West Virginian-bred, Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Sierra Ferrell is poised for a breakout year. Her awaited album via Rounder is aptly titled Long Time Coming in which she wrote or co-wrote all eleven tracks that cross and defy genres. According to Ferrell she wants her music to be like her mind – ‘all over the place.’ Said in another self-described way – ‘my country heart but a jazz mind.’
With a primarily bluegrass producer at the helm, Grammy winner Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Sarah Jarosz), the music takes its roots there but broadens to tango rhythms, jazz phrasing, and classic country in her intoxicating, unique mix. This high-profile effort draws participation from a group of luminary guests including Billy Strings, Sarah Jarosz, Dennis Crouch, Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Chris Scruggs, Justin Moses, and Rory Hoffman. These are only some of the musicians aboard as horn players grace some tracks and her mainstays such as longtime collaborator fiddler Nate Leath and multi-instrumentalist Stu Hibberd appear on most. Ferrell is mostly just a lead vocalist here, choosing to play electric guitar on one track and bringing out a saw and toy piano in her opener, “The Sea.”
“The Sea,” a single with accompanying video, is perhaps the epitome of Ferrell’s whimsical, left-of-center approach. She introduces the tune with the weird sound of the musical saw and the music, primarily via Leath’s fiddle, transports the listener to a mysterious place of yesteryear with Ferrell’s quavering otherworldly vocal unlike any. Apparently, Ferrell was able to secure a contract with Rounder based on her entrancing live shows. There was some question as to how this would translate to the recording studio but this track alone provides one answer. Imbued by Moses’ dobro and the background vocals of Sarah Jarosz, the bluegrass-based single “Jeremiah,” is about love lost with a glimmer of hope toward its end.
“Bells Of Every Chapel,” co-written with Oliver Bates Craven (formerly of The Stray Birds) carries an old timey/classic buoyant country feel with scintillating solos from Hoffman on mandolin, along with Chris Scruggs on steel guitar and Billy Strings on acoustic guitar. Ferrell gets even more ‘old timey’ with the traditional jazz/country mashup “At the End of the Rainbow” infused with turns from Nashville’s Roy Agee on trombone, Evan Cobb on clarinet, and Hoffman this time on acoustic guitar. “West Virginia Waltz,” co-written with Leath is a showcase for the co-writer on mandolin and fiddle and guest Jerry Douglas on dobro and lap steel. “Silver Dollar” is a bluegrass workout, punctuated by Cory Walker’s stellar banjo.
“Far Away Across the Sea” is the first of two tango-inspired tunes, sparked by Nadje Noordhuis’ trumpet and Hoffman’s nylon sting guitar. The single, “Why’d Ya Do It” returns to some of the weird, beguiling sounds of her opener and incorporates calypso and tango music as Hoffman plays both accordion and archtop guitar, ably supported by the crew of Crouch, Hibberd (drums, electric guitar), Leath (fiddle) and Scruggs (console steel guitar). This is the one tune where Ferrell assists on electric guitar.
“Give It Time” returns Scruggs and Walker in a bluegrass mode while the fourth single, “In Dreams” follows, one that hit four and a half million views on YouTube, having been recorded in 2018. Joining the names that have populated the album, are Jedd Hughes playing three different guitars along with Brett Resnick on steel guitar. One of the stronger elements of the tune are the background vocals laid down by Jarosz and O’Brien. If there is a ‘filler” tune it’s “Made Like That,” gentle bluegrass. Naturally, Ferrell redeems with the closer, another co-written with Oliver Bates Craven, the lovely “Whispering Waltz,” featuring a top-shelf cast of Billy Contreras (fiddle) with Douglas (Weissenborn), Hughes (baritone guitar), Leath (mandolin), and Scruggs (acoustic guitar).
Ferrell’s unique approach and broad sonic palette will have this album garnering plenty of attention. Don’t be surprised to see it land on several year’s end best lists.
