| Sierra Hull | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Birth Name: | Sierra Dawn Hull |
| Birth Date: | 1991 9, mf=yes |
| Birth Place: | Byrdstown, Tennessee |
| Genre: | Bluegrass |
| Occupation: | Musician, singer, songwriter |
| Instrument: | Mandolin, guitar, vocals |
| Years Active: | 2002–present |
| Spouse: | Justin Moses (m. May 14, 2017) |
| Label: | Rounder |
Sierra Dawn Hull (born September 27, 1991) is an American bluegrass singer-songwriter,[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] mandolinist, and guitarist.[7]
Hull was signed to Rounder Records at the age of 13 and released her debut vocal album, Secrets, in 2008 at the age of 16. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums chart. Her second album, Daybreak, was released on March 8, 2011.
Sierra Hull was born and raised in Byrdstown, Tennessee and attended Pickett County High School before accepting a Presidential Scholarship to study at the Berklee College of Music.
Hull began playing the mandolin at the age of eight and put out the album Angel Mountain at 10. She was soon playing jam sessions with other musicians in her family, and by 2001 she was entering local talent contests. Her parents, Stacy and Brenda Hull, took her to numerous bluegrass festivals and it was during an International Bluegrass Music Association festival that she came to the attention of Rounder Records chief talent scout Ken Irwin. At age 11 she was mentored and befriended by Alison Krauss, herself once a child prodigy on the fiddle.[8] Hull and Krauss, along with Dan Tyminski, performed at the White House on November 21, 2011.[9]
She has a brother, Cody, and is a distant cousin of former United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull.Hull has already received five International Bluegrass Music Association nominations in the past three years.
Hull received the Bluegrass Star Award, presented by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, on October 19, 2013. The award is bestowed upon bluegrass artists who do an exemplary job of advancing traditional bluegrass music and bringing it to new audiences while preserving its character and heritage.[10]
Hull performed with the band Highway 111 at the Gettysburg Bluegrass festival in 2005. She continued to tour, even while she attended Berklee College of Music.[11]
Hull has also recorded and toured with Cory Wong, featured as a supporting act and collaborative partner on a 2022 tour.[12]
Hull's vocal debut album on Rounder Records, released in May 2008, was co-produced by Alison Krauss and Ron Block which follows a self-released CD Angel Mountain, in 2002. The production by Hull and Ron Block paid tribute and honored the tradition and style of bluegrass music. The album contained 3 original songs penned by Hull. She was just 15 when she recorded the album and 16 when it was released.
On her 2011 second release on Rounder Records, the 20-year-old has composed seven of the 12 songs and it was produced by Alison Krauss & Union Station bassist Barry Bales. The album features collaborations with Bryan Sutton on guitar and Randy Kohrs on dobro. Guest singers include Dan Tyminski, Shawn Lane and Ronnie Bowman.
Hull was a guest vocalist with lead singer James Adkins on the male-female duet "Love Song",[13] featured on the 2015 self-titled album from Americana group Big Virginia Sky.
Released on January 29, 2016, Weighted Mind, Hull's third LP, was produced by the highly regarded banjo player Béla Fleck, who encouraged Hull to consider recording it solo.[14] Hull, however, decided to enlist an accompanist, bassist Ethan Jodziewicz, who is featured on every track. The album also includes vocal contributions by Alison Krauss, Abigail Washburn, and Rhiannon Giddens.
NPR reviewer Jewly Hight called Weighted Mind a "stunning coming-of-age album," adding that "Hull has joined the rarefied company of Nickel Creek expats Chris Thile, Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins, pedigreed virtuosos whose youthful, searching musical minds have taken them into postmodern singer-songwriter territory and beyond."[15]
Hull contributed her cover of "Strong Hand of Love" in a Mark Heard tribute album entitled "Treasure Of The Broken Land: The Songs Of Mark Heard" (Storm Weathered Records) in 2017.
Released on February 28, 2020, co-produced by Hull and producer / engineer Shani Gandhi, features guitarist Mike Seal, bassist Ethan Jodziewicz, violinist Alex Hargreaves, and fiddler Christian Sedelmyer, together with bassist Viktor Krauss, guitarist Bryan Sutton, multi-instrumentalist Stuart Duncan, and steel guitarist Paul Franklin, and guest appearances by Molly Tuttle, Ron Block, Mindy Smith, Ronnie Bowman, Katie Pruitt, Angel Snow, and Hull's husband, multi-instrumentalist Justin Moses.
Liam Lewis opined, "25 Trips is an eclectic album, with a contemporary feel, showcasing Hull’s songwriting and exceptional vocals, crystal clear but with emotion and character, on 13 songs, self and co-written on the pleasures and travails of becoming the person and the musician she is today."[16]
Hull appeared as one of the musicians on Cuttin' Grass, the 2020 bluegrass album by Sturgill Simpson.
Hull married fellow bluegrass musician Justin Moses on May 14, 2017. Hull and Moses tour together.[17] She lives in Nashville.[18]
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Grass [19] | US Heat [20] | ||||
| Angel Mountain |
| — | — | ||
| Secrets |
| 2 | — | ||
| Daybreak |
| 5 | — | ||
| Weighted Mind |
| 1 | 5 | ||
| 25 Trips |
| 1 | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||
| Year | Single | Artist | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | "Hullarious" | Sierra Hull | An American Tradition | ||
| 2008 | "Just As I Am" | Sierra Hull | Billy: The Early Years | ||
| 2010 | "Gospel Plow" | align= left rowspan=2 | The Lovell Sisters, Bearfoot, Sierra Hull & The New Generation Jam | align= left rowspan=2 | MerleFest Live |
| "Big Sciota" | |||||
| 2011 | "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" | Sixties Invasion featuring Sierra Hull | Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree | ||
| 2013 | "Cups (When I'm Gone)" | The Bankesters with Sierra Hull | Love Has Wheels | ||
| 2014 | "You're a Flower Blooming in the Wildwood" | Mac Wiseman with Sierra Hull | Songs from My Mother's Hand | ||
| 2014 | "Promises" | Jeff Pippin and the Apple Valley Band featuring Sierra Hull | A Malibugrass Christmas | ||
| 2014 | "Let the Wind Be My Friend" | Jon Weisberger featuring Sierra Hull & the Lonesome Heirs | I've Been Mostly Awake | ||
| 2014 | "New Camptown Races" | David Naiditch featuring Sierra Hull, Dennis Caplinger, Jake Workman, Austin Ward, Rob Ickes & Stuart Duncan | align= left rowspan=4 | Bluegrass in the Backwoods | |
| "Little Rock Getaway" | David Naiditch featuring Sierra Hull, Dennis Caplinger, Jake Workman, Christian Ward, Rob Ickes & Austin Ward | ||||
| "The Smooch On the Porch / Bus Stop Reel" | David Naiditch featuring Sierra Hull, Jake Workman & Austin Ward | ||||
| "Jamboree" | David Naiditch featuring Dennis Caplinger, Sierra Hull, Rob Ickes, Christian Ward, Jake Workman & Austin Ward | ||||
| 2014 | "I Always Do" | Missy Werner featuring Jon Weisberger, Megan McCormick, Stephen Mougin, Maggie Estes White, Thomas Wywrot, Artie Werner & Sierra Hull | align= left rowspan=5 | Turn This Heart Around | |
| "Wish I Was" | Missy Werner featuring Sarah Siskind, Artie Werner, Megan McCormick, Jon Weisberger, Sierra Hull, Maggie Estes White & Thomas Wywrot | ||||
| "Cloudless Blue" | Missy Werner featuring Sierra Hull, Megan McCormick, Jon Weisberger, Maggie Estes White, Thomas Wywrot & Artie Werner | ||||
| "Dead Man Walking" | Missy Werner featuring Thomas Wywrot, Larry Cordle, Val Storey, Sierra Hull, Megan McCormick, Jon Weisberger & Maggie Estes White | ||||
| "Come Back to Me" | Missy Werner featuring Megan McCormick, Jon Weisberger, Maggie Estes White, Thomas Wywrot & Sierra Hull | ||||
| 2015 | "Can't Help Yourself" | Cindy Morgan featuring Gabe Dixon & Sierra Hull | Bows & Arrows | ||
| 2015 | "Seneca Square Dance" | Ron Block featuring Sierra Hull | Hogan's House of Music | ||
| 2017 | "They Call The Wind Maria" | align= left rowspan=2 | Bobby Osborne featuring Alison Brown, Sierra Hull & Stuart Duncan | align= left rowspan=4 | Original |
| "Country Boy" | |||||
| "Kentucky Morning" | Bobby Osborne featuring Dale Ann Bradley, Darrell Scott, Rob Ickes, Sierra Hull & Stuart Duncan | ||||
| "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" | Bobby Osborne featuring Alison Brown, Claire Lynch, Rob Ickes, Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan & Trey Hensley | ||||
| 2017 | "Roanoke" | align= left rowspan=6 | David Naiditch featuring Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull & Jake Workman | align= left rowspan=9 | Bluegrass That Swings |
| "Back Home Again in Indiana" | |||||
| "East Tennessee Blues" | |||||
| "All of Me" | |||||
| "Cattle in the Cane" | |||||
| "Exactly Like You" | |||||
| "Sweet Georgia Brown" | align= left rowspan=3" | David Naiditch featuring Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull, Jake Workman & Rob Ickes | |||
| "Twinkle Little Star" | |||||
| "Ookpik Waltz" | |||||
| 2017 | "The Guitar" | Mac Wiseman featuring Sierra Hull & Justin Moses | I Sang the Song (Life of the Voice with a Heart) | ||
| 2017 | "I Need Thee Every Hour" | Shane Clark featuring Sierra Hull | The Hymn Awakening | ||
| 2017 | "Strong Hand of Love" | Sierra Hull | Treasure of the Broken Land: The Songs of Mark Heard | ||
| 2018 | "Swept Away" | Missy Raines featuring Alison Brown, Beck Buller, Molly Tuttle & Sierra Hull | Swept Away | ||
| 2018 | "Merlefest Mando Mania" | Tony Williamson featuring Sam Bush & Sierra Hull with Rebecca Lovell, Mike Compton, Darin Aldridge, Tim O'Brien, James Nash, Tom Rozum & Barry Mitterhoff | Heritage | ||
| 2022 | "Over the Line" | Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway featuring Sierra Hull | Crooked Tree |
| Year | Title | Director | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "Easy Come, Easy Go"[21] | David McClister | |
| "Someone Like You"[22] | Brad Paul | ||
| "Chasin' Skies"[23] | |||
| "Tell Me Tomorrow"[24] | |||
| "Daybreak"[25] | David McClister | ||
| 2016 | "Black River" |
| Year | Association | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Recorded Event of the Year (with various artists) | "Proud To Be A Daughter of Bluegrass" | ||
| 2016 | Mandolin Player of the Year | Sierra Hull | ||
| 2017 | ||||
| Recorded Event of the Year (with Bobby Osborne and various artists) | "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" | |||
| Weighted Mind | ||||
| 2018 | Mandolin Player of the Year | Sierra Hull | ||
| Recorded Event of the Year(with Missy Raines, Alison Brown, Becky Buller,and Molly Tuttle) | "Swept Away" |