RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesIn 2020, two-time IBMA Award-winning bluegrass fiddle player Bronwyn released a project, Fiddler’s Pastime , that showcased her prowess on the instrument. A year later, she joined Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, earning a best bluegrass album Grammy in 2023 for her work on the album Crooked Tree .
Since then, each solo album has seen Bronwyn sifting through new musical elements. Her 2024 set I Built A World showcased her lead vocals. And when Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway amicably parted ways in 2025, as the members pursued solo careers, Bronwyn used the past year to delve more deeply into crafting her own music. As a result, her latest solo album, Rattlin’ Bones — which was released Aug. 14 and mixes sonic textures including bluegrass, alt-country and jamgrass — adds another layer to her artistry: songwriting.
“It’s definitely been organic … me just kind of feeling my way forward artistically and exploring things that interest me,” Bronwyn tells Billboard .
“I had considered trying to write some songs for [ I Built A World ], but singing was such a new thing for me that I felt I should just focus on singing good songs written by other people,” she continues. “But once I made that record, and started performing and singing more, I started to get to know my voice better and what kind of songs appealed to me. I realized I wanted to pursue a solo career, and at that point I was like, ‘Most of my favorite artists write at least some of their own material. If I’m going to do this, I need a catalog that is mine.”
The first person Bronwyn reached out to was songwriter Melody Walker, known for co-writing some of Tuttle’s hits, including “Crooked Tree” and “The River Knows,” as well as writing songs recorded by Sierra Ferrell. For Rattlin’ Bones , Walker and Bronwyn wrote “The Ride” and “Sticks and Stones,” among others.
“That’s the thing I found about co-writing, is it’s really validating when someone says they like your idea, and it’s nice to have someone else give you a little encouragement,” she says.
Bronwyn wrote six of the album’s songs with longtime John Prine collaborator Pat McLaughlin, whom Bronwyn’s husband, fellow bluegrass fiddle player and multiple International Bluegrass Music Association award winner Jason Carter, was working with at the time.
“Pat and my husband had been writing some songs around the house,” she recalls. “I kept hearing these amazing songs coming out of the living room. I’ve been in lots of co-writing sessions where you just don’t connect at all, but with Pat, every single time, we connect on what we like. I think our taste is just similar, and we write at a similar pace.”
One of the half-dozen tracks they wrote together was “Gallatin Road,” a deservedly funky homage to one of Nashville’s classic funky areas. The song also features Nashville artist Timbo.
“I feel like there’s a tradition of songs about different roads, like Tyler Childers’ “Whitehouse Road” [from his 2017 album Purgatory ] and Ketch Secor has a song about Dickerson Road [on his 2025 solo album Story The Crow Told Me ]. The song sparked from a conversation I had with a friend from out of town, who was staying on Gallatin Road; Everyone jokes about how weird it is and its energy. Someone in that conversation said, ‘Anything goes on Gallatin Road,’ and that stuck with me.”
Other songs on the album, such as “Virginia Gal,” incorporate a straight-laced bluegrass vibe, while “Golden Hour Dream” offers up a hazy folk aura and “Rainbow Trout” unfurls a jazzy vibe.
“I find myself right now really, really drawn to ’70s and ’80s, bluegrass and country,” she says. “A lot of the bluegrass from specifically those eras really speaks to me, a lot of the Keith Whitley, J.D. Crowe. But also of that same era, I find myself drawn to Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris and people from the outlaw side of things. I love that flavor and I’m hopefully trying to channel some of that.”
She says her four years with Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway inspired not only her solo career, but the experience of putting together a band: “The music we got to make, I learned so much.”
The group also brought Bronwyn some of her favorite career moments, including sitting in with Dave Matthews Band, Greensky Bluegrass, Leftover Salmon and Dierks Bentley. In 2024, Bronwyn, Tuttle and fellow bluegrasser Sierra Hull joined Bentley in a bluegrass rendition of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” at the CMA Awards. Now, her album’s fleet-fingered picking of the album’s “Sticks and Stones” takes inspiration from her work with the group.
For Rattlin’ Bones , Bronwyn brought together groups of musicians to record her album in four days, spanning various points in 2025, as she was still in the process of assembling her own touring band as well.
Those touring members, including mandolin player Tristan Scroggins, banjoist Frank Evans, and bassist Larry Cook appear on the album, alongside more of Nashville’s musical luminaries, including Bryan Sutton, Jerry Douglas, Bronwyn’s former Golden Highway bandmate Dominick Leslie and drummer Miles Miller (known for his work with Sturgill Simpson).
“I love Sturgill’s music and especially his Cuttin’ Grass albums, which are like bluegrass with a touch of snare in there. It just helps to define the rhythms in a unique way. I think it just gives you more spice, more variety,” Bronwyn says.
Though her first two albums were released under her full name, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Rattlin’ Bones is her first after shifting her stage name to the mononym Bronwyn. “Having a unique first name and a hyphenated last name has always kind of been an issue,” she says. “It came to a head when I would meet someone random in an airport or somewhere and they’d be like, ‘How do I check out your music?’ I’d say my name and they’d go to their phone to look it up and you could just see their [confused] expression. Or, we...
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