California doesn’t always (or even often) get its flowers when folks start tracing the bluegrass family tree. Appalachia usually claims the headlines, Nashville gets the infrastructure, and the hollers get the mythology. But anyone who’s spent time in the Bay Area, or poking around the acoustic corners of the West Coast, knows better. California grass has always been its own thing: sun-baked, road-tested, a little weird around the edges. On a cool December night at the Fonda Theatre, Molly Tuttle planted that flag squarely in Hollywood’s concrete-covered soil and reminded everyone exactly where she comes from—and where she’s headed next.

Before Jerry Garcia ever plugged in and rewired American music, he was a banjo kid, soaking up bluegrass records with his grandmother and working out Earl Scruggs licks. That lineage echoed through the Bay for decades, winding its way to Santa Clara, where Jack Tuttle raised his kids on fiddle tunes, flatpicking drills, and the idea that bluegrass wasn’t some museum piece; it was alive, flexible, and meant to be pushed.

Molly Tuttle grew up around that tradition and, ultimately, mastered it. By the time she was a teenager, she was already playing circles around players twice her age. She became the first woman to ever win IBMA Guitar Player of the Year, then won it again.

Fast forward to 2025, and Tuttle has already done all the things that most artists dream of: Grammys, Americana coronations, Bluegrass Album of the Year nods, album cameos with legends like Ringo Starr, and a wildly successful run with Golden Highway that helped usher bluegrass into a bigger, louder, and more adventurous era.

But this Fonda show went beyond victory laps. It was part of Molly’s transition into a new chapter with a bit of a stylistic pivot, driven in part by a brand-new backing band that felt less like a supporting cast and more like a gang of co-conspirators.

From the jump, it was clear this wouldn’t be a standard plug-and-chug grass show. Molly stepped out wielding a double-necked acoustic guitar like it was no big deal, casually flexing her skills on “Everything Burns” while setting the tone for a night that would move fluidly between bluegrass precision and country swagger. She followed that up with “The Highway Knows”, which leans into narrative songwriting without ever sacrificing instrumental bite. With her cover of The Rolling Stones’ “She’s a Rainbow,” Molly established early on that her inspiration expands far beyond bluegrass, and that she’s not afraid to cite it at will.

Tuttle’s new touring band—featuring Megan Jane on drums, Vanessa McGowan on bass, Mair Meyer on guitar and mandolin, and Ellen Angelico floating between electric and steel—gave the songs a broader palette. This was bluegrass stretching its legs. “That’s Gonna Leave a Mark” and “Rosalee” carried a little twang, a little dust, and a whole lot of confidence, while “Alice in the Bluegrass” felt like Molly tipping her hat to the house that shaped her, even as she gently rearranged the furniture.

Related: Molly Tuttle Speaks Out For Alopecia Awareness Month

One of the night’s sweetest turns came when Molly stripped things back and went solo, opening the floor to requests. She talked about growing up in a musical household, her grandpa playing banjo back in Illinois, and how these songs get passed down like heirlooms. That led naturally into “Gentle on My Mind”, played with reverence but not preciousness, just how that John Horton standard deserves to be treated. When McGowan and Meyer rejoined for “San Joaquin”, the room felt like it had been gently lifted and set down somewhere between Bakersfield and Yosemite.

There was a playful looseness to the middle stretch of the set. Kaitlin Butts, one of the openers, joined for “I Don’t Wanna Ride Side Saddle”, bringing some extra grit and camaraderie, before Molly launched into a story about NorCal field trips to Gold Country—panning for gold, grizzled old-timers with nuggets around their necks—as a segue into “El Dorado”. The whole band crowded around a single mic, washboard rattling, slide guitar glinting, like a time portal had briefly opened in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard.

Molly’s affection for Southern California added another layer. She joked about thinking L.A. was basically Disneyland when she was a kid, when she would make frequent stops at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace in Bakersfield (now closing its doors), and how strange it feels to be here, years later, headlining rooms like the Fonda. That reflection bled into the live debut of “Easy”, a new song that hinted at where her sound might be headed next: still rooted, but wider, warmer, and less bound by genre lines.

The back half of the set leaned hard into joy. “Dooley’s Farm” was a down-home romp, even without the Billy Strings assistance it received on 2022’s Crooked Tree. “Old Me (New Wig)” turned theatrical, with Molly literally tossing her wig mid-song like a mic-drop for the ages. Meels, the other opener, came out for “Crooked Tree”, giving the crowd one last taste of that Golden Highway magic before “Take the Journey” closed the main set on a note that felt both literal and metaphorical.

Molly Tuttle – “Old Me (New Wig)” – 12/11/25

[Video: Doug Fitzsimmons]

The encore was pure, classic grass. “White Freight Liner Blues”, a Townes Van Zandt cut, came roaring in with just Molly, bass, and mandolin. The night ended on a left-field grin with “White Rabbit”, the classic Jefferson Airplane tune reimagined through a bluegrass lens. Here, California music was folding back in on itself.

Below, check out a gallery of photos from Molly Tuttle at the Fonda Theatre via Josh Martin.

With The Highway Knows Tour now officially wrapped—since capped by a sold-out finale at The Fillmore in San Francisco—this Fonda show felt like both a goodbye and a promise. Molly Tuttle is done proving she belongs. Now, she’s deciding what belonging looks like on her own terms. Next up: a New Year’s Eve celebration in Menlo Park, a January pickin’ party with the McCourys and Douglas crew in Arizona, and a cosmic-twang run around the East Coast with Marty Stuart in February. Find tickets to upcoming Molly Tuttle tour dates here.

If you’re looking for more Molly in the meantime, you can peruse a big batch of her live concert videos—like her 2024 Home for the Holidays show—and audio via nugs, now offering 50% off annual All Access subscriptions for a limited time. Start streaming here. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your subscription via the links on this page helps support our coverage of the live music world. Thank you for reading!]