If Nashville were to find itself somehow in the middle of an ocean, Sierra Ferrell would be the lady on the shore whose voice is luring all the sailors to their deaths. I mean this in the absolute best way possible, of course.
The tomboy-turned-country-glam-charmer was called to leave her home of West Virginia in her early 20s. She traveled from state to state, busking wherever she could — from alleyways to boxcars and street corners to truck stops, Ferrell spent years singing for anyone who would listen. Along the way, she pulled inspiration from everywhere she could. The one that stands out the most, though? The water.
On her first couple of records, you’ll hear stories of tidal waves and the Snake River. Washington by the Sea is a whole project seemingly dedicated to Ferrell’s time in Seattle, on which you’ll find an earlier and faster version of “The Sea,” which opens her 2021 album and Rounder Records debut Long Time Coming. And in one of my personal favorite deep cuts, the Washington by the Sea track “My Name,” you catch the enchantress in the act of luring a poor soul away.
“I lived in Seattle for a long time,” Ferrell says when we connect via phone, musing on the way water seeps and trickles into so many of her stories. “I was always at the beach all the time. The beaches up there are a little rockier and a little colder, but it still doesn’t take away how beautiful they are. I guess it was easy for me to write about the ocean because I was looking at it every day.”
As the moon pulls the tide, water still has an effect on Ferrell’s music even when she’s not explicitly discussing it. Ferrell plays with plenty of sounds on Long Time Coming: bluegrass, traditional country, old-time, Eastern European folk and a touch of blues. But the most interesting, though not unexpected when you consider her work, is calypso — an Afro-Caribbean genre originating in Trinidad and Tobago. On tracks like “Why’d Ya Do It,” the syncopated groove immediately puts you in a trance. It’s incredible, really, her ability to transport you seemingly anywhere: “Silver Dollar” makes you feel right at home, having a drink on your porch. “At the End of the Rainbow” feels like catching one final dance during your favorite bar’s last call, and I would dare anyone to fight the urge to get to the nearest beach while listening to “Far Away Across the Sea.”
Ferrell’s gifts as a vocalist are a complement to her skill as a songwriter and storyteller. Some songs draw directly from her experiences — “Made Like That” references her hometown while giving a glimpse into her romantic life, and how she’s learning how to keep progressing and growing from her past mistakes. In other songs, she embellishes the stories of people she once knew. “Jeremiah,” a single from Long Time Coming, is the story of a married man who’s always out with no wedding ring, but whose wife chooses to stay with him in the hope that he becomes a better person with age.
Pursuing her career wasn’t Ferrell’s only mission when she left home. She also had a quest to find her “musical people,” and thus far, fate has been treating her pretty well. In the past year, she’s gone touring with Nick Shoulders, released an alt-country-tinged indie-rock track called “Ready or Not” with Shakey Graves and found a new love for touring with her band, which consists of fiddler Josie Toney, mandolinist Joshua Rilko and bassist Geoff Saunders. Ferrell has had the chance to play iconic venues like the Ryman and appear on the Grand Ole Opry. All of these opportunities have pushed her to new heights.
“Playing with folks like Shakey has really shown me what seeds to plant and water, and has really helped me grow in this direction that I’m going,” she says. “Hopefully I can keep producing material that people like.”
Ferrell notes that constantly being around musicians whose curiosity is as voracious as her own brings some additional kinds of opportunities as well. Whether someone’s playing something on one of their instruments or has their phone hooked up to the nearest speaker, the music never stops. It’s given her some ideas as to what other traditions she might work into her kaleidoscope of sounds.
“Well, you know, I wouldn’t mind being in a rock band,” she says enthusiastically. “Like a surf-rock band or something, that’d be cool.” Surf-rock, folks. Expect nothing less from “Sea-erra.” (Her pun, not mine.)
Ferrell recorded several of her releases in Nashville before making a move here a few years ago. Music City is home, but she spends much of her time on the road — especially since Long Time Coming came out in September. Finally, she’ll get to make a stop at The Basement East on April 1 and 2. The hometown crowd is clearly eager to see her; the first night sold out almost immediately, so a second night was added, and it too has sold out. This particular homecoming to the much-loved East Nashville midsize club feels like a rite of passage for Ferrell.
“I’m pretty excited. A lot of my friends that I love and adore from around town have bands that have played there. And somehow I haven’t had a show there yet? So finally playing there is cool — it’s like I’m a part of the gang now.”
