Bluegrass musician and Pickett County native Sierra Hull will be honored by Governor Bill Lee as a Distinguished Artist.
Hull said the award was a surprise, but she feels grateful to be recognized for her contributions to the Tennessee music scene. Hull said it was a honor to be recognized since she is a born and raised Tennessean. Hull said her roots helped introduce her to bluegrass music.
“Music was sort of a way of life for a lot of people around, you know, when I was growing up,” Hull said. “From my granny to my great aunt and uncle, to my mom and dad, you know, and music in church, it was kind of just going around. Never because I had people in my family trying to be performers, but you know, just a way to pass the time and just a love of music.”
Hull said she started playing the mandolin when she was eight years old, which was natural after years of exposure to bluegrass instruments from her father and great uncle. Hull said she began playing with family members at local bluegrass jams, and the doors began to open up from there.
Hull said she knew early on that she wanted to be a professional musician. She said it was clear to her from watching her favorite musicians on television and staring at their album covers.
“I not only fell in love with the music, but I fell in love with the community,” Hull said. “And I started seeing or being introduced to all these heroes of mine through their recorded music, so we were discovering all these great artists each week. We’d get a new CD every week it felt like, and I was slowly learning who all these people who would become my heroes were.”
Hull said Tony Rice, Allison Krauss, and Ricky Skaggs are some of her early inspirations. She said lots of early bluegrass bands got her excited about the prospect of performing.
Hull, now a touring musician, said it is important for her to keep up with her roots in the Upper Cumberland. She said it is easy for her because she has lots of family in the area. Hull said her parents still live in the house she grew up in, and her great aunt is still in Byrdstown too. Hull said she also has family in neighboring Fentress County.
“I’ve got so many connections to that area,” Hull said. “People say there’s no place like home, and there really isn’t. It’s such a beautiful part of the world to have grown up in.”
Hull’s new record, “Tip Toe and High Wire,” draws inspiration from the people in her life and her hometown. Hull said one song, “Spitfire,” is about her grandmother.
Hull joins bluegrass artist Paul Brewster of Ricky Skaggs’ Kentucky Thunder, guitarist Steve Cropper, and ceramic artist Lewis Snyder as this year’s Distinguished Artist Award winners.