McIntyre Hall Presents: Sierra Hull

Boundaries—age, genre or otherwise—don’t hamper an artist like Sierra. As a player, a singer and a songwriter, she also has remarkable range, the potential to win over ears unfamiliar with Bill Monroe and give performances of broad cultural importance, as she’s done at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the National Prayer Breakfast. In May 2011, Sierra completed a two-year degree at Berkley College of Music's prestigious Presidential Scholarship. Matt Glaser—head of Berklee’s American Roots Music Program—put it this way: “She has no limitations as a musician.”

By the young age of 11, she was invited by Alison Krauss to perform on the Opry stage; by 12, Rounder was expressing interest, and by age 15 Sierra recorded her first ever album. If ever the “child prodigy” label did Sierra justice, its usefulness has completely fallen away and a distinctive new identity emerged. What you hear on Daybreak is one of bluegrass’s few full-fledged virtuosic instrumentalist/singer/songwriters, and one who’s gracefully grown into her gifts. While her mandolin playing has always possessed clarity and fleet-fingered precision, here she attacks her solos with newfound spontaneity and depth of feeling; she calls it “playing with a point to prove.” Her singing—always straight and true—has more heartfelt power behind it, to results Bales describes, simply, as “doing the songs justice.” One of the most respected artists in the new school of bluegrass, Hull has received 5 IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) nominations in the past 3 years.