Fiddler Bronwyn Steps Into Songwriting on Third Solo Album 'Rattlin' Bones'

Bronwyn, the Grammy-winning bluegrass fiddle player, released her third solo album Rattlin' Bones on 14 August, marking the first time she has stepped into the role of songwriter on a solo project. The 13-track record, her first since 2024's I Built A World, mixes bluegrass with alt-country and jamgrass textures, and arrives after the amicable 2025 split of Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, the band she joined in 2021 (Billboard).

For Rattlin' Bones, Bronwyn co-wrote six songs with Pat McLaughlin, a Nashville songwriter best known for his long collaboration with the late John Prine. She co-wrote two further tracks — "The Ride" and "Sticks and Stones" — with Melody Walker, whose writing credits include Molly Tuttle's "Crooked Tree" and "The River Knows." One McLaughlin co-write, "Gallatin Road," is a homage to the Nashville thoroughfare of the same name and features Nashville artist Timbo (Billboard).

The album's remaining tracks span a wide tonal range. "Virginia Gal" sits in straight-laced bluegrass territory, "Golden Hour Dream" carries a hazy folk atmosphere, and "Rainbow Trout" leans into a jazzy vibe (Billboard).

Bronwyn's path to this album runs through a decade of credentials. She released the instrumental project Fiddler's Pastime in 2020, showcasing her fiddle work without vocals. She won a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album in 2023 for her contributions to Crooked Tree, and she is a two-time International Bluegrass Music Association Fiddle Player of the Year (Billboard; Instagram). Her 2024 album I Built A World was the first to feature her lead vocals (Billboard).

Bronwyn announced Rattlin' Bones via her official Instagram account, @bronwynfiddle, promoting a pre-save that gave fans access to a downloadable pre-recording demo of an unreleased song. The album was preceded by two singles ahead of its full release (EvanstonNow).

Bronwyn is based in Nashville and is married to Jason Carter, himself a multiple IBMA award-winning bluegrass fiddle player (Billboard). Her official website, bronwynkeithhynes.com, lists Rattlin' Bones as her third album (bronwynkeithhynes.com).

For listeners who knew Bronwyn only as a fiddle virtuoso, Rattlin' Bones is the record where she names herself as a writer on the page. The collaborators she chose — a Prine veteran, a hit songwriter from her own circle — signal that she is building that identity inside the bluegrass world she already occupies, rather than stepping outside it.