Molly Tuttle

Molly Rose Tuttle is an American vocalist, songwriter, banjo player, guitarist, recording artist, and teacher in the bluegrass tradition. She is noted for her flatpicking, clawhammer, and crosspicking guitar prowess. Wikipedia

“A female flat picker extraordinaire with agility, speed, and elegance who distinctively brings American roots music into the spotlight.”—NPR

“A vibrant blend of bluegrass with flashes of Old West, anchored by Tuttle’s earthy-yet-angelic vocal and the entire group’s ace musicianship.” —Billboard

Raised in northern California, singer-songwriter and bluegrass musician Molly Tuttle moved to Nashville in 2015. In the years since, she has been nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy and won awards for Album of the Year at the 2023 International Folk Music Awards, Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2022 International Bluegrass Music Awards, and Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards. She also won consecutive Guitar Player of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2017 and 2018—and was the first woman to win the award, let alone win it twice.

Tuttle and her band, Golden Highway, released their latest album, City of Gold, in July 2023. The Grammy-winning album followed Tuttle’s acclaimed 2022 record, Crooked Tree, which also won a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. Produced by Tuttle and celebrated progressive bluegrass musician Jerry Douglas, City of Gold was inspired by Tuttle’s constant touring with Golden Highway, during which she and the band have grown and cohered as musicians and performers. Musical Instrument Museum

Her song Crooked Tree (video w/Jerry Douglas) also visits the subject of Alopecia Areata (article) and Molly.

Molly Tuttle has ushered in an exciting new chapter in her career by forming an all-female touring band, stepping away from the four-year run with Golden Highway. This change aligns with the release of her new solo album So Long Little Miss Sunshine, set for August 15, 2025. It signals a stylistic expansion beyond bluegrass, blending pop, country, and rock – a direction further emphasized in her all-female backing band choice.

Old Crow Medicine Show

Old Crow Medicine Show got their start busking on street corners in 1998, from New York state and up through Canada, winning audiences along the way with their boundless energy and spirit. They eventually found themselves in Boone, North Carolina where they caught the attention of folk icon Doc Watson while playing in front of a pharmacy. He invited the band to play at his festival, MerleFest, and the rest is history.

It’s been over twenty years since these humble beginnings. The band has gone on to receive the honor of being inducted as members of the Grand Ole Opry, and have won two Grammy Awards: “Best Folk Album” for Remedy (2014) and “Best Long Form Music Video” for Big Easy Express (2013). Additionally, their classic single, “Wagon Wheel”, received the RIAA’s Double-Platinum certification in 2019 for selling over 2,000,000 copies while the band’s debut album O.C.M.S. has been certified Gold (500,000 copies). The band’s latest release is Live At The Ryman (2019) which was released on Columbia via The Orchard. Old Crow Medicine Show’s latest endeavor is the Hartland Hootenanny, a variety show hosted on You Tube that features music, storytelling, special guests, socially distanced square dancing and more. (Courier Express)

Dawes

Dawes is an American folk rock band from Los Angeles, California, composed of brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith, along with Wylie Gelber and Lee Pardini. The band has been described as being influenced by the Laurel Canyon sound, found in such artists as Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. Wikipedia

A group of road warriors who’ve carved out their blend of amplified folk-rock, the music is nuanced and collaborative, with no single instrument dominating the track list.

Dawes-FB page

Nataniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats

Nathaniel David Rateliff is an American singer and songwriter based in Denver, whose influences are described as folk, Americana and vintage rhythm & blues. Rateliff has garnered attention with Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, the soulful R&B combo he formed in 2013. Wikipedia

His record label includes this in his notes:

Like his heroes, Rateliff has always been an omnivorous listener and player. Growing up in Hermann, Missouri, a small town with a booming tourism industry as well as a rampant meth epidemic, he started his music career playing in his family’s band at church, but that came to a tragic end when his father was killed in a car accident. Music became an obsession for him and his friends. “We would walk around these deserted country roads and talk about music all the time, how it can change the world and how it could change our world,” recalls Night Sweats bassist Joseph Pope III. “Music was what we thought would save us.”

Alison Krauss & Union Station

Alison Krauss is nearly too well known to be featured here but the bluegrass world is not necessarily familiar to music fans in general. She is a highly acclaimed American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler, and music producer. A child prodigy who began studying classical violin at age five, she shifted to bluegrass and was winning fiddle championships by her teens. Krauss signed with Rounder Records at age 14 and released her debut solo album, Too Late to Cry, in 1987. Soon after, she joined the band Union Station, beginning a collaboration that has spanned decades and numerous albums, including the recent 2025 release Arcadia.

Krauss’s delicate, crystalline soprano voice and virtuosic fiddle playing have made her one of the most celebrated artists in roots music. Her work was instrumental in revitalizing interest in American roots music, is particularly with her contributions to the hugely successful 2000 film soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou?. The album sold millions of copies and introduced bluegrass to a wide, mainstream audience.

Beyond her work with Union Station, Krauss is known for her successful collaborations. Her 2007 album Raising Sand with Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant was a critical and commercial smash, winning the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2009. The duo reunited for a follow-up album, Raise the Roof, in 2021.

A record-setting Grammy winner, Krauss has amassed an impressive 27 awards throughout her career, making her the second most-awarded female artist in history. In recognition of her immense contributions to American music, she was also awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2019 and was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2021. Her legacy is defined by her ability to effortlessly bridge the gap between traditional roots music and a broader contemporary sound.

Her featured guest musician on tour is another RTA favorite – see Jerry Douglas

Jason Isbell

Michael Jason Isbell is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Green Hill, Alabama, in Lauderdale County. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a former member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007. Isbell has won four Grammy Awards. Wikipedia

“Isbell may not be a household name but he is a songwriter of great depth and intelligence. Blending country, folk, roots and rock, his music is soulful and alive, with deceptively sophisticated lyrics about addicts, runaways, lovers and outsiders. Naturally, his vignettes of the American working class have seen him compared to Bruce Springsteen, though his quieter songs bear the traces of one of his late mentors, the master American songwriter John Prine. On Sunday night, Isbell’s latest album, Weathervanes – recorded with his band the 400 Unit – is up for three Grammys (Best Americana Album, Best Americana Performance, and Best American Roots Song).” Independent – Louis Chilton

Now, he is high profile and touring widely….this is what is being said “One of the greatest songwriters of his generation, Jason Isbell and his band, the 400 Unit, mix soulful stompers like “Hope the High Road” and “Cumberland Gap” with emotional love songs such as “If We Were Vampires” and “Cover Me Up.” Armed with a pair of Grammys each for Best Americana Album and Best American Roots Song, Isbell turns a mirror on the people and places across America. “

Jason Isbell was married to Amanda Shire s. (Click to visit her site) They were part of each other’s bands and often appeared on record together.

Steinar Ytrehus

This is what is online:

Steinar Ytrehus is a guitarist and recordingartist from Norway. He started out playing the guitar when he was 15 years old, and soon after he started recording music on his Tascam 4track Taperecorder. Since then he has always been making and recording music . Some of his songs were even used on several Norwegian TV shows. The music is a mix of blues, rock, country, jazz and Americana.

For some years he was an active remixer on Indaba music, and he won several contests. When Indaba Music was discontinued he decided to just write and record his own music. Until the end of his remixing career he only made instrumentals, but from now on he started writing lyrics and doing the vocals too.

The result was the release of his debut album Dark Songs in early 2020. The following year he also released 4 singles and he did some collaborations with other artists.

After building up a brand new studio in 2021, he has now finished a new album called “Black Coffee and Sweet Lovesongs” which was released on the 17th of June 2022.

What makes this musician interesting to Roaming the Arts:

Given, he is channeling the sound of other artists, especially Mark Knopfler, but he is writing very good original music, recording and marketing it himself on platforms such as Spotify, and creating a brooding, melancholy sound that is hard to stop listening to. His recent single “Call me King,” is another good example why Steinar Ytrehus deserves, and will be getting more attention well beyond the borders of Norway.

Follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

Delbert McClinton

Rolling Stone calls him the “Godfather of Americana Music,” and rightfully so. Delbert’s musical style grew from his Texas roots. A little Tejano. A little Bob Wills. Throw in some Jimmy Reed harmonica. Add a splash of Big Joe Turner, and a big band horn section. He has also been nominated for Grammys in the Country category, and has been featured in media from the Los Angeles Times to the Washington Post. He has developed a sound that continues to serve him well, as evidenced by the three Grammy Awards for Contemporary Blues on his mantel.

Born in Lubbock, raised in Fort Worth, and now with homes in Austin, Nashville, and San Miguel de Allende, Delbert recognizes that he has been One Of The Fortunate Few. He grew up with a backstage pass to some of the most significant moments in American culture and music history.

From his early Fort Worth bands, the Straitjackets and the Rondels, to his current band, Self‑Made Men + Dana, he continues to play sold‑out concert halls and dance halls, historical theatres and music festivals across the nation. A major player in several waves of the national surge of Texas music popularity, Delbert has performed multiple times on Saturday Night Live, has been featured on Austin City Limits seven times, as one of the most celebrated guests on the popular series; and appeared on many other national television shows.

His career truly defines Americana music: Delbert’s unique story of American history – with big horns, a strong rhythm section and a hot harmonica lead. To borrow from one of the songs on Tall, Dark & Handsome, whether he’s doing a live show or a recording, you can be assured that Delbert McClinton “don’t leave no chicken on the bone.”

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real

Lukas Nelson

“In case you didn’t know, Willie Nelson has a son. His name is Lukas Nelson.

Lukas Nelson has long been better known for being the son of a country music legend than for the music he’s made, but that’s changing.

With the release last summer (2023) of their eighth album, “Sticks and Stones,” Nelson and his band, Promise of the Real, are affirming their identity as musicians who can play just about anything, from rock to country.

“I’m discovering more who I am in every album. And this album is completely who I am,” Nelson says in an interview on his website. (Michael Shapiro, The Press Democrat)

Randall Bramblett

Jesup, Georgia native, multi-instrumentalist Randall Bramblett may be known as Southern Rock Royalty for playing on stage with rock heroes like Bonnie Raitt, The Allman Brothers Band, Steve Winwood (16 years), Widespread Panic. And respected for his songwriting – Bettye LaVette, “The Great Lady of Soul” just released an album of 11 of his songs in June 2023. He also penned the title track for the Grammy nominated Blind Boys of Alabama’s album Going Home, adding to a long catalog of songs covered by Raitt, Gregg Allman, Bonnie Bramlett, Hot Tuna, Delbert McClinton and more. But it’s Bramblett’s own career as frontman, creating 12 albums, where his artistry is in full display.

“One of the South’s most lyrical and literate songwriters.” Rolling Stone

“Randall Bramblett is the William Faulkner of Southern music” Hittin’ the Note

“He’s a soulful, poetic badass if ever there was one.” Marc Cohn

The video featured above is an old one, but a favorite song. (ed.) For more recent video click onto his website below.

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