Sierra Hull!

[Nick Triesch]

Wife and I saw Sierra Hull at Summergrass near San Diego today. She was just wonderful. Most of the songs were from Her first two albums with a few others tossed in. Her young band was spot on. She did things on her mandolin that I did not think was possible. So clean. So fast. And at her young age knows how to talk and work the crowd. Just fantastic. And for all you Weber fans....She played her Weber Fern the entire show. Sounded great. After the show she signed CD's for folks buying them and is a very nice young lady. Super polite. Everyone then moved to an area and she gave a Q and A for about an hour. The future of Bluegrass is secure. If anyone lives in Southern Cal she will be playing tonight at nine and then again tomorrow . Check out the Summergrass Website. Nick

[Jim Ferguson]

I'm hoping she comes a wee bit north to OR Nick. I would love to see her in concert. No doubt she'll be back this way one of these days.
Peace,

[Mike Shipman]

I've recently discovered Sierra Hull and got her two albums, great playing and singing and songwriting too, I thought her voice was similar to Alison Krauss, which is no bad thing in my book!

[Willie Poole]

I watched her on PBS on Songs Of The Mountain last night...No banjo in the band and I cannot understand a lot of words she is singing, must be my hearing but if you want to call it bluegrass go ahead, I don`t...She is a very good mandolin player if you like a lot of notes running together at warp speed...Just like Thile....

Just not my bag...Sorry but I am a traditional bluegrass person....

[William Smith]

I watched her on PBS on Songs Of The Mountain last night...No banjo in the band and I cannot understand a lot of words she is singing, must be my hearing but if you want to call it bluegrass go ahead, I don`t...She is a very good mandolin player if you like a lot of notes running together at warp speed...Just like Thile....

Just not my bag...Sorry but I am a traditional bluegrass person....

Well said my friend. I hear ya I'm a fan of the old stuff/style, I'm not a real big fan of newer Bluegrass bands I'm more traditional, I do like some of the stuff these new warp speed pickers play but give me Duffey,Monroe,Grisman,Osborne,McCoury,McReynolds,S kaggs,Busby,etc.etc.

[llg]

To each his own....I don't know if you call it NewGrass, Bluesgrass, Contemporary Grass,...who cares? I call it awesome. I love Osbourne, McCoury, Skaggs etc. But If we're picking teams, I'll take Hull, Steffey, Thile, Leftwich, Haynie, etc., etc. I believe my team would hold it's own nicely, thank you very much.

[Russ Jordan]

I watched her on PBS on Songs Of The Mountain last night...No banjo in the band and I cannot understand a lot of words she is singing, must be my hearing but if you want to call it bluegrass go ahead, I don`t...She is a very good mandolin player if you like a lot of notes running together at warp speed...Just like Thile....

Just not my bag...Sorry but I am a traditional bluegrass person....

Did you watch beyond the first song? There is banjo in the band.

[William Smith]

To each his own....I don't know if you call it NewGrass, Bluesgrass, Contemporary Grass,...who cares? I call it awesome. I love Osbourne, McCoury, Skaggs etc. But If we're picking teams, I'll take Hull, Steffey, Thile, Leftwich, Haynie, etc., etc. I believe my team would hold it's own nicely, thank you very much.

I like your team! they can more than hold their own that's for sure they are all fantastic players and your right in saying "to each is own" I just choose to listen to my heroes.

[Don Grieser]

Willie, I usually agree with you on Trad BG, but not on Sierra Hull. I saw her at the Pagosa Folk & BG fest last year. I went expecting to not really like her and expecting to leave after a couple songs. (There were a lot of groups there that I did leave after a couple songs.) Her genuine stage presence and her joyful delight in the music she was making completely won me over. I stayed for her whole set and enjoyed every minute of it, even the notey parts. And I was part of the standing ovation and encore crowd too.

[cayuga red]

Add Richter to that team!

[padawan]

I watched her on PBS on Songs Of The Mountain last night...No banjo in the band and I cannot understand a lot of words she is singing, must be my hearing but if you want to call it bluegrass go ahead, I don`t...She is a very good mandolin player if you like a lot of notes running together at warp speed...Just like Thile....

Just not my bag...Sorry but I am a traditional bluegrass person....

For what its worth she's done a lot of traditional bluegrass over her short life, alongside some of the greatest players of the genre. Don't discount her because of one performance.
Yes, I'm a fan. Not a huge fan, but I'd still sit quietly and watch her play any time, any where.
Get on Youtube and check out some videos of her. I like this one of her trading licks with Adam Steffe:


If you search youtube for steffe hull you'll find a few other songs from this session. On one of them they swapped mandos. Pretty cool.

[stevedenver]

I saw her in Denver a few weeks back and she is simply one of my favorites. Speed, grace, modern, musically sophisticated, progressive, and entertaining in the best sense of the word.

[phiddlepicker]

tasty....om nom nom nom nom nom

[Eddie Sheehy]

It was fun hearing her talk about her music at the Workshop at Summergrass yesterday. She just sparkles with vivacity and brightened up the venue...

[Gplayer]

I thinks she's a very talented and gifted performer. Her music may not be old school, per se, but it's entertaining.

[Nick Triesch]

Willie! Her voice was as clear as a bell and so were her words. At 21 years old she is already one of the best of the best. The great players like Steffe and thile saw her talent when she was 11 years old. If Bill or Osborne could have a picking contest today with her they would quit before warmup was completed.

[Tom Coletti]

Skip to 5:40



--Tom

[padawan]

She also plays a pretty mean guitar. That gal has more talent under her fingernail than I've got in all my pockets combined.


But I'm still taller.

[Scottydawg]

Saw her at Summergrass throughout the weekend. As mentioned she did a Q & A on Saturday but did a demonstration workshop today! All I can say is that above her amazing talent and clear understanding of where she stands musically..she seems to have composure, kindness and wisdom above her young age.
Any father would be proud to have her as a daughter.
My 2 cents

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

I saw Sierra for the first time and was in awe of her. Her talent and stage presence is unmistakable. But most of all, it was really clear from the Q&A session that she takes her music and her work very seriously, and is putting a lot of thought into what she's doing, where she wishes to go from here, and what is expected of her. At the young age of 22, she's probably done more musically than most people do in a life time. Whatever she decides to do next, and wherever she goes from here, it will no doubt be really interesting, and I can't wait to see what they may be.

[Ivan Kelsall]

For me,Sierra Hull seems to have 2 sides to her playing. She can do the 'modern' notey stuff,which personally,i don't care for too much,but wish that 'I' could do it anyway,but she can also play very beautifully crafted melody lines when she wishes to. She's very much like Chris Thile in that she has the whole box of tricks to use or not whenever she (they) wishes. I've heard clips of her playing where she just looses the melody line in a flurry of notes. I've also heard clips of her playing so beautifully that it's been hard to comprehend such an awesome talent for melody. As with all players,i listen to the parts of their playing that 'I' like,& leave the rest to the other people who like what 'they' like - it seems to work. As a bottom line,i wish i had one 10th of her talent !!,
Ivan

[Willie Poole]

I know that I am beating my head against a wall when I post how much these newer bands aren`t bluegrass because most of the younger folk seem to like something a little different than what was first said to be bluegrass...The pickers are all great, it`s just what they play that makes me not listen to them, what ever happened to playing the melody of a song, most of the newbies are just playing scales and stuff that I will never understand what it is called....Look how many good pickers that have branched off and are doing their own kind of music, Bela Fleck, comes to mind, a great banjo player but he must have got burned out with bluegrass and went on to form his own kind of music....

You are correct, I did not watch her show long enough to see a banjo, I still have the tape of the show and WILL go back and watch it all of the way through to see if somewhere on there she might change my way of thinking, as far as understanding her, that is most likely the fault of my aging ears because I have trouble understanding a lot of young people the way they have learned to talk, a lot like the Valley Girls in California...There are quite a few "gal" singers that I can`t understand when they sing or talk so it just might be me, I suppose...

I don`t mean to put her down, she is very talented, I just state my opinions like all of you do....Gimmie Flatt and Scruggs any day....

[Nick Triesch]

Sierra Hull has a nice Southern Accent from Tennessee. Valley Girl? What I think has happened is the new super artists demand perfection in their music. Rather than mandolin or guitar notes that seem all smashed together you can now hear each clear individual note . Bluegrass has just gone to a new level.

[llg]

I'm as country as they come and proud of being from rural southern Tennessee. In fact I Have lived my whole life less than an hour from where Lester Flatt is from. I love Bluegrass and I greatly respect the pioneers that created it. BUT man am I glad for Alison Krauss and Union Station. Her band drew me into BG in the early 90's. I see Sierra Hull very similar to AK. Highly talented and able to play true BG as well as any. BUT SHE CAN DO MORE THAN JUST BG. If you can't handle it don't listen to her but it would be a waste if she or any other great musician only played like Bill. There would always be a few diehard BGrassers left, but very few. If you want BG to survive be glad for new talents. THey will bring alot of people like me to all kinds of BG that otherwise would not have been interested in the older stuff. Now I like it all. Just some better than others. I wonder what old timers thought of a "young" Bill Monroe when he was changing music. I bet more than a few didn't like his "new fancy playing" either.

[Nick Triesch]

Wow! Well said llg! When I saw Sierra the other day she was fantastic! I still cannot believe it. And her band Hwy 111 was crack on the spot. The guitar player and all the rest were super. Young kids will pick up guitars and mandolins now because of her. And that is a wonderful thing.