Here is a gallery of photos from last night’s (9/29) IBMA festivities.

We are very fortunate this year to have Dean Hoffmeyer shooting for us during World Of Bluegrass. He is a Pulitzer-nominated photographer with The Richmond Times Dispatch, and his work speaks for itself. Dean’s work also graces a number of recent bluegrass CD covers, including the recent Grasstowne and Jason Davis projects.

Dean will be providing photos over the next few days, including Thursday night’s Awards Show. He will posting them as soon as he shoots, so we’ll have galleries going up during the show, while Brance and I are posting the winners in real time here on The Bluegrass Blog.

Young mandolin prodigy Sierra Hull has started classes at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but is still touring with her band, Highway 111. She is adapting to having to fly to make the dates, but mixing school work and band work is something she has been doing for the past two years.

They have a show tonight near the Tennessee/Kentucky border, and will be stopping off at The Square Room in Knoxville at noon for a live broadcast on WDVX’s Blue Plate Special. You can listen over the air at 102.9, or via live streaming from WDVX.com.

Sierra also shared a few words about her move to Boston and studying at Berklee.

“So far, Boston has been treating me great! I just had my first week of classes at Berklee and really enjoyed them. I’m starting to know my way around pretty well now and have met so many really talented musicians already. It’s really neat to be in an environment that is totally merged in music, and I really feel like I’m going to learn a lot there. The faculty and staff have been so good to me, and I really feel supported here in regards to keeping a busy tour schedule, which makes me very happy!

I’ve been up there for almost two weeks now, and this is my second weekend out gigging since being there. Last weekend we were in North Carolina and New Jersey. One thing I quickly realized is that I shouldn’t be afraid of being exposed to so many different types of music. Part of me sometimes worries that being around so many things can really have an effect on what you think you love or what your dreams truly are. It was a cool experience for me to leave Berklee after being there for a week surrounded by so many diverse styles of music and go to a bluegrass festival. Upon pulling unto the festival grounds and hearing a band on stage in the background it was like I became so excited and just full of contentment. It was nice to get that special feeling of… this is what I love and who I am, and I’m happy to be that.

We are in Tennessee this weekend, which is wonderful. That’s the fun thing about being able to still tour some… I’m lucky enough to be home more often. We will be playing in Knoxville early on Friday for WDVX’s Blue Plate Special. Then we’ll be at the Wings Over Big South Fork air show in Oneida, TN later that night, and then Saturday brings us to my hometown – Byrdstown, TN – for the Sierra Hull Festival that they put on every year. It’ll be great to go home and see all my friends and family!! It’s been a busy summer, so I’m looking forward to that.”

Del Rey and Will Hoge will also appear on today’s Blue Plate Special.

When Sierra Hull was performing at the Lowell Folk Festival just north of Boston, Massachusetts, she did an interview with Kathleen Pierce of the Lowell Sun.

The article, which ran on July 31, discussed a number of topics, including her upcoming move to the area to attend college.

Between filling the air in sets at Boarding House Park and JFK Plaza with the prettiest shade of bluegrass, the petite up-and-comer let out a pretty, little secret.

“I’m going to Berklee on a full scholarship.”

Not even John Mayer or Aimee Mann could drop this bomb a month after graduating from high school. It seems the mandolin player from Byrdstown, Tenn., is living up to her Alison Krauss comparison, maybe even on her way to surpassing Bill Monroe’s protege, who took Hull on stage at the Grand Ole Opry six years ago.

“Of course I’m flattered by the compliment, but I am my own person,” she says moments before taking the stage at Boarding House Park Friday night.

Pierce also speaks with Clay Hess, who plays guitar with Hull’s band, and Christian Ward who is on fiddle. You can read the full piece online.

The article also includes an online video with both bits of the interview, and clips of Sierra and Highway 111 on stage at Lowell, also created by Kathleen Pierce.

We had a piece up on Monday about Sarah Jarosz and her decision to attend college at Boston’s New England Conservatory. But she’s not the only talented, young singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from the bluegrass world headed for Boston in the fall.

Sierra Hull, the 18 year old fret wizard from central Tennessee will also soon be packing her grip for the long, long trip to New England, where she will study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Like most high school seniors, Sierra spent a lot of time this past year pondering college, but unlike most of her contemporaries, she was also considering the trade-offs between furthering her education and pursuing an already burgeoning career as a performer and recording artist. Her debut CD, Secrets, was released in 2008, she fronts her own band (Highway 111), and maintains a very active touring schedule all over the US and Canada.

Recently, Sierra shared some of the thoughts that passed through her mind during the decision-making process.

“Berklee was really the only school that made me think very much about actually going on to study music at a college level. Prior to thinking about Berklee, I really didn’t imagine going to college due to the fact that I really want to tour a lot and do what I love – be on the road, make records, play with a band, etc.

They first contacted me when I was a sophomore in high school and at that point I’d never even heard of Berklee. They wanted to let me know that if I was considering studying music after high school that they’d love to have me come to school there. I didn’t think all that much about it then, until people starting saying… ‘Berklee! Wow… that’s a great school!’ So when my senior year of high school rolled around, I really started thinking that it was probably a good idea to at least have options, and that I should pursue the idea a little more and see what all Berklee had to offer. Alison Krauss really encouraged me to at least go check it out.

So… in February, I spent 3 days in Boston touring the college, meeting instructors and students, and discussing my situation. I was amazed to see how supportive Berklee really was of musicians that already have careers going and my current situation. After all – isn’t that the whole idea? For a music school to uplift and support musicians who choose music as a career? I guess it just took a while for me to realize just how supportive they were going to be. I immediately realized upon my visit in February that I was going to be very supported whether I decided to come to school at Berklee, or whether I decided to just go ahead and play music full time.

That really helped the pressure level along the way, and made me respect the staff and faculty very much.” (more…)