The Tuttles with AJ Lee
Band · Active 2010–2015 · Palo Alto, California
Contemporary Bluegrass
Folk / Americana
The Tuttles with AJ Lee was the California Bluegrass Association youth band that introduced four players who have gone on to define the modern progressive-bluegrass moment — Molly Tuttle, AJ Lee, Sullivan Tuttle, and the longtime Bay Area instructor Jack Tuttle.
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- Formed out of the California Bluegrass Association's Youth in Bluegrass program in the late 2000s, with the public-facing band identity coalescing by around 2010.
- Anchored by guitarist, banjoist, and lead vocalist Molly Tuttle and mandolinist / lead vocalist AJ Lee, with Sullivan "Sully" Tuttle on guitar, Michael Tuttle on mandolin, and Jack Tuttle — the siblings' father and longtime Gryphon Stringed Instruments instructor in Palo Alto — on bass and harmony vocals.
- Released two self-released albums: Introducing the Tuttles with AJ Lee (2011) and Endless Ocean (2013).
- Active across the Northern California Bluegrass Society and CBA festival circuit; signed to Roe Entertainment for booking in 2012.
- Disbanded around 2013–2014 as Molly Tuttle moved on to Berklee College of Music and the members pursued other projects.
- Molly Tuttle went on to become the first woman to win the IBMA Guitar Player of the Year (2017 and 2018) and won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album for Crooked Tree (2023) and City of Gold (2024) with Golden Highway.
- AJ Lee fronts AJ Lee & Blue Summit (with Sullivan Tuttle on guitar), now a national touring act and one of the leading young bands on the modern bluegrass scene.
- Jack Tuttle continues to teach at Gryphon Stringed Instruments and plays an outsized role in the California bluegrass community as a mentor.
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Endless Oceans2013 · Back Studio BSR 003
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Introducing the Tuttles with A.J. Lee2010 · Back Studio BSR 002
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AJ LeePlayed on recordings with The Tuttles with AJ Lee
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Jack TuttlePlayed on recordings with The Tuttles with AJ Lee
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Michael TuttlePlayed on recordings with The Tuttles with AJ Lee
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Molly TuttlePlayed on recordings with The Tuttles with AJ Lee
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Sullivan TuttlePlayed on recordings with The Tuttles with AJ Lee
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Brittany HaasPlayed on recording with The Tuttles with AJ Lee
