The last time Sierra Ferrell played World Café Live she played to a sparse, still-filtering-in crowd as support for Parker Millsap in July of 2019. However, last year the West Virginia-bred, Nashville-based Americana singer/songwriter played a rousing afternoon set at WXPN’s XPoNential Music Festival, in addition to a virtual Free At Noon, and show at Ardmore Music Hall (w/ Bella White) on her first-ever headlining tour. Last year also saw the release of Sierra Ferrell’s debut LP, the aptly named Long Time Coming, which dropped in August, courtesy of Rounder Records.
Of Long Time Coming, Ferrell has said, “I want my music to be like my mind is-all over the place… I listen to everything from bluegrass to techno to goth metal, and it all inspires me in different ways that I try to incorporate into my songs and make people really feel something.” The album was co-produced by 10-time Grammy Award-winner Gary Paczosa, known for his work with Alison Krauss and Dolly Parton, and Australian musician Stu Hibberd, and features appearances from a plethora of heavy-hitters from the genre, such as Billy Strings, Sarah Jarosz, and Jerry Douglas, among others.
Long Time Coming received profound praise from a number of Americana and Americana-heavy publications, like No Depression (“…it’s clear that no one, and I mean no one, is doing what Ferrell is doing, be it in her songwriting, arrangements, or delivery.”) and American Songwriter (“Ferrell’s new album is woozy and wonky, jubilant and joyous, curious and cautious in how much it will give, while still wanting you to know, know, know what its central character wants always to tell.”) But it also received a fairly glowing review from music’s mecca of the hip, Pitchfork, who said, “Ferrell’s singing has clear antecedents—Loretta Lynn’s holler-raised twang, Dolly Parton’s effortless melodiousness, Bessie Smith’s confident rasp—but her nods to those legends always feel heartfelt, never academic. Already, she’s learned to sound only like herself.”
Earlier this year Ferrell released a cover of “Hey Me, Hey Mama” by Ray LaMontagne, which might just rival the original. She’ll be supporting LaMontagne on tour later this year, which includes a June 1st stop at The Met Philadelphia. However, Sierra Ferrell is currently in the middle of another round of headlining dates behind Long Time Coming, which kicked off February 17th in Memphis and wraps up May 4th in Chicago. The tour also includes her very first headlining show at The Music Hall at World Café Live on Thursday, April 7th. And many of the dates have been selling out, so I would highly recommend clicking the link below and getting your tickets ASAP.
*Get your tickets here.
