Usually recording a session after a live show isn’t the best idea. Musicians are tired, happy the job’s done and either want to enjoy a great experience or forget it as soon as they can. But, at Take Root festival, I would take any chance I got to film with Molly Tuttle and her band, and they were incredible. Within minutes, they made us forget we were in an redecorated office and blew our minds with covers of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Zero’, Neil Young’s ‘Helpless’ and a version of her own ‘Light Came In (Power Went Out)’.
Norwegian songwriter Ole Kirkeng supported Tuttle on a recent tour and volunteered to write a short guest essay for us. Read it below in between the videos.
“When Molly Tuttle plays, her fingers dance across the fretboard.”
“It was Spring 2019, and I headed towards England to do a solo 10-day support tour for Molly Tuttle. Landing in London the weather was turning towards summer. Driving up the M6, past English townhouses, fields, and multiple Marks & Spencers, I was excited and curious about how the tour was going to be. The first show was in Birmingham. When loading my stuff into the venue, inside, I was greeted by Molly’s welcoming presence and smile. Turns out, smiling and joy would be a recurring theme for this whole tour.”
“Each night, for the following next 10 days, I watched hundreds of people smiling and cheering for Molly after every tune and show she played. Molly is one the greats when it comes to guitar playing. When she plays, her fingers dance across the fretboard, with the elegance and precision of a ballet dancer at the Royal Opera House. Producing wonderful, and special accompaniments to her songs. What I love about Molly, is that her precision and dedication on the guitar travels over to her writing and singing.”
“She can take any song and make it her own.”
“Molly’s theft for writing words and melodies is immaculate. Countless of times I’ve found myself humming a melody to one of her songs. There are no shortcuts or fillers in her lyrics, and you don’t drift away from the journey of each song. She is a storyteller – which adds to why I think her music resonates with so many people, including myself.”
“As you can see in these videos, her influences are broad, and her taste is eclectic. She can take any song and make it her own. Just check out her cover here of “Zero” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Molly creates a one of a kind expression, because she is a one of a kind artist. I rem