Molly Tuttle may be stepping away from bluegrass for the next little while, but her Golden Highway bass player, Shelby Means, is hanging on tight. Her debut self-titled solo album is due at the end of the month, with a number of singles already impacting the market, and one, Streets of Boulder, currently #1 on our Bluegrass Today Weekly Airplay chart.
Today another single drops, Suitcase Blues, written by Means and her husband, Joel Timmons, about the road life that has dominated her career in music. During nearly 20 years as a touring artist, Shelby has worked with both Della Mae and Molly Tuttle in the bluegrass space, and knows of what she sings.
She says of this new song…
“I had driven out of Nashville hundreds of times as a touring musician, but this time I was packed up and moving to a different city. Heading east with tears in my eyes I sang a little voice memo to my phone.
The traveling life I have chosen is a lot of ‘hardly home, heartsick, and depressed.’ I think the ‘suitcase blues’ are relatable for musicians, dogs, and travelers alike!”
To make this one crackle, Shelby has enlisted some legit superpickers, with Sam Bush on mandolin, Michael Cleveland on fiddle, Bryan Sutton on guitar, and Ron Block on banjo. Plus one more special guest.
“Bryan, Michael, Ron, and Sam brought incredible life and depth to the recording. Already a very strong collaboration with the band, I was honored that Billy Strings agreed to sing harmony. His voice and energy mixing with mine, and the sentiment of the song, paint a vivid picture of chasing down a dream on the open road.”
Their arrangement nicely conveys the synthesis of vulnerability and confidence contained in the lyrics. A modern bluegrass anthem to the road life.
Have a listen.
Suitcase Blues is available now from popular download and streaming services online, and to radio programmers via AirPlay Direct.
Pre-orders for the full Shelby Means album are likewise enabled online.
