Molly Tuttle Concert @ Ogden Was Excellent ~ MT GR8 As Ever; Touring Band Is Tighter, Has Complete Arrangements Throughout The Set, And Is Even Choreographed 25Oct25

I was solo to the Molly Tuttle concert @ Ogden Theater on Saturday. The Highway Knows Tour concert was excellent and the sound was good at the Ogden from the 2nd riser above the mosh pit, center stage. Molly Tuttle was exceptional, as I now come to expect... she is a guitar playing goddess, and a fine songwriter. She opened the show just as she does the latest album, with 'Everything Burns,' but she played a wild double necked 12 string & guitar someone had gifted her. That song uses her searing 12 string riffs from the opening. So good.

I wasn't on the rail for this show, unexpectedly, as traffic all the way from COS to the theater was bad. Doors were already open on my arrival at 7:15pm, which is late for me. It wasn't a big issue but with two lead -in artists and a 100min set from Molly, it was a long time standing. Opening the show was a shy but sweet sounding kid from around Nashville: Cecilia Castleman. Decent songs, sweet voice, capable guitar (which she liked to mod to a variety of sounds). Later in the show Molly invited her back to sing Goodby Little Miss Sunshine with her.

2nd up was a seasoned and funny Texas country singer named Joshua Ray Walker. His voice was special, his demeanor & schtick humorous, and his playing was excellent. Texas country for sure... there were plenty of folks near me that came to see him vs Molly Tuttle. Some even left after Walker... they sang along to his raucous and irreverent tunes. He was good and again was invited out by Molly for a duet later in her set.

Back to Molly Tuttle and the band... I saw this group debut in Vail in early June this year and, as expected, they've been working hard on all aspects of the show ~ so much tighter. The Ogden delivery was much improved with great touring arrangements of Molly's songs and covers, good solos from around the band, and even keen and a little campy choreographed moments during the show. The whole thing was excellent beginning to end. Beyond Molly's playing anything strummed, picked, or hammered (guitar, 12 sting guitar, electric, banjo, etc) and singing lead, the new band includes great musicians: Mary Mulroney upfront on fiddle, mandolin, keys, and backing vocals, Vanessa McGowan, also up front on bass, double acoustic bass, and backing vocals, Megan Jane on drums and other percussion (like washboard), and Ellen Angelico on lead electric, pedal steel, and dobro. This is a now a spectacular lineup alongside MT... different from Golden Highway (and seemingly as yet unnamed) but no less fun to see and hear. That said, I come to hear the bandleader ~ and she is killing it. Many of the songs for this show were from the latest album or her fav covers but there was bluegrass stuff and even older, like 'Take The Journey.' I like the claw-hammer songs best like this and 'Rosalee' & 'That's Gonna Leave A Mark' from her recent album. Harmonies with Molly from the front women were pretty good, especially on the single mic setup she used for the duets with opening act artists as well.

As usual, later in the show, timed with 'Old Me (New Wig),'Molly stripped off the wig and displayed her long now bald head from alopecia. I have friends who've had it and Molly still does ~ crowd was supportive, and she continued to shred. No selfie and no marquis shot ~ I was late but in plenty of time to enjoy another MT concert from this impressive and impossibly hard-working signer-songwriter and bandleader.