Sierra Hull @ Northwest Tune-Up Bike and Music Festival – 7/11/26
Show Review & Photos by Louise Geri

Sierra Hull – photo by Louise Geri

The audience at Sierra Hull’s performance at Northwest Tune-Up Bike and Music Festival was a far step from what I’m used to in the bluegrass scene, as someone who didn’t listen to much bluegrass before moving to Nashville. The Puget Sound was the backdrop to a massive Bellingham festival fairground filled with girls in jorts, kids running around with bubble wands, food trucks lining the lot, and perhaps strangest of all, massive man-made dust hills filled with dirt bikers. Hull said what everyone was thinking during her set, “I didn’t quite know what we were walking into, as a bike festival!” She giggled, referring to the hills as “itty-bitties”.

Hull wore a bright red jumpsuit, bandana, large shades, and cowboy boots. She smirked and smiled awkwardly and endearingly as she swayed playing her mandolin. She began her set with the opening track to her latest album A Tip Toe High Wire, “Boom.” The song featured the first of many mandolin solos. She spent a lot of time throughout her set dancing alongside fiddler Avery Merritt, whom the crowd adored. She played her 2016 track “Compass,” leaning back and raising her eyebrows at one point in a mandolin solo to indicate a particularly high note. A stronger beat kicked off “Envy,” a 2020 release. The song ebbed and flowed, featuring satisfying staccato fiddle moments. A strong smell of salt entered the audience, reminding me how far I am from my landlocked sea salt-less place of bluegrass discovery. A fan filmed a 360-degree view of the audience rocking out.

Sierra Hull & guitarist Shaun Richardson – photo by Louise Geri

Hull introduced her band, featuring Shaun Richardson on acoustic guitar, Erik Coveney on “ze bass, the big bass,” Mark “Goose” Raudabaugh on drums and of course, Avery Merritt on fiddle.

Instrumental interludes were interspersed between songs, giving every member of her band time to shine. Fans would whoop as fiddle solos would pick up or when the instrument would let out a particularly brain-scratching squeal. Hull would then smirk, giggle, and tap her black and white boots, walking from Merritt to whichever band member had the next solo. Some interludes leaned more in a Celtic direction, making me feel like I’d entered the Disney movie Brave. A group of girls clapped to the beat during one song, and I was pleased to even see grown men bouncing up and down. One yelled, ‘You guys are awesome!”, a compliment Hull returned.

When the instruments entered after the stripped start of “Wings of the Dawn,” I gasped. It sounded majestic. The fiddle parts were incredible, and the bass brought the song to a strong close. Richardson did background vocals as Hull embarked on a cover of the 1930s Delmore Brothers song “Blues Stay Away From Me.” The two stood close together as they each played solos on their respective instruments. A creaking sound began, possibly coming from the fiddle, as Hull carried on with a cover of the Tears for Fears song “Mad World.” Merritt joined Richardson in background vocals. Lots of cameras came out, and a stench of weed and beer grew – ominously fitting for such a sad song. The drums brought the song to a miraculous ending, and Hull took a dramatic step backward as it closed. She yelled, “Thank you all so much!”

Sierra Hull – photo by Louise Geri

“Queen of Hearts / Royal Tea” followed. The prominent scent on the fairgrounds changed once again, this time to that of baked goods. Merritt briefly switched to acoustic guitar. At the end of the song, Hull took a sip of what fittingly looked like tea instead of going for the water bottle she’d been previously nursing. As her set neared its end, attendees were reminded of the traditional nature of bluegrass when everyone except Hull left the stage while she performed a lengthy mandolin solo. Each band member re-entered one by one, until they were standing in a line formation, feeling like the typical image of a folk band.  As she took on “Black River,” the fiddle was wistful and the other instruments turned rougher, reminding me of the feel of Keith Urban’s 2009 Defying Gravity album. The set finished with this poppier sound. Hull graciously motioned to her band members and thanked the audience before they all left the stage. Many attendees whom I doubted had been previously familiar with the bluegrass subgenre screamed and danced.

Once the stage was empty, I turned to my friend who, on the drive up from Seattle, had excitedly exclaimed that she had no idea what to expect from her first time hearing bluegrass. I gave her a “What did you think?” look, and she approvingly informed me, “I liked that!”

You can buy tickets to see Sierra Hull live here. Washington state alert: Hull returns to the Northwest with a date supporting Dave Matthews at the Gorge on September 6th.

Sierra Hull – photos by Louise Geri

Atmosphere @ Northwest Tune-Up Bike and Music Festival – photo by Louise Geri