Sierra Hull is having an eventful freshman year in college.

She entered the Berklee College of Music last fall with the promise and pressure that comes with Berklee’s prestigious Presidential Scholarship, and found herself juggling the arduous first year class load with a busy touring schedule. She was gone for 25 days in October/November on the American Revival Tour and a week at the IBMA World Of Bluegrass, but managed to keep up with her studies.

This next week Sierra will see the release of her AcuTab mandolin instruction DVD, Secrets Songs & Tunes, on Tuesday (3/16) while she begins tracking for her next Rounder CD in Nashville.

Barry Bales will be producing for this project, and tells us that he is excited to get to work next week.

“We are tracking at Brent Truitt’s studio with a great line-up of musicians. Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton, Randy Kohrs, and Ron Stewart, as well as all the members of her band – Clay Hess, Cory Walker, Jacob Eller and Christian Ward – on various tracks. It was a wonderful surprise to get a bunch of great original material from her. Probably 9 or 10 will be from Sierra herself. I think she has all the potential in the world to do whatever she wants to in this business, so I’m just thrilled to be involved.

There’s no definite time set for finishing up, but hopefully we can wrap up everything by the end of April.”

Rounder won’t even think about discussing a potential release date until the album is completed. 2010 is shaping up as a big one for Ms. Hull.

Bales will have a bass DVD from AcuTab in the near future as well.

UPDATE 3/14: Sierra also shared a few words about the new project…

“I’m SO happy to be working on a new album! So much has changed for me since the release of Secrets, and I certainly feel I am going in to the studio very fresh and eager.

It’s been a long, but short process of nailing down songs, deciding where to record, who to guest on the record, etc. It’s a bit of a challenge because I had so many of my favorite players on the last record. I’m thrilled to have some new people coming in to play and sing on the new record, as well as getting the chance to work with the guys in my band. It’s been tough to get everything all planned out with being so far away and in college – thank goodness mid-terms are now over!

Working with Barry has been great, and I’m really honored to have him help me with this project, as he is by far one of my favorite musicians. It’s always a different experience to work with someone new, and so far it’s been great!

I can’t wait to get in the studio Monday and get started!”

AcuTab Publications has announced March 16 as the release date for their newest instructional DVD, Secrets Songs & Tunes by Sierra Hull. It offers four hours of insight and instruction from this young mandolin prodigy on two DVDs, with a printed booklet.

If you are plugged in to the bluegrass scene, you may have been hearing about Sierra for the past 6 years, well before the release of her debut CD, Secrets, on Rounder Records in May of 2008. She had been featured on stage with Alison Krauss at age 13 and was recruited by Rounder as she entered high school. Sierra said that she was very flattered by their early interest, but wisely decided that she need to be artistically prepared before putting herself forward on a major release – so she waited until the ripe old age of 16.

She was similarly recruited by the prestigious Berklee College Of Music, who offered a full, four year scholarship to attend the school in Boston. At the IBMA convention during her senior year, then new Berklee President Roger Brown tailed her like a college recruiter chasing a star tailback. Though initially uncertain about college with an active touring schedule in the offing, Sierra ultimately accepted a Berklee Presidential Scholarship and began her studies there in the Fall of 2009.

In her AcuTab DVD, Sierra teaches 7 songs and solos from Secrets, plus two tunes from a limited-release CD she recorded at age 13. She goes into great detail demonstrating the solos, putting even the more complex pieces (like Smashville and Hullarious) within the reach of intermediate level mandolinists. There is also a wealth of wisdom – wise well beyond her years – imparted as the material is presented, whether it is fingering, attack, arrangement advice or suggestions about pick direction.

Watching the video, it becomes clear that she is not only a poised and confident musician, but also a natural teacher and a charming young lady. Here’s a glimpse from the video trailer.

Sierra is assisted in the studio by Kenny Smith on guitar, Ron Block on banjo and Zak McLamb on bass.

Secrets Songs & Tunes will be available from AcuTab and wherever instructional DVDs are sold on March 16. Pre-orders are being accepted now from both AcuTab and Sierra’s web site.

AcuTab Publications has announced March 16 as the release date for their newest instructional DVD, Secrets Songs & Tunes by Sierra Hull. It offers four hours of insight and instruction from this young mandolin prodigy on two DVDs, with a printed booklet.

If you are plugged in to the bluegrass scene, you may have been hearing about Sierra for the past 6 years, well before the release of her debut CD, Secrets, on Rounder Records in May of 2008. She had been featured on stage with Alison Krauss at age 13 and was recruited by Rounder as she entered high school. Sierra said that she was very flattered by their early interest, but wisely decided that she need to be artistically prepared before putting herself forward on a major release – so she waited until the ripe old age of 16.

She was similarly recruited by the prestigious Berklee College Of Music, who offered a full, four year scholarship to attend the school in Boston. At the IBMA convention during her senior year, then new Berklee President Roger Brown tailed her like a college recruiter chasing a star tailback. Though initially uncertain about college with an active touring schedule in the offing, Sierra ultimately accepted a Berklee Presidential Scholarship and began her studies there in the Fall of 2009.

In her AcuTab DVD, Sierra teaches 7 songs and solos from Secrets, plus two tunes from a limited-release CD she recorded at age 13. She goes into great detail demonstrating the solos, putting even the more complex pieces (like Smashville and Hullarious) within the reach of intermediate level mandolinists. There is also a wealth of wisdom – wise well beyond her years – imparted as the material is presented, whether it is fingering, attack, arrangement advice or suggestions about pick direction.

Watching the video, it becomes clear that she is not only a poised and confident musician, but also a natural teacher and a charming young lady. Here’s a glimpse from the video trailer.

Sierra is assisted in the studio by Kenny Smith on guitar, Ron Block on banjo and Zak McLamb on bass.

Secrets Songs & Tunes will be available from AcuTab and wherever instructional DVDs are sold on March 16. Pre-orders are being accepted now from both AcuTab and Sierra’s web site.

Kel Audio has made a number of converts in the bluegrass world this past few years. Founder Kelly Dueck never set out to build a “bluegrass microphone,” but he has found them embraced by such stellar grassers as Mike Auldridge, Grasstowne, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses and Dixie Bee-Liners, all of whom use them on the road.

Today (2/15/10), Kel has introduced a new model, the Song Sparrow, a  studio-grade condenser microphone tailored for modern vocal recording. Dueck tells us that it is exceptionally well-suited to recording female vocals, and also helps with “jangly” rhythm guitar tracks in more pop-oriented styles of music.

“The Song Sparrow is built with premium electronics and sticks with the Kel philosophy of using simple designs coupled with high quality parts, in order to keep the mic affordable. The mic features a one-inch side-terminated cardioid capsule with an open airy top end response. The circuitry is designed to offer high headroom and good transient response for maximum vocal clarity and presence and avoids the use of inexpensive tubes or transformers which can add edgy distortion.”

Kelly also suggests that the Song Sparrow works well to record piano, drum overheads, vocal groups and most stringed instruments.

It will ship in early April and carry a retail price of $349. Pre-orders are being accepted now, with a pre-release discount of $50.

The following Specifications were provided by the manufacturer:

• Element: 1″ Side-terminated condenser capsule
• Polar Pattern: “Cardioid”
• Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz
• Sensitivity: -38+/-2dB (0dB=1V/Pa at 1kHz)
• Output Impedance: 55 Ohms +/-30% (at 1kHz)
• Equivalent Noise Level: <14dB A
• S/N Ratio: 80dB
• Max. Input SPL: 132dB(at 1kHz=1% T.H.D)
• Body Dimensions: 48×178mm

More details, including graphs, sound samples and manual, can be found on the Kel Audio web site.