Bluegrass bassist and GRAMMY Award winner Shelby Means (Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway; Sally & George) has announced her first ever solo single, “Streets of Boulder,” releasing on February 14, 2025.
The original song, produced by Maya de Vitry, was written by Means more than fifteen years ago for an international folk music contest in Slovakia. It’s a burning track of love, heartbreak, and longing that leans forward in the beat, like the lonesome train it names, propelled by Means’ powerful playing and crystalline lead vocal. It’s a perfect debut recording, her first released under her own name. Featuring performances by many in-demand pickers and musicians in Means’ musical community, “Streets of Boulder” pulls in Molly Tuttle and Kyle Tuttle on harmony vocals and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes on fiddle, her bandmates from Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, one of the buzziest groups in bluegrass, Americana, and string band music.
Plus, venerated Nashville session players and Means’ picking pals Jerry Douglas (Dobro), Ron Block (banjo), and Bryan Sutton (guitar) round out the band – and Means’ brother, Jacob (who she grew up playing music with and also traveled to Slovakia in ‘08) plays mandolin on the track.
“In 2008 I was asked to assemble a bluegrass band for an international folk music contest in Nitra, Slovakia,” Means explains. “I formed ‘High Altitude Bluegrass Band’ and taught them ‘Streets of Boulder.’ My brother, Jacob, played mandolin in that band and helped create the riff that is repeated throughout the song. It only seemed right to have Jacob involved in the recording!”
“Streets of Boulder” epitomizes Means’ long career in bluegrass and roots music, within and outside of Nashville, sonically and in its making, highlighting the decades she’s spent backing up many of the best and brightest in Americana and folk music on the low end, traveling the country, the world, and the streets of Boulder, too. Now, Means is stepping to the front of stage, as she often has before, her gorgeous butterscotch bass in tow, but this time with her own music and under her own name.
“Streets of Boulder” will be available wherever you stream/download music this Friday, February 14.
ABOUT SHELBY MEANS: Born in the bluegrass of Kentucky and raised on Wyoming’s high plains, Shelby Means is one of the foremost bassists in bluegrass, with nearly two decades of experience in bluegrass, folk, rock, Americana, and country outfits. Now based in Charleston, SC, during her decade-plus in Nashville she was a member of the incredibly impactful GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass band of all women, Della Mae. With Della Mae and others she has traveled to more than 20 countries around the world spreading musical diplomacy.
Means is also one half of roots duo Sally & George with her husband and collaborator, Sol Driven Train’s Joel Timmons. With Timmons, Mary Lucey, and Billy Cardine, she co-founded another group, Lover’s Leap, a genre blurring, heart-led Americana band. Means is a member of Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, with whom she gained her first GRAMMY win for their 2023 album, City of Gold. She’s also received more than a handful of awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association for her work with Della Mae and Golden Highway.
Means is a driving player with a deep pocket, a singular stage presence, and a magnetic, centered approach to the upright bass. Beyond her work on the instrument, she’s also an accomplished songwriter and a heartfelt vocalist whose voice is rooted in tradition while authentically her own. With her debut solo music, slated for release in 2025, Means invites listeners to experience the same soulful presence and adventurous spirit she has built her career on. Her singing and playing has been heard across the country and around the world, from NPR’s airwaves, the Grand Ole Opry, Bonnaroo, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and Newport Folk to the U.S. Virgin Islands, Kazakhstan, Australia, and beyond. www.shelbyleemeans.com
