Sierra Hull

Sierra Dawn Hull (born September 27, 1991) is an American bluegrass singer-songwriter, mandolinist, and guitarist. 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. Hull and Krauss, along with Dan Tyminski, performed at the White House on November 21, 2011. Hull has won ten International Bluegrass Music Association awards between 2010 and 2023, including winning best mandolin player in 6 out of the past 8 years (2016-2023). 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. 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. Hull has also recorded and toured with Cory Wong, featured as a supporting act and collaborative partner on a 2022 tour. 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 wrote seven of the twelve songs. 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", 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. 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." Hull contributed her performance of "Strong Hand of Love" to 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." Hull appeared as one of the musicians on Cuttin' Grass, the 2020 bluegrass album by Sturgill Simpson. Released on Mar 7, 2025, this album is her first self-published album since her debut, Angel Mountain, in 2002. It features Tim O'Brien, Aoife O'Donovan, and Béla Fleck. Rolling Stone reported that the album name is a "[nod] to the fine line that Hull walks, keeping one foot in tradition and the other in the progressive quest." Released on April 10, 2026, The Movements is a bluegrass concerto following the fast-slow-fast structure, "blending composed passages with room for improvisation." It features Avery Merritt, Erik Coveney, Mark Raudabaugh, and Shaun Richardson. Hull has a brother, Cody, and is a distant cousin of former United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull. She married fellow bluegrass musician Justin Moses on May 14, 2017. Hull and Moses tour together. She lives in Nashville. Dickinson, Chrissie (February 18, 2016). "How bluegrass prodigy Sierra Hull turned frustration into inspiration". chicagotribune.com. "Sierra Hull, Takes a Weight Off Her Mind". Bluegrass Unlimited. May 1, 2016. "Daybreak by Sierra Hull" – via music.apple.com. "Sierra Hull w/ Opener Phoebe Hunt at City Winery". Back Bay, MA Patch. January 26, 2018. Ledgin, Stephanie (2004). Homegrown Music: Discovering Bluegrass. Praeger. p. 116. ISBN 978-0275981150. Steve Leggett, "Sierra Hull Biography", Billboard.com, retrieved March 15, 2011 Secrets - Billboard.com, retrieved March 15, 2011 Caramanica, Jon (March 9, 2011), "Music Review – New York Times", The New York Times, retrieved March 15, 2011 Berklee Media Relations, "2009–2010 Presidential Scholars", Berklee College of Music website, retrieved March 15, 2011 Edward Morris, "Teen Sierra Hull Is Turning Heads", CMT.com, archived from the original on October 1, 2008, retrieved March 15, 2011 Steve Leggett, "Sierra Hull," Allmusic. Retrieved: March 1, 2013. John Lawless, "Sierra Hull, reporting from the White House," Bluegrass Today, November 30, 2011. "IBMA official website". 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024. "Bluegrass Heritage Foundation official website". 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2015. "Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, Strings, newsletter of the Pineridge Bluegrass Folklore Society, October 2005 "Cory Wong Announces Two-Part Collaborative Tour with Sierra Hull, Victor Wooten and More". Relix Media. August 2, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2023. "Big Virginia Sky releases debut, self-titled album!". Big Virginia Sky. Retrieved January 12, 2016. "Mandolin Cafe – Sierra Hull – The Weighted Mind Interview". Mandolin Cafe Forum. Retrieved April 10, 2017. Hight, Jewly (January 20, 2016). "Review: Sierra Hull, 'Weighted Mind'". NPR.org. Retrieved April 10, 2017. Lewis, Liam (March 12, 2020). "Review: Sierra Hull – 25 Trips". Retrieved March 15, 2021. "Sierra Hull, the First Woman to Win Mandolin Player of the Year, is Redesigning Bluegrass". Rolling Stone. March 13, 2025. Sissler, James (April 13, 2026). "Sierra Hull Releases New EP 'The Movements', A Bluegrass Concerto [Listen]". L4LM. Retrieved April 23, 2026. "Sierra Hull". Sierra Hull. Retrieved April 23, 2026. David McGee, "The Latest Gifted Hull", The Bluegrass Special, retrieved March 15, 2011 Lawless, John (June 2, 2017). "Congratulations Sierra and Justin!". Bluegrass Today. Retrieved August 31, 2018. "Sierra Hull sets record straight about her name and that ring". Tahoe Onstage. May 4, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2018.