Bluegrass does not have the fan base of other music genres such as pop, rock, hip-hop, or mainstream country, but it has always had a coterie of devoted fans in the Midwest. Some of its most esteemed contemporary practitioners, such as Alison Krauss (Illinois), Billy Strings (Michigan), and Sam Bush (Indiana), come from the Heartland. While bluegrass may have its origins in Appalachia, it has found a receptive home here, judging by the number of acts and festivals that occur in the Hawkeye State every summer.
Bronwyn is one of bluegrass’s biggest new stars. You might know this fiddler as the Grammy Award-winning member of Molly Tuttle’s band Golden Highway under her full moniker Bronwyn Keith-Hynes. She recently dropped her last name because the hyphen made it hard to read on a marquee, many people would spell it wrong, and it was just a hassle to keep on writing it out. “Now that I am a bandleader, I wanted to make it easier for people to remember,” she said. She and her touring band will perform at Alluvial Brewing Company in Ames on August 8.
While Bronwyn does not compare herself to Prince, Madonna, or other mononymous acts, the two-time winner of International Bluegrass Music Association Fiddle Player of the Year wants to be recognized for her individual talents. This process began in 2020 with the release of her debut solo album, Fiddler’s Pastime. The record of (mostly) instrumental covers and standards was celebrated for the artist’s technical virtuosity and featured guest stars such as Sierra Hull, Sarah Jarosz, and Tim O’Brien.
Then Bronwyn stepped out as both lead singer, bandleader, and player on her Grammy-nominated second album, I Built a World (2024). Even non-bluegrass critics considered the disc one of the year’s best releases. Praising her new direction, No Depression magazine remarked, “Her vocal ability is a match for her award-winning fiddling.”
While the singer-fiddler still considers herself primarily a bluegrass artist, she’s still expanding her repertoire. Bronwyn’s forthcoming album Rattlin’ Bones has her taking another step forward, this time as a songwriter. It features songs that rock or bear the hallmarks of alternative country as well as more traditional-sounding tracks.
“I used to lack the confidence to write my own songs,” she said. “I didn’t think I was worthy, so I learned other people’s material. That was fine. It is good to have a tradition to fall back on. But then I realized that I had plenty of life experiences to draw on. So I started writing my own stuff, and it felt good!”
While the songs on Rattlin’ Bones draw their inspiration from many different sources, Bronwyn defines the album’s central theme to be “wanderlust.” She enjoys being on the road and finds it helps get her creative juices flowing.
Speaking of tradition, Bronwyn admits that her biggest influence did not come from the Virginia hills where she spent much of her youth. It came from a more unlikely source—Broadway via Hollywood. When she was a young girl, she saw the movie Fiddler on the Roof and was smitten with the music. She learned all the songs by heart and would take them to her violin teacher to show off her skills. She said her parents claim that when Bronwyn was only three years old, she saw a group of fiddle players and told her parents that’s what she wanted to do, although she does not have a memory of that. However, she still fondly remembers the non-bluegrass musical and the profound impact it had on her as a child.
Bronwyn has paid her dues as a member of a highly regarded group, so as a bandleader, she does her best to treat her fellow players with respect. Her advice to younger people who want to make it in the music world is simple: “Have no plan B!” she said, meaning one should do anything and everything to reach one’s goal. “I know one must make a living. I did everything from teaching to driving for Uber to playing wedding gigs just to put food on the table, but I never lost sight of the real reward: making my own music.”
Currently, there are several prominent bluegrass artists who have left the field to pursue other styles and more popular success, such as Bronwyn’s old boss Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, and Alison Krauss. It might seem that Bronwyn is following in their footsteps. She denies this and proclaims her allegiance to bluegrass. “I love those musicians and what they do. I am influenced by them as well as by other musical genres. But that’s not what I am doing. My music is bluegrass,” she proudly proclaimed. She cited Sturgill Simpson as a modern role model and even borrowed his drummer Miles Miller to play a few tracks on her new record.
“Some people think that bluegrass shouldn’t have drums, but that’s just a myth,” she scoffed. “There has always been a beat to the music.” One will not hear any drum machines on her records. Bronwyn has a strong dislike for contrived creations.
“We are living during an age of AI, where people can steal other people’s voices and playing styles and copyright them as their own. Bluegrass is authentic. People have a hunger for music played by actual human beings without amplification. They want to see how it is done and the time and effort that goes into its creation. That is what bluegrass is all about,” she said.