At 18, still a high school senior, Sarah Jarosz signed with Sugar Hill Records, released her debut Song Up in Her Head and earned her first Grammy nomination. Then, instead of hitting the road, she enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music. This deep dive examines how choosing a dorm room over a tour bus turned her into a pillar of modern Americana.

We trace her roots in Wimberley, Texas, with two teachers for parents, her early mastery of mandolin, guitar, clawhammer banjo and octave mandolin, and the pressure of recording alongside Chris Thile, Jerry Douglas and Stuart Duncan as a teenager. We also unpack her degree in contemporary improvisation, her acoustic reworking of Radiohead's The Tourist with Punch Brothers, the trio I'm With Her, and a Grammy-winning run from Undercurrent to Wild and Clear and Blue.

• Why the pro ...