Molly Tuttle Offers New Takes on Familiar Feelings via Instrumenthead Live

Among the pandemic's many lessons has been the importance of the ephemeral experiences in life, the moments that happen once and cannot be recreated or lived again. Nashville's now-struggling independent music venues have long been hosts for these moments, where a performance of a song — even one you've heard dozens of times before — is a once-in-a-lifetime event. 

I relearned this in a small way Thursday night, when technical difficulties (on my end, not the organizers') caused me to miss the first half of a livestream performance by the stellar instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Molly Tuttle. The master picker's follow-up to 2019's When You're Ready is a collection of covers called ... but i'd rather be with you — an apt title for these isolated times. But due to the limitations placed on rights to cover songs, the performance is not immediately available to view again. It was kind of nostalgic in a way. Molly Tuttle played a show last night, and I stumbled in a bit late. Still worth it, though. 

The stream was part of photographer Michael Weintrob's ongoing Instrumenthead Live series. It's produced at his East Nashville studio and borrows its name from a collection he released consisting of portraits of musicians with their instruments in place of their heads. In addition to the stream serving as an album release show for Tuttle, a portion of the proceeds benefited the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. Tuttle was diagnosed with alopecia areata at age 3 and has been open about the role it's played in her life.  

On Thursday night, Tuttle played through her new record straight through, showcasing her bluegrass-folk take on songs by The National, Rancid, Harry Styles, Cat Stevens and more. If a collection of acoustic folk covers sounds unremarkable, that's understandable, especially in a town partly built on workaday musicians banging out cover tunes. But Tuttle's ability as a guitarist makes it impossible for these to be an exercise in karaoke. It's an experiment in filtering great songs through her unique musical lens. Making the record was also an experiment for Tuttle in another way — the pandemic, and resulting lockdowns, forced her to learn how to record the songs herself, while working with a producer on the other side of the country. 

After previewing the new record, she treated viewers to seven more songs, including "Good Enough" from her 2017 EP Rise and "Clue," a standout track from When You're Ready. To close the show, Tuttle was joined by Old Crow Medicine Show fiddler Ketch Secor for a cover of Neil Young's "Helpless," a song Tuttle says she likes to play as an encore. It hits a bit differently now, in a time when we're all grasping onto Zoom calls and livestreams just to feel like we're together the way we used to be. There's something poignant, too, about releasing a collection of old favorites now, when so much that is familiar has been taken away. 

Tuttle said repeatedly Thursday night how much fun it was to play a show, even if she was doing it mostly alone — but she'd rather be with you.

Below, check out the music video for Tuttle's take on The National's "Fake Empire," a standout on ... but I'd rather be with you.