Sierra Hull won her fourth award for Mandolin Player Of The Year at the IBMA conference in fall of 2022, a feat that would not have been within her grasp in the not-too-distant past. Now, women like Sierra Hull, Natalya Weinstein of Zoe & Cloyd and the group Della Mae can and do receive the recognition that women before them, like Becky Buller and Claire Lynch, worked so hard to put within their reach. We welcome all these artists to this episode where we tackle the question of what it takes to be a leading lady in bluegrass. Their answers reveal an array of challenges but also a number of positives about being a woman in a scene that has come a long way just in the past decade.

This episode has two parts: first, we hear from Sierra Hull about everything from coming up with a mentor like Alison Krauss to becoming a mentor herself, to how she is never satisfied as a musician and how that has made her push her boundaries, and what she has in store for a very busy year. Then, we hear from our other guests about the question of overcoming hurdles and finding their place in the spotlight.

Sierra Hull at the convention center in Raleigh NC during the IBMAs in October 2022

Songs heard in this episode:

“The Last Minute” by Sierra Hull, from 25 Trips

“Poison” by Sierra Hull, from 25 Trips, excerpt

“Bulgar Sigansky” by Zoe & Cloyd, from Songs Of Our Grandfathers, excerpt

“Didn’t Die” by Becky Buller, from ‘Tween Earth and Sky, excerpt

“The Day That Lester Died” by Claire Lynch, from Crowd Favorites, excerpt

“Peg Monster” by Della Mae, from Headlight

Thanks for listening to this episode, and I hope you might tell someone you know about the series. You can follow us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, you name it. And once you do that, it really helps when you give it a good rating and a review. Top ratings and reviews help greatly to make Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Artist stereotypes do not apply

How many times have parents cringed when their children fell in love with a musician? Let's be honest, the world has looked askance at artists of all stripes (with notable exceptions) for most of our history. Musicians tend to be thought of as people who may be great at their art but who are nonetheless pretty bad at life skills like paying bills, getting to work on time, and sticking with the missus.

Aaron turns all those stereotypes on their head; he is not only a fantastic songwriter and musician, but he also runs his own construction business and is a devoted family man living a stone's throw from where he grew up in the western NC mountains. He is as meticulous and intense about his guitar and ballads as he is about his green built homes and raising his two girls.

As you'll see in our pilot episode, Aaron does both life and art exceptionally well. The folks around him are a big part of that.