RATTLIN’ BONES, due for release on August 14th, is the third full-length album by Nashville-based artist Bronwyn Keith Hynes. The album also marks a further career development for the Grammy-nominated artist, establishing Bronwyn as a skilled songwriter alongside her talents as a musician, vocalist, and band leader. Progressing from her debut instrumental album FIDDLER’S PASTIME (2020) and her introduction as a gifted vocalist in I BUILT A WORLD (2024), her latest record combines both elements from those previous recordings, supported by songwriting both autobiographical and fictional. We chatted with the ever-busy Bronwyn about the album just days before she headed off with her band on tour.
The last time I spoke to you in 2024, the final question in the interview was whether you would consider songwriting, given that you had recorded both an instrumental album and a covers album with your own vocals.
Did I say I was going to?
You did. Was that a predetermined career move at that time?
No, it's not me being very organised; it’s just been kind of me feeling my way into whatever I'm interested in. When I put out I BUILT A WORLD, I wasn't really expecting to be trying to start a solo career. It was more I just thought it would get played on the radio and maybe I would sell it at the merch table during the Molly (Tuttle) Golden Highway shows. That was really kind of the extent of my ambitions for that record. But people seemed to like it, and when it got nominated for a Grammy, and then Molly's band was dissolving around that time, it was really encouraging. I also did some local shows, and it was so much fun, and the more of them I did, the more I just wanted to do more.
Did the demise of Molly Tuttle’s band Golden Highway, that you were a member of, also give you a nudge to branch out on your own as a band leader?
It really did. I was so inspired by my time with Molly; I've never been around such an amazing bluegrass female singer. So, every night, just hearing her sing and watching how she led the band was really inspiring. I also felt that I'd done everything else in the music industry, but a lot of other roles. I've been in collaborative bands, I've been a side person, been a teacher, all these different things, but I've never been a band leader, and that really appeals to me right now. And it felt like if I was ever going to do it, that I had the most visibility then with the Grammy nomination; this would be the best time, you know, to try it.
You had a Monday residency at Dee’s Cocktail Lounge in 2024 and 2025. Did that help with confidence building?
Oh yeah, it definitely did. It gave me time to practice too. I was new to singing and leading a band, so it was nice to have a time every week that I had to go and do that and try out some new songs and try out new band members, a kind of low-pressure thing. Although it turned out it wasn't that low-pressure, because I kept running into people who had watched the live streams of the shows all over the world, and realised that a lot of people were watching this.
When you attended Berklee College, did you study songwriting and vocal as well as instrumentation?
I did not, and I wish I had. But at the time, I had no interest in either of those. I only studied fiddle and music theory; I just wanted to be the best fiddler I could, and so that's all I worked on at Berkeley.
Given that you had not written any songs two years ago, the songwriting for RATTLIN’ BONES must have come together very quickly?
Yeah. I wrote these songs over the past year. I started last December and probably wrote thirty songs. I did a lot of co-writing and a lot of writing on my own. Every spare moment I had that was what I was doing. That was my main focus last year, which was busy because I was also on tour a lot, so it was jam-packed. But I wanted to write a lot more songs than would make it on the album, so I had options.
Brent Truitt produced the album, as he did your last album, I BUILT A WORLD. Was he a bouncing board for the songs, or was he purely into the production element of the album?
He was a bouncing board a bit, but the person I bounced stuff off more was my husband, Jason Carter. He was definitely a big help in that pre-production process. He and I would sit together with the songs, and he would play guitar, and we would come up with arrangements and make little changes and stuff. So having somebody in the house that I believe in so much, and I trust and value his musical judgment, was definitely so helpful.
Was he a hard taskmaster?
Well, he would tell me what he thought, and that's what you need, right? He'd be “l I don't really like this song” or “that song's awesome. You got to do that one.” So, it's good that he can be honest.
He appears in the credits as a backing vocalist but doesn't play fiddle on the album.
He did not play on the album, but yes, he sang on Rainbow Trout and Hold Me Down. I didn't end up having twin fiddles on this record, but maybe the next one.
You repeat “I got all I ever wanted, but I don’t feel right” on the song, The Ride, which reflects the ups and downs of a professional touring artist.
Touring is such a trip. Some days are the best days of your life, and then some days are some of the worst days of your life, and I think I was going through that when I wrote that song. I wrote down a lot of ideas for these songs over the last couple of years, so these are little snippets. For that one, I was on the bus on a Golden Highway tour, and I couldn't sleep. We were rattling down a road, and I was having this realisation that I'm living the dream right now: the shows are amazing, the people are amazing, the band is amazing. But then there's still a part of me that's homesick or misses my husband. It's a funny realisation to live like the dream, and yet I'm still not happy. What's that about? But those moments pass.
Do you get to see Jason very often given your touring schedules?
We joke that, like, Mondays through Wednesdays are our weekends. We haven't seen each other that much in the last two months, but I just got home last night at 2.45 am, and I thought I could leave again on Thursday morning. So, we’ve got a couple of days together.
The song Johnny Ray speaks of addiction and loss. Was it pointed toward a particular individual?
No, it was several people in my life, and several people in Pat’s (McLaughlin) life, the co-writer of the song. It’s about a bunch of couples who became Johnny Ray.
Pat McLaughlin co-writes with you on several songs. You’re obviously very comfortable working with him.
Yes, and he's become a good friend and definitely my most prolific co-writer; we wrote a lot more songs than made the record, but those were my kind of favourites. He's such a legend and worked with John Prine and so many other people; I was really lucky to get to work with him.
I presume the song Virginia Gal is self-directed.
Yeah, that's Bronwyn in an alternate universe.
As a recent newcomer to songwriting, how did you find the process of self-writes as opposed to co-writes? Which were you most comfortable with?
Well, it depends. I'm such a novice songwriter; I haven't really been doing this very long, so occasionally it would be easy when by myself, and I would just kind of blow through a song. I would know what should happen, and that's the best feeling in the world. But there are a lot of times when I have part of a song, and I know it could be better. That's where a co-writer can come in with a fresh perspective or get you out of that hole you've boxed yourself into. I think that's definitely the easiest route for me.
The instrumentation and arrangements are wonderful on the album; it is much more than a ‘fiddle’ album. Was that a conscious decision on your part?
I wanted the fiddle to serve the songs and just be in there. I also wanted to have everything on the album to be something I'd written. I thought about doing an instrumental, but I just hadn't written anything that I was excited about. The fiddle's in there, and I put a lot of work into the playing, but it’s definitely about more than that.
How would you describe the end product?
Outlaw bluegrass, because it's got jam grass elements and traditional elements, but I do feel like it's got a little bit of an outlaw vibe to it.
Was the recording done over a concentrated period, or just as and when you had time for your touring schedules?
It was over about six months, whenever I had a block of time, and the people I wanted were available. I did the first session in maybe April of last year, the next in August, and the final in November.
You’re heading off on tour again soon.
It's nonstop. We did a two-week tour a little while ago, and then we've been doing a lot of weekends. Then we've got another longer tour in September. It’s full on until November when it slows down a little, but you know that's good, trying to get out there to all these places with my band that we’ve played before.
You have regular band members now; that must have been a challenge, given that those guys must be in very high demand.
I got lucky; they are very good. Last year, my band was rotating because I didn't really have enough gigs to get somebody to commit to the whole schedule, and every weekend the band would change; somebody would be different. So, it's been wonderful that the band has been steady this year, and it feels like we can move forward with the music.
You mentioned your Irish connections and that you had been over here as a child when we last spoke. Have you played over here professionally yet?
I played in Ireland years ago with my old band, Mile Twelve. My dad is Irish, and my parents actually moved to Ireland last summer, to Bantry. My dad wanted to spend some time over there and reconnect with his side of the family. I haven't had a chance to go over and visit yet, but I'll definitely try to come over sometime this winter. I was thinking we could get Jason to come and do some duo shows.
How does it feel being an employer rather than an employee?
It's weird. It feels like a lot of responsibility to make sure we have enough shows, but I have a great team, a great booking agent, and a manager, and they're filling the calendar really well.
You have abbreviated your professional name to simply Bronwyn.
Yeah, it's an unusual first name and a hyphenated last name, and it was tough for people to get it. I would meet people in the airport, and someone would be like, "Oh, what's your band? How can I look you up? And I'd say my full name, and I would see their panic in their eyes. They just wouldn't be able to get it; I'd have to explain it, and that just kept happening over and over. I felt I needed something people could remember and get, and that seems like the best option.
How are things for you in Nashville?
Things are good. We’re up in Hendersonville, thirty minutes north of town, out in the suburbs and got a little bit more space. We planted a big garden this year, and it's been going nuts. It's producing a lot of cucumbers and tomatoes, but something's killing the pumpkins. Jason just told me we've got a fungus on the pumpkins, so we might have to tear them out, which is a little bit sad. But you know, it's all good. I've got a couple of days at home just doing some interviews and catching up with some friends.
Interview by Declan Culliton