Mandolin virtuoso and bluegrass singer-songwriter Sierra Hull recently confirmed her second UK tour, in support of her latest album ‘Weighted Mind’ (Rounder Records), following a tour here last year with Ron Block of Union Station. The acclaimed artist has announced dates in London, Bristol, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Holmfirth, and appearances at Maverick Festival and SouthCider Fest.
Tickets are available for all dates except Holmfirth, which has sold out:
JUNE 26th – LONDON, BUSH HALL
JUNE 27th – BRISTOL, WARDROBE THEATRE
JUNE 29th – NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, THE CLUNY
JUNE 30th – HOLMFIRTH, HEPWORTH VILLAGE HALL (SOLD OUT)
JULY 1st – IPSWICH, MAVERICK FESTIVAL
JULY 2nd – BURTON BRADSTOCK, SOUTHCIDER FEST
Tickets from http://www.sierrahull.com/tour
About Sierra Hull:
Sierra Hull has been recognized as a virtuoso mandolin-player since the age of eleven when she made her Grand Ole Opry debut, signing with Rounder Records two years laterand astonishing audiences and fellow musicians alike in the years since. Now a seasoned touring musician nearing her mid-20s, Hull has delivered her most inspired, accomplished, and mature recorded work to date; no small feat. ‘Weighted Mind’ is a landmark achievement, not just in Sierra Hull’s career, but in the world of folk-pop, bluegrass, and acoustic music overall. With instrumentation comprised largely of mandolin, bass, and vocals, this is genre-transcending music at its best, with production by Béla Fleck and special harmony vocal guests Alison Krauss, Abigail Washburn, and Rhiannon Giddens adding to the luster. Hull speaks eloquently, in her challenging and sensitive originals, her heartfelt vocals, and once again breaks new ground on the mandolin. Béla Fleck special guests on banjo on two tracks and duo partner, Ethan Jodziewicz, not only anchors the record on bass, but introduces us to a major new instrumental voice.
Though she is best known for her work as a mandolin player, on these songs, Hull reveals her abundant gifts as a composer and lyricist. Themes of loss and restoration run through the album, starting with the muscular opening number, ‘Stranded’ and continue on the stirring ‘Compass’, on which she declares, “I’ve thrown away my compass, done with the chart… I’ll just step out, throw my doubt into the sea, for what’s meant to be will be.” The gentle, dissonant title track ponders existential questions, while the haunting ‘Birthday’ and ‘Fallen Man’ offer somber reflections on strained relationships and impossible choices. The album closes on an optimistic note, with the sweetly assertive ‘I’ll Be Fine’ and the uplifting, philosophical closer, ‘Black River’. Fleck, Giddens, Krauss, and Washburn all guest on this track, on which Hull reflects, “A thousand years is but a day, and maybe in a thousand years, I’ll find my way.”
Veteran music scribe and fellow musician Peter Cooper writes, “Hull’s bluegrass roots inform and inspire this soundscape, but bluegrass does not define or limit ‘Weighted Mind’. This is not bluegrass music, or chamber music, or pop music. This is original music, from a virtuoso who tells the truth and speaks from herself.”
Hull has earned the admiration of her peers and the press alike: The Bluegrass Situation dubbed her a “mandolin-playing wonder,” and Music City Roots praised her “uncommon maturity—musical and personal,” and noted “one might say she embodies the perfect balance of humility and capability.” The New York Times lauded her as a “prodigious talent,” and for eight consecutive years, the International Bluegrass Music Association has nominated her for Best Mandolin Player. Her friend and mentor Alison Krauss proclaimed, “Sierra is a remarkably talented, beautiful human being. Success could not come to a more worthy person.” Béla Fleck concurs: “Sierra and Ethan proved themselves to be powerful artists, with extremely high standards. I am so glad to have ended up being a part of this project.”