Sierra Hull Loved Making Her 1st Album as an Independent Artist

Sierra Hull has been recording music since she was a teenager, but for her latest album, she got to try something totally new: being an independent artist.

“Unlike most people’s stories, mine kind of feels a little bit backwards because I started so young,” Hull, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the release of her new album, A Tip Toe High Wire. “But I signed with [Rounder Records] when I was 13, so I never really have done the independent thing.”

For most artists, the trajectory follows the opposite path: grind it out on your own, then hope that a label takes notice and writes you a big check. Instead, Hull, now on her fifth album, is finally finding out what it means to be in control of every part of the process.

“I felt like I owed it to myself to go through this journey,” she explained. “It’s scary, but it’s also really empowering. … When you’re independent, you’re able to oversee the whole thing in a different way. And yeah, it’s a little intimidating, but also empowering to know that in the long run, this is music that will forever be mine. I’ll have ownership of it for as long as I choose.”

A Tip Toe High Wire is perhaps Hull’s most eclectic album yet, blending traditional bluegrass with contemporary folk, country and Americana sounds. Finding that perfect mix is something that happened in part by working independently — she’s quick to note that “it still takes a village” to produce an album and plan a tour, but she’s now able to be more intentional about her decisions.

Her last album, 25 Trips, dropped in February 2020, so by the time she was able to tour it, she felt like she “was already in a new chapter of inspiration.” Taking a breather after completing her contract with Rounder allowed Hull to really think about what she wanted to do next. She started recording some of the songs on A Tip Toe High Wire as far back as 2021 without knowing where they might end up.

“Being in the independent space gave me the freedom to go ahead and just start recording, because why not?” she recalled. “I could just do it when I felt like it and not have to worry about, ‘Oh, can we get the funding for this? Or do we wanna have a plan for this?’ It was sort of like, ‘I’m gonna capture this moment in time with these musicians.’”

She also knew she wanted to stretch herself beyond what she’d done before. “I grew up this bluegrass girl here in Tennessee in a small town, and being a mandolin player, traditional bluegrass is my heart and soul and forever will be,” she explained. “But I’ve always had this desire to explore outside those walls too and try to push the boundaries of what the instrument does.”

So there are instrumental jams like “Lord, That’s a Long Way” — named for a phrase coined by her husband’s late grandma — as well as harder-to-classify bangers like “Let’s Go,” a duet with Aoife O’Donovan. On “Come Out of My Blues,” Hull deliberately mixed old school and new school, enlisting her bandmate to play clawhammer banjo while using a progressive split tuning on her mandolin.

“This record, I felt like I was stepping out in this new space but trying to juggle in one hand my roots — my traditional lover of a simple song — and the effectiveness of something that’s very lyric-forward and isn’t overly complex,” Hull told Us. “But also there’s other things on the record that I was trying to search for something that would feel new and interesting for me in this new space that I’m in and not be afraid to explore that.”

The album’s title, A Tip Toe High Wire, reflects that attempt to balance the old and new. The name comes from a lyric in the track “Spitfire,” which Hull wrote about her late grandmother, whose spirit permeates the whole LP.

“She was this fiery woman who wasn’t scared of anything, it didn’t seem like,” Hull said. “The songs can feel a little sad and raw, but it’s sort of about the hardships and tragedies that she went through. The undertone is the celebration of her resilience and her fearlessness to just move forward in life regardless of what’s going on. So in thinking about this record and this new chapter of moving into the independent space and doing things for the first time, that lyric kept sticking out to me, a tip toe high wire.”

Hull has been incorporating many of the album’s songs into her setlist, but she’s excited for fans to hear the rest of them this spring and summer. Following her solo dates, she’ll be hitting the road with the legendary Willie Nelson for his Outlaw Music Festival tour, which also features Bob Dylan and Billy Strings.

“The vibe is so fun, and getting to see Willie each night — I mean, he’s still sounding good as ever,” she said, recalling earlier Outlaw dates she played with Sturgill Simpson. “It’s just amazing, the trajectory of his career from being this young guy till now. He’s stayed relevant and beloved. So what an honor to get to join some dates with him.”

And this time, she’ll be doing it on her own terms: “This record is about stepping out and trying to be bold — and fearless of this new chapter.”

A Tip Toe High Wire is out Friday, March 7.