Molly Tuttle is turning the page in bold style with So Long Little Miss Sunshine, her fifth full-length and first solo album since leading her band Golden Highway to back-to-back Grammy wins. The Nashville-recorded set pairs her virtuosic guitar work with a daring blend of pop, country, rock, and flat-picking, plus the unexpected twist of an Icona Pop and Charli XCX cover. Produced by Jay Joyce (Orville Peck, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson), the album features eleven originals and introduces Tuttle’s banjo playing on two tracks.

The lead single, “That’s Gonna Leave a Mark,” co-written with Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin, captures the record’s playful, sharp-edged energy and showcases one of Tuttle’s favorite guitar parts on the album. Long celebrated for expanding bluegrass without losing its heart, Tuttle was the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Guitar Player of the Year in 2017, repeating the honor the following year and earning multiple nominations since. She’s also been named Instrumentalist of the Year by the Americana Music Association.

Much of So Long Little Miss Sunshine was co-written with her partner, Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show, who also contributes banjo, fiddle, harmonica, and harmonies. Rounding out the core studio band are Jay Bellerose and Fred Eltringham on drums and percussion, Byron House on bass, and Joyce adding multiple instruments. The album artwork, conceived by Tuttle, features multiple versions of herself in different wigs, with one bareheaded image reflecting her openness about living with alopecia areata since childhood.

Tuttle calls the record a long-awaited creative leap. “Part of me was scared to make such a big departure, but I decided I wasn’t going to care what people think. I’m going to do what I want.”