Kyle Tuttle is a Nashville banjo player who won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, in 2017. He leads the Kyle Tuttle Band and has released the solo projects Bobcat and Labor of Lust. He also teaches banjo online.
Why Tuttle matters
Tuttle is a contest champion who plays in a modern, open style. His band covers the Grateful Dead as well as fiddle tunes. His lessons on pentatonic shapes help players move past rolls into improvising.
Life and career
Tuttle is based in Nashville. In 2017 he won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship at Winfield. He released the solo project Bobcat and toured to support it, then announced Labor of Lust, an album of songs. He leads the Kyle Tuttle Band.
Playing style
Tuttle plays three-finger banjo with a jam band streak. His lessons on pentatonic shapes with extensions show how he builds solos from scales rather than fixed licks. He also plays traditional fiddle tunes like Cuckoo’s Nest.
Influences and legacy
Tuttle is part of Nashville’s young banjo scene and joins a list of Winfield champions that stretches back to 1974.
Signature tunes and songs
Cuckoo’s Nest Bobcat New Minglewood Blues.
Essential recordings
Bobcat Labor of Lust
Awards and honors
National Bluegrass Banjo Championship, Walnut Valley Festival, first place (2017)
Watch and listen
Tuttle plays the fiddle tune Cuckoo’s Nest.
What to learn from Tuttle
Watch his pentatonic shapes lesson, then use one shape to improvise over a G chord. The technique to steal is scale-based soloing. It frees you from fixed licks.
Sources
Walnut Valley Festival winners archive, alphabetical (PDF) Kyle Tuttle archives, Bluegrass Today
Related players
See the banjo players hub and the bluegrass banjo guide for more pickers. Tuttle joins Winfield champions like Steven Moore and Brandon Green.