How many of us would look favorably on the notion of returning to high school after having reached adulthood. Not many, I would guess. For most of us, our teen aged years were busy, confusing and often highly-stressful times.

For one Sierra Hull - oft-mentioned here on The Bluegrass Blog of late - high school years are combined with a growing celebrity in the bluegrass and acoustic music world, a debut CD on a major independent label, and an acting debut in a film on the life of noted evangelist Billy Graham.

While her CD, Secrets, is winning rave reviews from the critics and she is playing weekends at large festivals all over the US, Sierra managed to carve out some time from school and performance commitments to shoot scenes in the upcoming film, Billy: The Early Years. She will play Graham’s sister, Catherine, in the production, which calls on her to act as well as sing.

Primary roles in the film include Lindsay Wagner as Graham’s mother and Martin Landau as Graham’s associate, Charles Templeton. Country singer Josh Turner also appears as George Beverly Shea, a popular singer in the 1940s who was tapped to head Graham’s radio ministry.

A number of other bluegrass artists appear in the movie and sing on the soundtrack, including Ronnie Bowman, Ronnie McCoury, John Cowan and Randy Scruggs, all of whom were involved in some scenes shot on April 20 near Nashville.

Sierra sent along a number of photos taken that day by her mom, Brenda. They give a nice impression of how well the filmmakers capture the look and feel of rural North Carolina in the 1920s.

     

Our friend Craig Havighurst has posted a YouTube video bio of Sierra Hull. Craig produced the video for Rounder Records to coincide with the release, yesterday, of Sierra’s new CD, Secrets.

We got to produce this video bio of Sierra that shows her trying to balance the life of a normal 16-year-old high school junior with her new career as an in-demand touring and recording artist. She’s a super person too, and we wish her the best of luck.

The video features interview footage with both Sierra and producer, Ron Block, as well as behind the scenes footage and performance footage. It’s a nice feature that all bluegrass fans should enjoy.

Today (5/6) marks the official release of Secrets, Sierra Hull’s debut on Rounder. This sixteen year old wunderkind has been wowing audiences for at least the past six years, sitting in with leading artists like Alison Krauss, Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs and Mountain Heart, and with her own road band Highway 111.

I first saw her in person at IBMA in 2003. Sierra seemed barely big enough to hold a mandolin - in fact it nearly dwarfed her - but the then twelve year old was confidently jamming with Ronald Inscore and mando-legend Herschel Sizemore as though it was a common occurrence. She more than held her own and left everyone in the room stunned into silence, wondering how she could be that proficient at her age, and where the music would take her.

In fact, it is plainly impossible to avoid comparisons between Secrets and the early CDs from young artists like Alison Krauss and Chris Thile, both of whom started recording as teens and have gone on to establish themselves as major players in acoustic music. They both saw their debut releases on major independent labels, but neither Thile’s Leading Off nor Krauss’ Too Late To Cry saw the degree of media promotion or pent-up anticipation that Hull’s debut has garnered.

We had the chance to discuss Secrets, and Sierra-as-artist, with co-producer Ron Block, banjo and guitarist with Alison Krauss & Union Station, and one of the more thoughtful, insightful artists in our music. Our first question was about the above mentioned subject: the inevitable comparisons to Alison, and what is was like producing someone so relatively “green” in the studio.

“Sierra has had Alison to listen to, and she has paid attention to Alison’s musical sensibilities, so her ear is well developed for her age.

Early on I found Sierra to have a keen vision of her own - my job was to facilitate that. I did of course have my own ideas and input, and gave guidance throughout the process. In the end I couldn’t put ‘Produced by Ron Block’ because it was produced by both of us.”

Though Secrets is being promoted as her first release, Sierra did have one earlier CD, Angel Mountain, which came out in 2002. (more…)

CMT.com’s Country Music Blog has just published Merlefest remembrances from three bluegrass artists. Rhonda Vincent, Blue Highway (Tim Stafford) and Sierra Hull share some thoughts about last weekend’s mega-fest in North Wilkesboro, NC.

Sierra had an especially poignant memory to cherish from Merlefest ‘08.

“One thing that was particularly exciting about this year’s Merlefest is that it was the first in which I’ve had my new album, Secrets (out May 6 on Rounder) for sale. Upon arriving to the festival Friday morning, I had not even seen a final packaged copy of the record yet. They were shipped directly there, hot off the printer! It was quite funny then having someone in the crowd bring me a copy to sign — that was my first time seeing it!”

Read all of these posts at CMT.com.

Recently we reported news of the forthcoming CD by Sierra Hull. Now, with the impending release next month, plans for the promotional push are falling into place.

ASCAP and Rounder Records are jointly extending an invitation for folks to attend the CD release party for Sierra’s first album for the label, Secrets (0601). This party is scheduled for 4pm, Tuesday, May 6, at the ASCAP offices, 2 Music Square West, Nashville, TN.

If you can’t be there, Sierra will be appearing at Nashville’s favourite bluegrass watering hole, The Station Inn, Wednesday, May 14.

For those interested in listening to snippets from Sierra’s CD there are audio clips at the Rounder website.

We expect some more updates from Sierra over the next few days.

UPDATE 4/30: Ooops…..  Scratch that invite to the ASCAP release party.  That is actually not an event open to the public, though the Station Inn show is.

Rounder has put together an online video bio to introduce young mandolin sensation Sierra Hull in preparation for the upcoming release of her debut CD, Secrets, on May 6.

The video mixes interview segments with both Sierra and co-producer Ron Block, with photos, video clips and audio from the new CD.

If you are not familiar with this exciting new artist, take a few minutes and get to know her and her music.

Watch the video on the Rounder site.

Sierra Hull, the prodigious young singer and mandolin player, who has a debut Rounder album, Secrets, set for release on May 6, has landed a part in the film about Billy Graham’s early life, currently being shot on location in middle Tennessee.

The part came about following an article in The Tennessean newspaper and the submission of Ms. Hull’s name by Claire Armbruster of Nashville’s Keith Case & Associates, the firm responsible for booking Sierra’s personal appearances.

From the article…

“I sent it in without (Sierra) knowing. When I read what Anastasia [Brown] said about needing an 11- or 12-year-old that sounded like Alison Krauss, I thought of Sierra, even though she’s 16, because she’s so petite. They do miracles in the movies.”

The newspaper reports, on Thursday (March 27), Sierra recorded Just As I Am and I’ll Fly Away with producer John Carter Cash at his famed log cabin studio in Hendersonville. Participating in the session were top-notch musicians Randy Scruggs, Harry Stinson, John Cowan, Ronnie McCoury, Ronnie Bowman, Sarah Peasall and John Wesley Ryles.

“Just As I Am was being sung when Billy had his conversion and walked the sawdust trail to the altar”, Anastasia says. “Her voice will be extremely highlighted during this climax of the film.”

Sierra had this to say about how the part came about, what her reaction was to learning of her role and of her early involvement in work for the film …..

“I’m really excited to be a part of the upcoming Billy Graham film. It should be a really wonderful experience and I’m excited to see how the movie will all come together in the end. I first received a call from Claire Armbruster at Keith Case and Associates (the folks who do my booking) one day after school informing me that she had sent my new record, ‘Secrets’, to Beverly Keel - a columnist for the Tennessean - who then passed it along to Anastasia Brown. She just wanted to let me know that she had sent them the CD, but wasn’t sure if they’d respond or not. A few days later Claire got a call from Anastasia letting her know that they would like me to be part of the project. I was told that I’d be singing Just As I Am for a scene in the movie. However, it wasn’t until about a week ago that I realized that I would actually be playing the role of Catherine Graham.

I’m so thrilled to have the chance to do something like this. This past Thursday was spent recording the music for the film at John Carter Cash’s studio in Hendersonville. What an honor it was to get to sing with some of my favorite singers like Ronnie Bowman and John Cowan. I’m anxious to hear how it all ends up sounding. Acting in this movie will be quite a new experience for me, but one I’m really looking forward to. My first couple days on set will be in Mid-April and then again sometime in May.

I feel so blessed to be a part of this, and I think it will be a really wonderful movie that will hopefully touch the lives of many people no matter whether you are a Christian or not.”

Beverly Keel’s full story can be read at The Tennessean website.

When a 16 year old bluegrass prodigy enlists some of the biggest names in the business to help record her debut project for a major independent label, it’s fair to presume that we are looking at something special. Such is the case with Sierra Hull, whose upcoming project is already generating some serious buzz in the biz.

Sierra is more veteran performer than newcomer, having several years behind her performing, on top of winning mandolin and guitar competitions. She has shared the stage with Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs and Mountain Heart, and has an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry to her credit while still in high school.

Her Secrets CD is due for a May 6 release on Rounder, which features this talented teen on mandolin and vocals, with support from bluegrass heavyweights like Dan Tyminksi, Barry Bales, Ron Block, Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, Jim Van Cleve, and Rob Ickes. She will also be performing this week in a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York on a show put together by improvisational vocalist Bobby McFerrin, which also includes Alison Krauss and bassist Edgar Meyer.

We had a chance to discuss the new CD recently with Sierra, and found out a bit about Secrets, and the exceptional young woman it showcases. Though this new project is not her first recording, it is being viewed in the industry as her debut.

“I would definitely consider this my first ‘real’ recording. I made a CD when I was 10 years old called Angel Mountain which included all instrumentals, but I feel like I’ve really had the chance to grow up and mature as a musician and singer since that time, and would think more of this as being my debut so to speak. It’s also my first record through a label, which changes things as well.”

Folks who had seen Sierra at places like the annual IBMA or SPBGMA conventions might think of her primarily as a picker, but she takes front and center as a vocalist on Secrets.

“I sing lead on all the of the vocals, but we had some of my favorite people to sing harmony as well. Dan Tyminski, Clay Hess, and Ron Block sang with me on most the songs, and I sang harmony vocals as well on a couple cuts.”

(more…)

Mandolin prodigy Sierra Hull shares her fondest Christmas memory.

I can’t believe how quickly Christmas seems to come and go each year, and of course, each year always brings along some sort of new memory for me. One, however, that I’m kinda fond of, is the Christmas that I first got an instrument. My family has always been into music ever since I can think of. I remember singing along with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver gospel tapes in the car ever since I could talk. My dad always played guitar for my brother Cody and I when we would sing in church, and my mom also sang. When my dad began learning to play the mandolin I really began to get interested in wanting to play an instrument too.

So… when my Granny Delk found out that I wanted to learn to play the fiddle, that’s what she and a few of my other family members chipped in together to buy me for Christmas. The fiddle they ended up getting, unfortunately, at that time was a full sized, and I was a small eight year old. I started learning to play the mandolin because of that - thinking it would help when I finally got a smaller fiddle, but I kinda stuck to mandolin after that. haha

That Christmas is a sweet thought to me because it reminds me of when I first started to play music, and it’s been such a special part of my life ever since. This time of year always makes me so thankful to God for everything he’s done for me, and to celebrate his birth is something we should all be excited to do.

I hope everyone out there has a very Merry Christmas filled with lots of love and cheer, and may God Bless you all!

Gibson has a page on their web site dedicated to several modern bluegrass artists who are having an impact on the music. As it happens, they all play Gibson mandolins. What a coincidence!

The artists featured are The Infamous Stringdusters, Cherryholmes, Cadillac Sky, The Greencards, The Grascals and Sierra Hull. In perhaps an odd choice of words, the page is entitled Hillbilly Hipsters.

You might be familiar with most of these artists, but a name that not everyone may recognize is Sierra Hull. Just 15 years old, she is already taking the bluegrass world by storm, playing both mandolin and guitar, and fronting her own band, Highway 111. She has been recognized as a true prodigy since she was 12 years old, and has been featured as a guest performer with Alison Krauss & Union Station, and filled in for Adam Steffey with Mountain Heart.

There are several videos showcasing her prowess on YouTube.

As part of their Hillbilly Hipsters promotion, Gibson is making available a free download from Sierra, a tune named Hullarious. The page also has streaming audio of Sierra’s tune, and Fork In The Road from The Infamous Stringdusters’ debut CD of the same name.

Read about all these artists - and hear some music - at Gibson’s Backstage Pass site.

Bluegrass music travels to Carnegie Hall next weekend, May 12, 2007, when Ryan Holladay and Sierra Hull host The Carnegie Hall Family Concert Bluegrass Celebration. The concert includes these two young (Ryan is 14, Sierra is 15) multi-instrumentalists along with string band Ebony Hillbillies and Brooklyn-based bluegrass band Straight Drive. The event takes place at the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage.

This is more than just a concert though.

[The event] includes performances as well as an introduction to the rich American tradition of bluegrass music. Pre-concert activities begin at 12:30 p.m. and will feature an up-close instrument introduction with the members of the Ebony Hillbillies and Straight Drive, a Q&A session with hosts Ryan and Sierra, and the telling of Appalachian tales.

The 2006-2007 Family Concerts series was sponsored by Bank of America and included a total of 11 concerts. The series is intended to introduce children, ages 5-12, along with their families, to a number of different musical styles. The Bluegrass Celebration is the final concert in the series. Tickets are only $8 and include admission to the pre-concert activities.

The pre-concert activities begin at 12:30 PM and the concert itself takes place at 2 PM. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, by phone at 212-247-7800, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website at CarnegieHall.org.