Born and raised in Byrdstown, Tennessee, Sierra Hull began playing the mandolin at eight years old. At 10, she released her debut album, Angel Mountain. One year later, she met one of her inspirations, Alison Krauss, who then went on to become Sierra's mentor. At just 13, Sierra was signed to bluegrass label Rounder Records, which she remains with today.
Music hasn't stopped for Sierra since she first picked up a mandolin. After high school, she accepted a Presidential Scholarship to study at the Berklee School of Music. She has released three albums with Rounder, the most recent being 2016's Weighted Mind, which peaked at number five on the Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart and at number one on the Bluegrass Albums chart.
Amidst her busy touring schedule, Sierra was kind enough to stop by the Reverb studios to chat about her major influences: Alison Krauss and Adam Steffey, Chris Thile of Nickel Creek, and even guitarist Tony Rice. She touched on the differences between playing as a part of a larger band to and as a solo player.
Sierra showed off her Gibson Master Model mandolin that's based on Ricky Skaggs's own signature model. She also talked about her Weber octave mandolin — an instrument that she picked up while in the studio recording her second album, Daybreak.
And, of course, we couldn't let Sierra leave without asking her to play us one of her beautiful and technically demanding mandolin pieces. Ethan Jodziewicz accompanies her on the double bass.
To hear more of Sierra Hull's music and to keep up with her news and touring schedule, you can check out her website here.