Sierra Ferrell
The West Virginia-born Nashville singer and songwriter whose song "In Dreams", first heard in a viral GemsOnVHS video, is on her 2021 album Long Time Coming.
Charleston to Nashville
Sierra Elizabeth Ferrell was born on August 3, 1988 in Charleston, West Virginia, and now lives in Nashville. She sings and plays guitar and fiddle, and cites folk, gypsy jazz, tango and calypso among her influences. She was in early bands including 600 lbs of Sin!, which began as a Grateful Dead cover band, before going solo, and spent years busking and traveling between Seattle and New Orleans. In 2017 she was filmed for the YouTube channel GemsOnVHS after meeting its team at Honky Tonk Tuesday in Nashville; the "Rosemary" video came out first, followed by her song "In Dreams". American Songwriter reports ten million views for the first video. Honky Tonk Tuesday at American Legion Post 82 also brought her to the producer Gary Paczosa.
She released Pretty Magic Spell on November 7, 2018 and Washington by the Sea on April 8, 2019 independently, and signed to Rounder in 2019. Rounder's president John Strohm praised a timelessness in her singing and writing. Long Time Coming followed on August 20, 2021, and Trail of Flowers on March 22, 2024.
Awards and collaborations
She was named emerging artist of the year at the 2022 Americana Honors, and artist of the year and album of the year in 2024. At the 67th Grammy Awards she won best Americana album, best American roots song and best Americana performance for "American Dreaming", and best American roots performance for "Lighthouse". She sang backing vocals on the Black Keys' Dropout Boogie (2022), recorded "I Was Born to Love You" with Ray LaMontagne, and appeared on Zach Bryan's "Holy Roller" (2023), which debuted at 37 on the Hot 100, and Shakey Graves's "Ready or Not".
Setlist.fm lists 402 setlists, with recent shows at Farm Aid in Virginia Beach on September 26, 2026, the Kia Forum in Inglewood and Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. MusicBrainz lists a live album, Live at Third Man Records, dated June 5, 2026.
Albums
- Long Time Coming 2021 · Rounder Records
Her Rounder debut: twelve songs with Jerry Douglas, Billy Strings and Sarah Jarosz among the guests.
Songs
- In Dreams Long Time Coming · 2021
Her own song, track ten of Long Time Coming, which first spread through a GemsOnVHS video.
Sources
- Sierra Ferrell, Wikipedia
- Trail of Flowers, Wikipedia
- Sierra Ferrell interview, PopMatters (2021-12)
- Watch a baby-faced Sierra Ferrell, American Songwriter