Bronwyn Keith-Hynes

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes is an acclaimed bluegrass fiddler originally from Charlottesville, VA and now makes her home in Nashville, TN. She currently divides her time between touring with Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway and recording and performing in Nashville. Bronwyn won the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Fiddler Player of the Year Award in 2021 and 2022. She is a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. During her time in Boston she co-founded and toured all over the world with progressive bluegrass band Mile Twelve and won the IBMA New Artist of the Year with them in 2020. Bronwyn has performed and recorded with Molly Tuttle, Jerry Douglas, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Po Ramblin Boys, The Milk Carton Kids, Dailey and Vincent, Sierra Hull, Sarah Jarosz, Tim O’Brien, Peter Rowan, Darol Anger, Tony Trischka, Michael Daves, Vince Herman, Greensky Bluegrass, The Infamous Stringdusters, Del McCoury, Leftover Salmon and more.

Fiddler’s Pastime (release date Sept. 4, 2020) is the debut solo album that establishes 2021 and 2022 IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year Bronwyn Keith-Hynes as one of the most exciting bluegrass musicians of her generation. This powerful collection of original fiddle tunes and traditional songs features world renowned guest artists Sierra Hull, Tim O’Brien, Sarah Jarosz, Chris Eldridge, Laura Orshaw and James Kee. This debut showcases Bronwyn’s ability not only to effortlessly lead a band with her fiery, innovative and witty fiddling but to slip into the background in creative ways to support the other instrumentalists and guest singers who contribute to this stunning bluegrass debut. Created with the help of producer and Sam Bush Band banjo player Wes Corbett, Fiddler’s Pastime is a celebration of her first year of living in Nashville, TN. “I moved here in 2018 and it’s been a really inspiring time in my life, being surrounded by this incredible music scene” Bronwyn says. "I felt like I had to make an album to capture some things I'm excited about right now.”

Keith-Hynes composed four of the instrumental tracks on Fiddler’s Pastime: the album’s bright kickoff, “Hendersonville Hop,” the fast, soaring fiddle/mandolin unison feature “Open Water,” the pensive and expressive “Michelle's Waltz” and the groovy “North Garden.” The two additional instrumentals on the album are a twin fiddle take on the classic Bill Monroe/Vassar Clements tune “Fiddler's Pastime” with Po Ramblin’ Boys fiddler Laura Orshaw, and a fiddle/banjo duet on old-time tune “Happy Hollow” with album producer Wes Corbett.

The vocal numbers feature an all-star series of guest singers: Tim O’Brien performs a new melody he wrote to the late 1800’s Thomas Moore poem, “The Minstrel Boy,” Sarah Jarosz offers a soulful version of Peter Rowan’s bluesy “Last Train,” Chris Eldridge sings John Hartford’s “Natchez Whistle” to a quiet trio of fingerpicked guitar, ghostly fiddle and sparse bass, and James Kee delivers two perfect bluegrass tracks in “Hello Trouble” (Orville Couch & Eddie McDuff) and “I Don’t Know Why” (Alton Delmore), with Tim O’Brien blending in perfectly on both with his effortless tenor harmony. Other musicians contributing to the album are producer Wes Corbett on banjo, Nashville bluegrass and jazz phenom Jake Stargel on guitar, Harry Clark (The Wooks) on mandolin and Jeff Picker (Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder) on bass.