SIERRA HULL (with Ethan Jodziewicz)
The Wardrobe Theatre
Bristol, UK
276th June 2017

Lineage:
Church Audio CA-14 cardioids > CA-9200 > Edirol R-09HR (@24'96) >
Cool Edit Pro 2 > CDWave > TLH
Recorded front row, dead centre 10' from Sierra

Recording, transfer & artwork by boombox

Two sets - 150 mins in total

Set 1:
1. Introduction
2. Aung San Suu Kyi (Wayne Shorter/Herbie Hancock) >
3. The In-Between
4. Weighted Mind
5. Choices and Changes
6. Invention No.6 in E Major (Bach)
7. E-Tune
8. Banter
9. Sunday >
10. Wings Of The Dawn
11. Banter
12. You Wanna Give Me A Lift? (Loretta Lynn)
13. Banter
14. Queen Of Hearts / Royal Tea
15. Banter
16. Lullaby
17. Ethan's Bass Tune
18. Old Dangerfield (Bill Monroe)

Set 2:
1. Stranded >
2. Compass
3. Banter
4. People Get Ready (Curtis Mayfield)
5. Birthday
6. Banter
7. Best Buy
8. Charlotte's Forest
9. I'll Be Fine
10. Banter
11. Black River
12. First Encore Break & Banter
13. 1999 (Prince)
14. Second Encore Break & Banter
15. St Anne's Reel

boombox's notes july 2017:

Sierra's first proper UK tour (at last!) and playing a tiny 100-seater venue no less - buying a ticket was a no-brainer. For those who don't know her, a child prodigy on mandolin, Sierra put out her first self-released instrumental album at 10 years of age and first vocal album barely six years later. A bluegrasser through and through, she has played with everyone from Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski (at the White House no less!) to The Travelin' McCourys and Railroad Earth. In between, she's managed to study at Berkelee, has received the Bluegrass Star Award and most recently even managed to get married. Bela Fleck produced her third major label album, 'Weighted Mind', which came out in 2016, recorded with Ethan Jodziewicz on double bass, a man who himself has played with Darol Anger amongst others. It was from this latest album that most of the night's material came, alongside some covers, bluegrass standards and even two as yet unrecorded tunes of her own. Both she and Ethan possess awesome talent on their respective instruments, which was well-appreciated by the packed house, and crucially they seemed to really enjoy themselves too.

In best bluegrass tradition, neither of her mandolins were plugged in, preferring a condenser mic to facilitate a little sonic reinforcement. Not that it would have made much difference to the recording as I was under and behind the PA. So, what you get is pretty much the acoustic sound, with a little from the floor monitors; it wasn't loud, but Sierra's mandolins are right up in front and she may be tiny, but what a voice! The enthusiastic whooping of the audience and the Sammy The Seal clapping of a near neighbour (who mysteriously fortunately disappeared for the second set!) meant a huge disparity in music and applause levels. Generally, all applause was reduced by 10db, before I could bring up the levels with just a tiny bit of compression. My 24bit original files are available for anyone who fancies a go at remastering.

As always, go out and support live music and buy the merch. And if you are UK-based like me, badger your local promoters to get Sierra back soon!

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