Bronwyn Keith-Hynes

Grammy-winning fiddle virtuoso Bronwyn Keith-Hynes is stepping into the spotlight. After several years of wowing audiences as the fiddler for Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, the 2x IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year is striking out on her own - fronting a band for the first time and bringing her voice to the forefront. Known for her fiery fiddle playing and pure, rootsy singing, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes’ debut vocal album, I Built A World, earned her a Grammy nomination this past February, and American Songwriter calls her “a world-class fiddler with a golden voice.”

Now, as her own entry in bluegrass history expands from celebrated instrumentalist to bandleader and front woman, Bronwyn isn’t just crafting a career in the image of genre greats like Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas; she’s bringing them along for the ride. Both Bush and Douglas are featured as players on I Built a World, and they’re not the only of Bronwyn’s musically-inclined pals and heroes to make an appearance on this star-studded album.

Keith-Hynes’ music blends high-octane bluegrass sensibilities with the soul of country and American Roots music. Backed by a powerhouse group of Nashville musicians hand-picked from her tight-knit community, Keith-Hynes represents the next generation of top-tier bluegrass musicians, who will be appreciated for generations to come.

With a career that has already spanned collaborations with some of the biggest names in acoustic music, Bronwyn is now forging her own path—bringing her undeniable talent to audiences in a whole new way.

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes has long been renowned as a prolific instrumentalist, earning two IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year awards as well as a Grammy for her work with Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway. But on her latest album, I Built a World, the Charlottesville native unlocks an impressive new sound: her voice.

"This is the first album I've ever sung lead on. Singing is something I'd always thought I'd do at some point and in 2020 I had the time and space to finally find my voice," Bronwyn says. Even as the pandemic halted touring and so much else, vocal lessons kept her focused. "It's funny," she jokes of the timing, "you put a mask on me and suddenly I want to sing."

I Built a World marks her first vocal album, but Bronwyn has been a musician since before she can remember. "Apparently, I saw two girls busking on the street playing fiddles when I was three," she explains with a laugh, "and I pointed to them and said, 'I will do that.'"

As a child, music lessons gradually transitioned into public performances, with a particular emphasis on Irish music after her family relocated to Charlottesville, Virginia. And her lifelong musical education continues to shape her work today. A background in dance makes her a captivating and energetic live performer. An on-stage collaboration with fellow Charlottesville native Dave Matthews taught her how a crowd could feed your energy. And attending Berklee during the early years of its American Roots Music program offered inspiration from classmates like Sierra Hull and Alex Hargreaves—as well as an introduction to Tuttle and most of Bronwyn’s Golden Highway bandmates.  "My favorite bluegrass musicians today are the ones who are rooted in traditional music, but don't really see any boundaries," she says. "It's as if they draw from a traditional bluegrass vocabulary, but use it to say what they want to say."

Now, as her own entry in bluegrass history expands from celebrated instrumentalist to bandleader and frontwoman, Bronwyn isn’t just crafting a career in the image of genre greats like Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas; she’s bringing them along for the ride. Both Bush and Douglas are featured as players on I Built a World, and they’re not the only of Bronwyn’s musically-inclined pals and heroes to make an appearance.

Darrell Scott sings on “Angel Island,” a Peter Rowan tune. Country fans may recognize Dierks Bentley singing harmony on “Trip Around the Sun” and Brit Taylor on “Answers”. Longtime pal Tuttle and Bronwyn’s fiance Jason Carter (an accomplished fiddle player himself) also appear as vocalists on multiple tracks. And rounding out the band are Bryan Sutton on guitar; Dominick Leslie, Bronwyn’s Golden Highway bandmate, on mandolin; Wesley Corbett and Scott Vestal on banjo; and Jeff Picker on bass.

Indeed, community is the axis on which I Built a World spins. Long before she tapped talent for the studio, Bronwyn sourced songs for the album from her musical network in Nashville and beyond. "A lot of the songs are gathered from my friend group and community here in Nashville," she says. "I reached out to friends and just people whose music I liked and asked, 'Is there any chance you have anything that you're not planning on recording?'" Many did.

Not all of the songs were new territory, though. In fact, she’d been holding onto the title track for years after hearing it on the radio while driving through Kentucky. She contacted the artist, Matthew Parsons, for his blessing to record it, and the song set the tone for the entire project.

"‘I Built a World’ is about daydreaming, about building worlds in your mind. I was definitely a kid who did a lot of that. But as an adult, I feel like music still can take me to that place," she says. She hopes listeners can take a little bit of that dreaminess with them. “Each song on this album is its own little world, its own story, a space and a place in your mind that you can travel to and explore. Whatever you're needing or wanting to feel, you can go to that place here. I hope you enjoy the journey.”