Sierra Hull self-published her first album, Angel Mountain, at age 10, was mentored by Alison Krauss at 11, and signed to Rounder Records at 13. This episode traces how a kid from Byrdstown, Tennessee, learned the mandolin in bluegrass jam sessions, accepted a presidential scholarship to Berklee College of Music, and mastered traditional bluegrass before taking it apart and rebuilding it in her own image.

We follow her discography from Secrets (2008) and Daybreak (2011) to the stripped-down, Bela Fleck-produced Weighted Mind (2016), which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album, and on to 25 Trips, A Tip Toe High Wire (2025) and the concerto-style EP The Movements (2026). Along the way: a White House performance, the Bluegrass Star Award, six IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year wins, and the question of what a prodigy does after beating ...