Sierra Ferrell

One Liner: Chameleonic bluegrass and Americana with an interesting voice

Wikipedia Genre: Alternative country, bluegrass, Americana
Home: West Virginia

Sunday

Thoughts:  Ooooh, she's got a track on Zach Bryan's newest record!  Now his legion of fans are going to descend on her!  Also, one of these tracks sounded really familiar, well, it's because she appears on Margo Price's song "Radio," which I hadn't known before.

Anyway, this is some fun stuff - she kind of hops genres in a way that none of the other folks on this poster have been doing.  Some bluegrass action in here, some classic country sounds, some swing, some Latin-sounding rhythms, folk, Americana.  All over.  She apparently grew up poor in West Virginia, which evokes images in my head of Katniss Everdeen's home in the Hunger Games movies.  After leaving WV, she started a nomadic lifestyle, busking for money all across the country.  During those times, she found a love for swing music and then bluegrass.  She self-released a few albums through YouTube before she signed a deal with Rounder and released the first album that is available on Spotify, 2021's Long Time Coming.  Since then, just some singles and collaborations (she sang background for the Black Keys on Dropout Boogie!), no new album yet.

Her top track is the ZB collab, of course.  "Holy Roller" with 30 million streams.

Fine.  I doubt I will ever understand the ferocity of my daughters' love for him, but that song is nice.  Ferrell definitely sounds good on it.  Her second-most streamed tune is from that one album, "In Dreams" has 22.5 million streams. (and an alternative version has 8.3 million too!)

More of a traditional country or Americana sound there, but her voice is really good.  Kind of Dolly-ish with an ephemeral warble.  She's also on a Shakey Graves song, a Ray LaMontagne song, and stuff by the likes of Old Crow Medicine Show, Early James, and others.  "Bells of Every Chapel" features Billy Strings doing Billy Strings things.  "Why'd Ya Do It" has straight up conjunto accordion like some little Austin band playing La Zona Rosa (RIP) during lunch service in the late 90's.

She's really interesting.  I'd love to get my hands on even more music, because her 2023 single and covers of "Seven Spanish Angels" and "Coat of Many Colors" are really good.