Sierra Ferrell (born August 3, 1988) is a singer, songwriter, and musician from

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

whose music incorporates elements of

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

gypsy jazz Gypsy jazz (also known as gypsy swing, jazz manouche or hot club-style jazz) is a style of small-group jazz originating from the Romani guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt (1910–53), in conjunction with the French swing violinist Stéphane Gr ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

, and Latin styles such as

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

and calypso music. In 2021, she released her debut album ''Long Time Coming'' on

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

to critical acclaim, and accompanying videos for singles "The Sea", "In Dreams", and "Bells of Every Chapel" (featuring

Billy Strings Billy Strings (born William Lee Apostol, October 3, 1992) is an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He won a Grammy Award in 2021. Early life Billy Strings was born William Lee Apostol on October 3, 1992, in Lansing, Michigan. His fath ...

) were uploaded to her YouTube channel in the weeks and months preceding the album's release.

Early life

Sierra Ferrell hails from West Virginia. She grew up poor and lived with her single mother and one of her two siblings. This led to her spending less time with electronics and more time exploring outside. She says that despite the state's history of bluegrass music, she grew up instead on 90s music, especially grunge and punk music including

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

. She always expressed an interest in singing and playing music, however, including singing along to TV advert jingles as a child. In her early twenties, she adopted a nomadic lifestyle, busking up and down the country between cities such as

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. It was from the traveling musicians she met along the way that she discovered and fell in love with swing music, and she subsequently turned her love to bluegrass music, beginning to build acclaim and a fanbase as a result of her live performances. She signed to

in 2018 for a three-album deal on the strength of these live shows. Sierra Ferrell performs in Vancouver in 2022

Career

Early days and debut album ''Long Time Coming''

She uploaded an assortment of covers, original material and live performances on her YouTube channel before releasing her debut album. Live performances of many of the tracks which eventually appeared on her debut album can be found on YouTube - her performance of "In Dreams" on GemsOnVHS has over six million views - which helped build her a fanbase and generate hype for the album. Her first official releases for Rounder Records were the singles "Jeremiah" and "Why'd Ya Do It" in 2020 in advance of the album, and at the end of 2020 she put out a series of Christmas songs. Her debut album ''Long Time Coming'' was released in August 2021 to critical acclaim, receiving a five-star review in UK-based publication ''Country Music People'', and a rating of 7.6/10 from '' Paste'' magazine and 7.6/10 from ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

''. ''Saving Country Music'' gave it 8.5/10. Varsity UK said "''Long Time Coming'' will easily be the only album of its type emerging from the music city of Nashville this year", adding that "Sierra Ferrell shines brightest when she leans furthest into her own distinctive brand of jazz-inflected bluegrass". The album was co-produced by

Gary Paczosa Gary Paczosa is an audio engineer, producer and A&R rep for Sugar Hill Records. He has been nominated 11 times for the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. He is best known for working with Alison Krauss and Dolly Parton numer ...

, and the album featured a number of well-known bluegrass musicians, including

Sarah Jarosz Sarah Jarosz ( ; born May 23, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter from Wimberley, Texas. Her first album, ''Song Up in Her Head'', was released in 2009

and

, which increased interest in Ferrell's music.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrell, Sierra Bluegrass musicians from West Virginia Living people 1988 births