Host]

Gotta giddy up and go Cause there's a cowboy just like you Waiting at the end of every road. Oh, ain't got time to dosey dough Gotta get onto my next rodeo.

[Alison Stewart]

A review and American Songwriter said Tuttle et al capture the energy and spirit of the traditional genre just to thread in their own imaginative narratives and tongue in cheek tales. Molly Tuttle joins us today to talk about City of Golden. Molly, welcome to the show.

[Molly Tuttle]

Hi. Thanks for having me.

[Alison Stewart]

So your first two albums, I suggest people go check them out. They're sort of more in the singer, songwriter esque category. If we have to talk about categories, the last two albums of yours, solidly bluegrass. So what felt different about working on a bluegrass album this time as compared to the previous one?

[Molly Tuttle]

So this time was different because I had been touring with my band golden highway for a solid year. We did over 100 shows after we released Crooked Tree. And so I feel like we really developed this unique sound as a band that we didn't have before because when I recorded my previous record, Crooked Tree, I didn't really have a solid band set up. I knew I wanted to record all these bluegrass songs that I'd been writing during the pandemic And I had this band name in my head, golden highway. And this idea for kind of a project that really paid tribute to the music I grew up playing and grew up with. And my family. My grandfather was a banjo player. My dad plays bluegrass music. So it really felt like this genre is part of who I am and part of my upbringing. But after putting out that record, I felt like this special energy with my bandmates, and we had kind of cultivated this community around us, and I knew I wanted to go back into the studio and record songs that were kind of inspired by our year out on the road together.

[Interviewer/Host]

The first song on the album is.

[Alison Stewart]

El dorado, referencing the city of gold.

[Interviewer/Host]

And you've talked about how you took.

[Alison Stewart]

A field trip as a kid to.

[Interviewer/Host]

Coloma, california, to learn about the gold rush.

[Alison Stewart]

What is it about that trip that stayed with you?

[Molly Tuttle]

Well, I remember that trip so vividly. It was just one of those times as a kid where I remember panning for gold. I remember this old kind of miner type guy, and he was wearing this gold nugget around his neck on a chain, and he was teaching us to pan for gold. And it felt like we were just transported into this other world. So a lot of bluegrass songs that I grew up with deal with the history of the american south. And I felt like I wanted to dive into the history that I grew up with out in california and out in the west and see if I could kind of write my own california bluegrass song. Because most people associate this genre with kentucky and tennessee, and I live in tennessee now, But I love coming back to my home state.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's take a listen to el dorado from molly tuttle.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

I'm gold rush kate from the golden state. With a nugget around my neck I keep the red lights burning bright from here to helen back I've ducked for silver and for gold from boulder up to hayes When I hit coloma boys I made my final claim Cross the high sierras in the spring of 48 man with shoveling pan has stumbled through my gates behind these doors whiskey pours.

[Narrator/Host]

And loving floats like wine Mine's bows.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

To mother lo they'll dig or else I try el dorado they come from far and wide to quell the fever in their souls and haunts the brain They've gone insane for the glimmer of a gold Must have struggled here down.

[Narrator/Host]

One way path Cause when you won't.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

Coloma boys you never make it back there's love with billy can trinkets fill so can john rover matluck Davis in his grave his gold dust days are.

[Narrator/Host]

Over they fill their pans with bloodless sand Call to God upstairs but in.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

The golden country boys the lord won't hear your prayers.

[Narrator/Host]

El Dorado.

[Alison Stewart]

That's El dorado from Molly Tuttle. She's nominated for best bluegrass album the Sunday's grammy awards. Okay, so we have El dorado. There's a song, San Joaquin, Yosemite. You've mentioned you're from California. What does being a Californian mean to you?

[Molly Tuttle]

I think it's like california as a state to me is. It feels like a place where people come to, you know, searching for something. And that kind of went into the title of the album, city of gold. City of gold to me is like. It's this dream that you have, and you're trying to strike it rich in one way or another. And for me, music has always been my city of gold, something that I've chased after and dreamed about. But I feel like when you go back and read books about California, it's always this land of promise that people come to looking for something.

[Interviewer/Host]

So when you think about it, you mentioned that bluegrass music is in your family, but you grew up in Palo alto, California. How did bluegrass music come to be a thing in the tunnel family?

[Molly Tuttle]

Yeah, so my grandfather was a farmer. He lived in Illinois in this really rural town called yorkville, Illinois. It's only like, 45 minutes from Chicago, but it feels like you're in a totally different universe. It's just cornfields as far as the eye can see. And he was actually in the air force and stationed down south and heard Hank Williams and then got into listening to the grand ole opry, and through that, discovered bluegrass music. Loved flattened scruggs and bill Monroe, and he started playing the banjo. And so when my dad was growing up, they had, like, a tuttle family band out on the farm, and my dad learned to play the guitar and the fiddle, and so they would go to bluegrass festivals throughout Illinois. And then when my dad was a little older, he decided to move out to California after he graduated college and just kind of ended up in Palo alto because, you know, people don't really think of silicon valley as a hub for bluegrass music. But at the time, there was a lot of great music. Tony rice was living out in California in the bay area, and he's one of the big guitar heroes in bluegrass music, and there's this really happening scene. So it kind of drew my dad out there, and he ended up teaching bluegrass music full time, and he still does that in Palo Alto. He's been teaching since the 80s, so he taught me how to play guitar growing up, and we used to go to bluegrass festivals in Northern California, and my two younger brothers also play music. So, yeah, just grew up with it. But it is kind of. I get asked that a lot. Like, how did you find this type of music growing up in the heart of Silicon Valley? It's a little unexpected, but if you kind of look into it, there is some great bluegrass music that's come out of California.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's listen to another track from City of Gold. We'll stay with the California theme. This is San Joaquin. Tell us a little bit about the story you're telling us in this song.

[Molly Tuttle]

Yeah, so I wrote this. I wrote the whole album with Catch Secor. And we were looking at these train lines going through California, and we discovered this one called the San Joaquin that kind of goes through the San Joaquin Valley. And we decided to write a train song, like a California train song, about smuggling some illicit substances down through the state. Not illicit anymore, but maybe in the time where this song came from.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's take a listen.

[Narrator/Host]

Riding on the sandwa king Bringing in.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

Some humble green Watch out for the.

[Narrator/Host]

Bleed Pick your pockets clean top spend to hatch a bean Putting it to Richmond I'll be gold as soon as.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

The suitcase is sold Building a mowing down line Just looking for the next.

[Narrator/Host]

Hard time Ride along the San Joaquin well, San Joaquin's mighty good lion There's.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

A good chance you'll blow your mind.

[Narrator/Host]

Each time through that whistle blow I'm smuggling in another love Riding on the sandwalking Bringing in some humble green I'm just floating down the line Looking for the next high time Riding on the sandwalking.

[Interviewer/Host]

So, Molly, I have to ask you about the pace. How do you keep up that pace live in concert?

[Molly Tuttle]

Oh, my gosh. It's. That one was. It was a struggle, like, in the studio, we were just like, we know we need to make this one a barn burner. Like, we just want to show what we've got, play it as fast as humanly possible. And, yeah, when we play it live, it's like it almost sometimes gets too fast. Like, it'll speed up at times, and we have to, you know, kind of rein it in. Because once it's like a train, once you get on it, it's hard to get off. And so I think that's just part of this music where there's an aspect to it that it's just, you know, you're Kind of just showing what you got. And it's definitely. It definitely can. It definitely can become a Runway train at times.

[Interviewer/Host]

My guest is Molly Tuttle. She is Grammy nominated for the album city of gold in best bluegrass album category. So you said you've been playing as the kid your dad teaches. You did go to Berkeley College of Music in Boston, which is a fantastic, fantastic school. What's an assignment you remember still to this day?

[Molly Tuttle]

Ooh, yeah. I had one that I'll always remember. I was studying guitar mainly. That was my primary instrument. And I had this wonderful teacher, Dave Tronzo. And I remember one lesson, he kept trying to get me to play over this interesting chord progression he picked out. But he wanted me to play specific notes that for any music theory nerds out there, he wanted me to play a half step away from the root note of the chord, which sounded to me really dissonant and just. I didn't. Like, I would cringe every time I played this note or, like, played the scale he was trying to get me to play. And he really dug into it and was like, why don't you like the sound of that note over this chord? And I said, you know, it just sounds weird to me. I'm not used to it. And he kind of dug deeper and was like, why does it sound weird to you? And I think it was just. It was something that I hadn't. My ears hadn't adjusted to. And he was like, that feeling of discomfort is the root of all, you know, prejudice in the world. Like, we don't. We're uncomfortable with things that we haven't really encountered before. And you need to really work on kind of getting rid of that feeling and embracing all types of music. So that really opened my mind to. I think I came into Berkeley just feeling like, this is what I do. This is the kind of music I play. And part of me was a little bit closed off to new experiences.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's listen to another song from the album, city of gold. I love this one. This is Alice in the bluegrass. This is a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland, right?

[Molly Tuttle]

Yeah. Yeah, totally. And kind of combines two things that I loved as a kid, Alice in wonderland and bluegrass. It's like if Lewis Carroll was from Kentucky.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's listen to Alice in the bluegrass.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

Come Gabriel, folks, and a story I'll tell about a girl who tripped through the bottom of the well Woke up in a dream with a curious habit.

[Narrator/Host]

Chasing a little white rabbit Rushing with.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

A flub out the field mouse door Said this don't look like Kentucky anymore Knocked three times and her mind swung open Alice sat, woke in.

[Narrator/Host]

So she danced all night with a bottle in her hand Lost in a wonderland toadstool fiddling a cigarette bowl Where'd you come from, Alice? Why'd you go?

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

Then the old snapper turtle peeked out of his shell Said, little girl, you.

[Narrator/Host]

Don'T look too well Take a little.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

Swig and a little bitty swallow you'll.

[Narrator/Host]

Feel three times smaller Then the glow.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

Sitting on a Caterpillar tractor gave her smoke some strange tobacco the doodlebug said there can't go back there, you'll be ours forever after.

[Interviewer/Host]

There are so many things to love.

[Alison Stewart]

About that song, not to mention sort.

[Interviewer/Host]

Of the audio Callback to Jefferson Airplane.

[Molly Tuttle]

Yes. Yeah. We started covering White Rabbit, and I had already written that Alice in the bluegrass song, and I was like, I think we need to start teasing this by playing White Rabbit. And it became like one of our favorites to do in the set. So now we kind of medley those two, go from one to the next, have this whole little Alice in Wonderland segment.

[Alison Stewart]

Molly.

[Interviewer/Host]

It's such a fantastical story and such great imagery, and I don't know if people who don't know your story. Your last album dealt with a lot of personal stuff about being a woman living with alopecia your whole life.

[Molly Tuttle]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Host]

What was that experience like, playing those songs and talking about it at every interview? I'm sorry.

[Molly Tuttle]

It's been really great for me. I mean, it was something that, as like, a young adult and as a teenager, I just felt like I had this block where it was so hard for me to talk about. It was so hard for me to take off my wig in front of people and really be open. And, you know, the more I started doing it, the easier it became. And it was really healing for me. And I think it ultimately, I just wanted to help other people feel more comfortable in their skin. I wanted to connect with people with alopecia, but also anyone who has something similar. But then I quickly realized that it was also really helping me feel more comfortable in my skin as well. So my song Crooked Tree is still really special to me. And that's when we still play live all the time. And sometimes I'll take off my wig before playing it, and it's just become this special moment that I love to have with the people who come to our shows.

[Alison Stewart]

I'm sure there's so many people. It means so much, too. So thank you also for answering that question. I know you've had to Answer it.

[Molly Tuttle]

About bunch of dumb talking about it.

[Alison Stewart]

We're gonna go out on the song where did all the wild Things Go? From your Grammy nominated album, City of Gold. Tell us a little bit about this song.

[Molly Tuttle]

Yeah, so this one is kind of inspired by these funny scenes that I've experienced going out to music festivals. And I go to so many festivals where I play over the summer and some of them get pretty wild. But this one's kind of asking a question like, what happened? Why are we all settling down now? I think entering my 30s especially, it feels like everyone's kind of giving up the wild ways that we had in our early 20s. So this is one that I wrote to try to rile up the audiences at our shows, basically.

[Alison Stewart]

My guest has been Molly Tuttle. She is nominated for best bluegrass album for City of Gold. Molly, thank you for the time. Have a great weekend.

[Molly Tuttle]

Yeah, yeah. Thanks so much for having me. It was great talking with you.

[Alison Stewart]

This is. Where did all the wild things go?

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

Do you like to get down low with the dog house?

[Narrator/Host]

Or high on the hog?

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

When the Friday night lights go down? Can you howl like a great cow?

[Narrator/Host]

Do you like greens? And I don't mean collards? Hollowed, swallowed, Loan your last dollar dawn.

[Singer/Musician (Molly Tuttle or Band Member)]

And do you like to tie one on? Now the street's full of suits with.

[Narrator/Host]

Hundred dollar haircuts I used to cut loose now it's uptight, airbrushed, scratching my head? Cause I really, really want to know where did all the wild things go?

[Alison Stewart]

Molly Tuttle is nominated for best best bluegrass album for the Sunday's Grammy Awards. There's more, all of it on the way.

[Interviewer/Host]

I'll meet you right back here after.

[Alison Stewart]

The news.

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[Molly Tuttle]

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