In a recent blog post about Playing for Change, the recording of The Band’s classic, The Weight featured a fantastic young guitarist, Marcus King from Greenville, South Carolina. I was intrigued, dug into his music, and one thing led to another. Namely, Marcus King led to Billy Strings who led to Molly Tuttle. If you’ve ever wondered where today’s brilliant musicians are, well, keep on reading!
These three share a number of traits. They’re all young, just a year or two plus or minus 25 years of age. They play and sing with a virtuosity that belies their years. And, not surprisingly, they all come from musical families.
In a recent blog post about Playing for Change, the recording of The Band’s classic, The Weight featured a fantastic young guitarist, Marcus King from Greenville, South Carolina. I was intrigued, dug into his music, and one thing led to another. Namely, Marcus King led to Billy Strings who led to Molly Tuttle. If you’ve ever wondered where today’s brilliant musicians are, well, keep on reading!
These three share a number of traits. They’re all young, just a year or two plus or minus 25 years of age. They play and sing with a virtuosity that belies their years. And, not surprisingly, they all come from musical families.
Marcus King is a master of southern rock and blues. He started to learn guitar at 3 or 4 and has played professionally since age 11. A fourth generation musician, he formed the Marcus King Band in 2013 at the age of 17. At age 22, he made his Grand Ole Opry debut, playing Goodbye Carolina. For a taste of the power of his singing and playing, watch him jam with Gov’t Mule on Can’t You See at the Beacon Theater in New York City. I can’t say it any better myself, so I’ll quote YouTube commenter, “Phil M” who said, “Good Lord… when Warren Haynes is playing rhythm for you… you’ve made it!”
Born William Astopol, Billy Strings just turned 27 years old. He was named Billy Strings by an Aunt who saw his prolific playing of many stringed instruments. His stepfather was a picker in the Michigan bluegrass scene and Billy is a spectacular acoustic guitar play and singer, performing over 200 shows every year with his band. He mostly plays bluegrass now but was in a metal band earlier on. Check out a fantastic set of his music from the 2019 SxSW conference.
Just 26 years old, Molly Tuttle’s talent is as big as her smile. Her dad is Jack Tuttle, a renowned bluegrass teacher in Northern California. She grew up playing in a band with her dad and brothers, The Tuttles with AJ Lee. Listen to her marvelous picking and singing on John Hartford’s Gentle on My Mind!
The magic really appears when they play together. I couldn’t find one video with all three of them but check out Molly and Billy on Little Maggie and Sittin on Top of the World. I don’t know if these two like each other but just imagine what phenomenal musicians their children would be!
In Summertime, Billy and Marcus team up at Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville, TN. Billy plays a 1936 Martin 000-28 while Marcus is on a '54 Telecaster. I’m listening to the song as I type this and I lack words adequate to describe how superb their playing is.
Who are your favorite up and coming musicians?
To learn more about each of these artists, go to:
- The Marcus King Band - https://marcuskingband.com/
- Billy Strings - https://billystrings.com
- Molly Tuttle - https://www.mollytuttlemusic.com/
