If you were lucky enough to be at the Holly Theatre last weekend, you got to hear all three parts of The Movements, a bluegrass concerto, and the latest release by mandolin wizard Sierra Hull.
Hull began playing mandolin at age 8, and was making music as a teenager. She's gone on to release six full length albums and receive numerous Grammy nominations. The International Bluegrass Music Awards named Hull Mandolin player of the year six times. She's collaborated with other virtuosos like Bela Fleck, Chris Thile, Molly Tuttle, Billy Strings, and Tommy Emmanuel among others.
The Movements is a three-part concerto composed for ensemble, with plenty of room for improvisation. The piece was commissioned by the FreshGrass Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing the traditions and innovative future of roots music and Americana. Hull joins other artists that include Aoife O'Donovan, Jerry Douglas, Rhiannon Giddens, and Bill Frisell to compose new FreshGrass commissioned works designed to give artists the freedom to create outside the pressures of the commercial music space.
The Movements was recorded a few years ago with her band - Avery Merritt on fiddle, Erik Coveney on bass, Mark Raudabaugh on drums, and Shaun Richardson on guitar. Movement 3, the most lively, has been part of Hull's roadshow for a few years, with occasional performances of the other movements along the way. The full concerto has recently become part of their live shows.
Sierra Hull plays what many refer to as "progressive bluegrass." The sub-genre includes artists like Chris Thile and his numerous collaborations, the many projects of Bela Fleck, Billy Strings, and Infamous Stringdusters among others. It differs from the classic bluegrass style made popular by legendary artists like Bill Monroe, and Flatt and Scruggs by using bluegrass as a launch pad to explore acoustic music in a bigger way.
With The Movements, Hull makes a big statement, further establishing herself as a major player in contemporary bluegrass.
Listen to Open Air, weekdays 9am-3pm. We'll be spinning one movement per day beginning Wednesday, and feature The Movements it in its entirety Sunday night on The Folk Show.
