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Sierra Hull: Tiny Desk Concert

On a cold and snowy night this past winter, Sierra Hull and her band brought bluegrass to Washington, D.C. Despite the frigid temperatures outside, barefoot fans danced as if at a summer music festival. Ever since she first picked up the instrument at a young age, the mandolin virtuoso has captivated audiences; it's no surprise that she still owns the stage two decades later.

At the Tiny Desk months later, her set features four songs from A Tip Toe High Wire, her latest album. "Boom" and "Lord, That's a Long Way" showcase her incredibly fast, fingerpicking abilities. Before performing the third song, Hull tells the audience, "My granny lived such a crazy life in her 80 years that we got to have her. I didn't get to play this song for her before she passed, but I did tell her I was writing a song for her called 'Spitfire.' " Hull's granny experienced the Great Depression in rural Tennessee, was widowed twice and buried a son — she lived a life of hardship, but remained resilient and rebellious in the face of it all.

Hull digs deep in her songwriting, admitting that sometimes she doesn't know what a song's about until it's done. That's the undercurrent of "Muddy Water," which encourages its listener to show yourself as you truly are; Hull now knows that she needs to hear that wisdom as much as us.

SET LIST

  • "Boom"
  • "Lord, That's a Long Way"
  • "Spitfire"
  • "Muddy Water"

MUSICIANS

  • Sierra Hull: vocals, mandolin, guitar 
  • Shaun Richardson: guitar, background vocals
  • Avery Merritt: fiddle, guitar, background vocals
  • Erik Coveney: bass
  • Mark Raudabaugh: drums

TINY DESK TEAM

  • Producer: Kara Frame
  • Director: Joshua Bryant
  • Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
  • Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
  • Video Editor: Maia Stern
  • Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Sofia Seidel
  • Audio Engineer: David Greenburg
  • Production Assistant: Dhanika Pineda
  • Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
  • Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
  • Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

Copyright 2025 NPR

Kara Frame
Kara Frame is a video producer for NPR and pursues personal projects in her free time. She most often produces for NPR's explainer series, "Let's Talk: Big Stories, Told Simply." She's crafted stories about housing segregation in Baltimore, MD; motherhood in a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece; and food deserts in Washington, DC. Frame enjoys a break from the news when filming the Tiny Desk Concerts.
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