Everyone who reads this blog knows that I am a big fan of Molly Tuttle’s flatpicking. She is one of the best up-and-comers out there in the bluegrass field, pushing its boundaries as well as paying tribute to its traditions. The media, including those in the bluegrass music fold, tend to promote her as the first female to blaze a trail with bluegrass guitar picking. Almost all seem to forget that there was another female that was doing wizardry on the six-string about a decade ago, and fortunately, is getting back into the music performing after a long semi-haitus.
If you haven’t heard of Rebecca Frazier, then start paying attention. When she was still Rebecca Hoggan, she helped form the Hit & Run Bluegrass Band in Colorado back in 2001. The band pushed the walls of traditional bluegrass a bit that made it stick out among other young bluegrass bands at the time, winning numerous awards and performing on stage with acts such as Alison Krauss, David Grisman, and Hot Rize. Part of the excitement of this band was Rebecca’s amazing flatpicking along with her strong vocals. It was common to see her handling guitar workshop duties at many of the bluegrass festivals that the band attended. She would marry the band’s mandolinist John Frazier, and the pair would move to Nashville.
I was fortunate enough to see Hit & Run at its one-time performance at The Ark in Ann Arbor around 2009 (not sure of the exact year). I also met up with John again at The Ark about a year after where we both attended a Roland White mandolin workshop and John just happened to be in town.
Upon their move to Music City, John took more studio and touring jobs with artists such as Steve Martin, Bela Fleck, and Jim Lauderdale. Rebecca was the first woman to appear on the cover of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine in 2006, and her first solo album When We Fall was recorded in 2012 (she gave birth to her daughter Cora, while recording the album). The album would be declared “Best Bluegrass Album of 2013” by the Bluegrass Situation website.
While John toured with national artists, Rebecca became more of a homebody mother, although she never strayed too far from her writing and performing. She re-formed a new version of Hit & Run Bluegrass Band a few years ago, and over the past few years, due partly to being stuck at home during COVID, she began posting videos on YouTube performing and instructing on bluegrass guitar solos from her heroes Tony Rice and Norman Blake.
A few months ago, I happened to catch a post of hers on LinkedIn, and wrote to her asking about her plans. She is interested in getting out and touring a bit again, so we both are staying in contact, as I told her that I would help her with booking in the Michigan area in any way that I can.
I am so glad to see that Rebecca plans to get back into the bluegrass scene again. She is an amazing talent, and I would advise anyone to search out her solo album, as well as subscribe to her YouTube channel.
Chew on it and comment.
Luegra 