Pictured (L-R): Craig Shelburne, Troy Stephenson, Justin Moses, Sierra Hull, Ethan Jodziewicz, Sherod Robertson, Jessica Nicholson
Sierra Hull grew up as a bluegrass prodigy from rural Tennessee, and now she’s a Nashville resident with a record deal, a high-profile producer, and a brand new album that’s spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s bluegrass albums chart.
Produced by Grammy-winning banjo player Béla Fleck, Weighted Mind is Hull’s first release in five years. Just prior to issuing the project on Nashville-based Rounder Records on January 29, she threw a local record release party at City Winery. After several weeks on tour this winter, she dropped by MusicRow on a rare day off to perform three tracks from the album.
“The whole album is centered around the idea of mandolin and voice, so that’s what Béla and I first started working on,” she said. “We took some of these songs that I had written and just started with mandolin and voice. We were trying to make it as much about the lyric and the song as possible, and from there, sprinkling in a little bit of harmony, bass, and banjo.”
Fleck plays banjo on the record, but in performance, Hull often performs with banjo player-singer Justin Moses. Ethan Jodziewicz contributes bass on tour and on the record. Alison Krauss, Rhiannon Giddens, and Abigail Washburn all lend to their vocals to the album, which was recorded at Sanctuary Studios in Nashville.
Although she possesses a sweet soprano herself, Hull’s original material leans toward the sadder side. She learned the only cover song on the album, “Queen of Hearts,” from an old Joan Baez record, then modernized it with one of her own instrumental compositions, “Royal Tea.”
Asked if she’s always been attracted to tragic songs, Hull laughed and replied, “I have in a way. I grew up playing bluegrass music [where] all the melodies are really happy but the lyrics are tragic anyway. So, I think I just stuck with the tragic lyrics, but made my music tragic too.”
After a laugh, she added, “This whole project is filled with songs that I wrote and a lot of them are very personal. It feels like my most vulnerable album so far, from a lyrical standpoint. But I tend to write more when I’m in that place, than when I do when I’m my generally happy self.”
A native of Byrdstown, Tennessee, Hull moved to Nashville five or six years ago, after completing a two-year program at Berklee School of Music in Boston. Although she’s an accomplished mandolin player, another instrument first attracted her attention.
Pictured (L-R): Justin Moses, Sierra Hull, Ethan Jodziewicz
“You know, I originally wanted to play fiddle,” she recalled. “When I was 8 years old, I decided I wanted to get an instrument. My dad was learning to play a mandolin a little bit at that time so I definitely was around the mandolin. I had a great uncle on my mom’s side of the family and he lived just up the road, and he played mandolin and fiddle too. But for whatever reason, I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll play the fiddle.’ I got one for Christmas and it was full-size. It was just too big for how old I was at that point. “
Since she could barely hold the instrument, let alone play it, she said her father offered to show her some tunes on the mandolin, to cheer her up. Rather than sulking, she immediately clicked with the mandolin and she’s never looked back.
“I think that was to save my disappointment but for whatever reason I just fell in love with the mandolin and kept at it,” she said. “I started going to local festivals, and from there just fell in love with it, and the community of all of the musicians I was meeting, and didn’t want to do anything else.”
Pictured (L-R): Justin Moses, Sierra Hull, Ethan Jodziewicz
