Grammy Award-winner Bronwyn Keith-Hynes arrives at the Pour House on Feb. 3 to do what she’s been doing since she was 3 years old: tearing up the fiddle.
Keith-Hynes, also a two-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Award (IBMA) for best fiddle player, is touring behind a new solo album called I Built A World. It features collaborations with some of the best musicians in bluegrass, including guitarist Molly Tuttle, mandolin player Sam Bush and the Del McCoury Band’s Jason Carter.
Initially drawing her inspiration from Celtic players like Liz Carroll, the 33-year-old Keith-Hynes discovered bluegrass in her teens, thanks to a gifted mix CD with songs by Tim O’Brien, Alison Krauss and Union Station, the Del McCoury Band, Casey Driessen and many more.
“Those were the first bluegrass artists I’d heard,” Keith-Hynes said in a recent interview with the Charleston City Paper. “And they made me think that bluegrass is what I wanted to do.”
In addition to her own fiery but melodic skills, the band she’s bringing is an all-star acoustic unit, featuring Tristan Scroggins on mandolin, Frank Evans on banjo, Grammy award winner Larry Cook on upright bass and guitarist Grant Dresnok.
“This is the first tour of the new year for me,” Keith-Hynes said. “And this is the first time I’ll be debuting my regular band. I’ve got a steady lineup and I’m really excited. We just had a rehearsal last night. We’re working up some new songs, and it just sounds great.”
And of course, there will be plenty of room for these acoustic daredevils to stretch out. In fact, Keith-Hynes said she has been doing some training in improv, so to speak.
“I’ve gotten to sit in with some jam bands like Leftover Salmon,” she said. “And I love to have a little bit of that in my band. I want to have that spontaneity in the playing, so you never know where something is going to go. I like to have looser arrangements where we’re feeling things in the moment and changing things or just passing solos around.”
But there’s another reason why this Pour House show, and this tour, are special for the Charlottesville, Va., fiddle player. She’s singing lead vocals for the first time.
She takes to the new job with gusto on the I Built A World album, sounding like a combination of Alison Krauss and the Chicks’ Natalie Maines. On the gorgeous folk/Americana tune “Can’t Live Without Love” she harmonizes with Tuttle like a natural before launching into a plaintive wail on “Up for Losing Sleep.” And on the Appalachia-soaked, dark-hued “Angel Island,” she chooses a mysterious, foreboding delivery that fits the song perfectly.
It’s a pretty impressive performance for someone who just learned how to do it. Of course, it helps the learning process when a worldwide health crisis keeps you locked in the house for a few months.
“Singing is something I started working on during the pandemic,” she said. “I just had all this time where I wasn’t able to tour, so I was just sitting around at home. I was trying to think about what I had always wanted to do and never really felt like I had time. And one of those things was singing.”
Keith-Hynes said she started taking voice lessons via Zoom to beef up her vocals, and then post-pandemic, she went on tour with Tuttle, a shining example of instrumental and vocal prowess if ever there was one.
“That was really inspirational,” she said of her time with Tuttle. “I got to be around an amazing female player and lead singer every night. And just to see that made me be think, ‘I think I might want to try this.’ ”
Anyone who plays fiddle as well as Keith-Hynes does is going to get offers, and she’s played alongside giants like Sarah Jarosz, banjo master Tony Trischka and Sierra Hull. But she’s enjoying her newfound solo career so much that it might be a while before any more team-ups.
“I’m pretty focused on just doing the solo career,” she said. “Now that I have this band, I feel that I need to put all my eggs into this basket and go for it.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO: Doors open at 5 p.m., Feb. 3. Charleston Pour House, 1977 Maybank Highway, Charleston. Tickets range from $17-$20: charlestonpourhouse.com.
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.