Tahoe Onstage photo by Larry Sabo
Bluegrass artist Sierra Hull has performed at the nation’s most-prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the White House. Last week, she starred at MerleFest and also appeared at the Grand Old Opry, where she first played when she was only 11-years old.
Now 25, Hull will perform Saturday, May 6, for the first time at the Crystal Bay Casino. It will be a rare seated show in the Crown Room. The mandolinist will be onstage with double bassist Ethan Jodziewicz. It is part of a short West Coast run. She plays in Mill Valley on Friday and Marysville on Sunday.
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
In 2016, she was named International Bluegrass Music Association Mandolin Player of the Year. Her album, “Weighted Mind,” was produced by banjo great Bela Fleck, who said on Hull’s website: “She plays the mandolin with a degree of refined elegance and freedom that few have achieved. And now her vocals and songwriting have matured to the level of her virtuosity.”
Alison Krauss, who has won more Grammy Awards than any other female bluegrass artist, recognized Hull’s talent early on.
“I think she’s endless,” Krauss said. “I don’t see any boundaries. Talent like hers is so rare, and I don’t think it stops. It’s round.”
Hull wrote 11 of the 12 songs “Weighted Mind,” penning some with co-writers Jon Weisberger, Zac Bevill, and Josh Shilling, and writing “Stranded,” “Wings of the Dawn,” “Birthday,” “Lullaby,” “I’ll Be Fine,” and “Black River” on her own.
“The moment you start to be yourself, there’s an honesty about that, that people connect with,” Hull said. “This album feels like the story of my early 20s, of that searching. Now, it feels like everything worked out the way it was supposed to.”
Hull performed at the High Sierra Music Festival in 2013 and 2016. She has a summer ahead filled with festival appearances in the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom, the closest to Tahoe being the Four Peaks Music Festival in Bend, Oregon on June 17.
Royal Jelly Jive, which plays the Crystal Bay Casino’s Red Room after-party for Hull, also will appear Aug 13 at Squaw Valley’s Brews, Jazz & Funk.
Interview: Sierra Hull sets the record straight.
- ‘An Evening with Sierra Hull’
When: 9 p.m. Saturday, May 6
Where: Crystal Bay Casino Crown Room, a seated show
Red Room after-party: Royal Jelly Jive
Tickets: $20
Where else: Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Vally on Friday, May 5; Yuba College, Marysville on Sunday, May 7
