Del McCoury, Lukas Nelson & Bryan Sutton Among Molly Tuttle’s Guests At Debut Ryman Auditorium Headlining Concert

Molly Tuttle experienced a career milestone last Friday night, headlining the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville for the first time. Tuttle and her band Golden Highway were joined by numerous special guest throughout the concert, with Del McCoury, Lukas Nelson, Bryan Sutton, Ronnie McCoury and Jason Carter taking part in the memorable performance.

Golden Highway sees the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist backed by fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, mandolinist Dominick Leslie, bass player Shelby Means and banjo player Kyle Tuttle.

Bluegrass legendary guitarist and bandleader Del McCoury and his son and bandmate, mandolin player Ronnie McCoury, were the first bonus musicians to join Tuttle and her band at The Ryman. The McCourys joined a performance of the Del McCoury Band’s “She’s Heavenly.”

Acclaimed guitarist Bryan Sutton was the next guest to take The Ryman stage. Performing around a single microphone, Sutton and Tuttle were left alone for duo arrangements of the traditional “Salt Creek” and “Old Man at the Mill.”

A few songs later, Tuttle and her bandmates were joined on guitar and vocals by Lukas Nelson, who accompanied the group on Johnny Russell’s “Act Naturally.” Immediately following Nelson’s exit, The Del McCoury Band fiddler Jason Carter (who is engaged to Bronwyn Keith-Hynes) was added to the mix for takes on Tuttle’s “Dooley’s Farm” and “Crooked Tree.”

Tuttle ended her first headlining show at The Ryman by bringing the guests back and members of opening act TopHouse out for “Rollin’ In My Sweet Baby’s Arms” and “White Freight Liner Blues.”

Calling it the “craziest night” of her life, Tuttle reflected on the experience of taking top billing at The Ryman in message shared on social media.

“Endlessly grateful to everyone who has been part of this musical journey with us,” Tuttle wrote “Headlining [The Ryman] is something I didn’t even dare to dream of when I moved to Nashville 10 years ago… I have stepped on to the legendary Ryman stage many times over the past few years but playing our own show to a full house of fans, friends and family was one of the most surreal and life affirming experiences I’ve ever had!”