“The singer, songwriter and guitarist Molly Tuttle’s fingers move so quickly, she could pick your pocket without breaking stride.” —New York Times
The 2024-’25 UGA Presents season opens Thursday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. with a Hodgson Concert Hall performance by Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway. Tuttle, a two-time Grammy Award winner, “marries the improvisatory solos of traditional bluegrass with singer-songwriter sophistication” (NPR Music). Together with her band, Golden Highway, she’s bringing her truly original and unmistakable musical perspective to Athens.
The new UGA Presents series is the university’s biggest yet, with more than 40 performances ranging from Americana to world music, classical music to jazz, theatre to dance. Subscriptions and single tickets are available at the UGA Performing Arts Center box office.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and guitarist Molly Tuttle and her band, Golden Highway, released their latest album, City of Gold, in July 2023 on Nonesuch Records. The Grammy-nominated City of Gold follows Tuttle’s acclaimed 2022 record, Crooked Tree, which won Best Bluegrass Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards and led NPR Music to call her “a female flat picker extraordinaire with agility, speed, and elegance who distinctively brings American roots music into the spotlight,” adding that the album “marries the improvisatory solos of traditional bluegrass with singer-songwriter sophistication.”
Produced by Tuttle and Jerry Douglas and recorded at Nashville’s Sound Emporium Studios, City of Gold was inspired by Tuttle’s constant touring with Golden Highway these past few years, during which they have grown together as musicians and performers, cohering as a band. Reflecting on the project, Tuttle shares, “When I was a kid, we took a field trip to Caloma, CA to learn about the gold rush. I’ll never forget the dusty hills and the grizzled old miner who showed us the nugget around his neck. Just like gold fever, music has always captivated me, captured my heart, and driven me to great lengths to explore its depths. On my new album I dug deep as a songwriter (with Ketch Secor) and co-producer (with Jerry Douglas) and surfaced with a record that celebrates the music of my heart, my life, the land where I grew up, and the stories I heard along the way.
“I made this record with my band Golden Highway after playing more than 100 shows across the country last year. On the road and in the studio, we are inspired by artists such as John Hartford, Gillian Welch, and Peter Rowan, to name a few, whose records are like family albums to us. Just like them, on this album we chart some new territory along with some old familiar ground. The songs span from breakdowns to ballads, fairytales and fiddle tunes, from Yosemite up to the Gold Country and out beyond the mountains. That visit to Coloma, site of California’s first gold strike, is where I first heard about El Dorado, the city of gold. Playing music can take you to a place that is just as precious.”
Raised in Northern California, Tuttle moved to Nashville in 2015. In the years since, she’s been nominated for Best New Artist at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, won Album of the Year at the 2023 International Folk Music Awards, Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2022 International Bluegrass Music Awards, Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards, and Guitar Player of the Year at the IBMAs in both 2017 and 2018, the first woman to receive the honor. Tuttle has performed around the world, including shows with Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, Hiss Golden Messenger, Jason Isbell, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Dwight Yoakam as well as at several major festivals including Newport Folk Festival and Pilgrimage.
SUPPORTED BY
Dianne D. Wall
Deana and Steven Jones
BUYING TICKETS IS EASY
Securing tickets for UGA Presents performances and other events couldn’t be easier. There are three ways to choose from:
- Purchase tickets online 24/7 at pac.uga.edu.
- Call the Performing Arts Center Box Office at (706) 542-4400, Mon.-Fri., 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
- Visit the UGA Performing Arts Center Box Office, Mon.-Fri., 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 230 River Road (5 minute parking is available in the drop off circle at the Performing Arts Center for purchasing or picking up tickets.)