Paducah Beer Werks hosts Bronwyn Keith-Hynes as part of her "I Built A World" tour for her upcoming solo album of the same name. Keith-Hynes is a bluegrass fiddle player for Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway and has performed alongside bands like Old Crow Medicine Show and Leftover Salmon. She speaks with Morning Edition host Daniel Hurt about her new album, the tour, and her upcoming Paducah show.
Keith-Hynes' sophomore release will be the first album to feature her vocal performance. Her debut, Fiddler's Pastime, featured guest vocals at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hurt and Keith-Hynes discuss the similarities between being a vocalist and an instrumentalist. "I'm thinking about tone, I'm thinking about intonation, just projecting energy out," the fiddler explains. "There's a lot of fundamentals that are kind of the same. But then, it's a different physicality and just a different switch from focusing on an instrument to just focusing on singing."
She's also utilized her equally renowned musical colleagues for additional vocal support. Keith-Hynes' October 2023 single "Can't Live Without Love" features Molly Tuttle and Sam Bush on vocals. Bluegrass legend Dudley Connell of the Johnson Mountain Boys performed on a subsequent track, "Will You Ever Be Mine," released in January of this year. "It was just really cool to hear their voices with mine for the first time," Keith-Hynes says of the experience. "That was super surreal."
When recording her music, Keith-Hynes says she generally knows the songs' arrangements before adding lyrics. However, she allows her time in the studio to naturally lend itself to the songs' evolution, sourcing ideas from her producer, colleagues, and inspirations from her friends, family, and native Nashville. She says she enjoys the way the songs continue to shift in live performance as she continues her "I Built A World" tour.
"I just did my first run of shows, and it was so satisfying [to feel] the energy from the crowd, being able to exchange that with them," Keith-Hynes says. "Just share more of myself than I would as a side person. I think that's the biggest thing. You're sharing a bigger part of yourself and your music and getting a good response back. That's really cool."
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes will make a tour stop at Paducah Beer Werks on Friday, May 4. Doors open at 8, and music begins at 9. Tickets and more show information can be found on PBW's Eventbrite link or on Paducah Beer Werks' Facebook page.
