Listen Now: “Fox Hunt” by Sierra Ferrell

Today, as 2023 approaches its end, Sierra Ferrell reminds listeners that she is still just getting started.

Following a streak of collaborations with Zach Bryan, Diplo, Margo Price and more in recent months, as well as singular covers of songs by Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, the inimitable and untamable star of Nashville has shared her first new, original song of the year.

Out now on Rounder Records, “Fox Hunt” offers an early glimpse into Ferrell’s forthcoming, unannounced followup to her debut album, 2021’s Long Time Coming. Through her enchanted and enthralling vocal performance, scorching string arrangement, spectral chants and hard-stomping rhythm, the single blazes a deeper trail into the wild and fantastical world of her creation. As the music conjures mystical visions of lush forests, flowing rivers and fertile land, the accompanying “Fox Hunt” video combines illustrations reminiscent of familiar children’s books with a far-out, free-spirited style that can only be described as Sierra Ferrell. “Ferrell’s singing has clear antecedents—Loretta Lynn’s holler-raised twang, Dolly Parton’s effortless melodiousness, Bessie Smith’s confident rasp,” praises Pitchfork. “But her nods to those legends always feel heartfelt, never academic. Already, she’s learned to sound only like herself.”

Listen to “Fox Hunt,” and watch the music video animated by Rob Fidel: 

Since the release of Long Time Coming, Sierra Ferrell won Emerging Artist of The Year at the 2022 Americana Honors & Awards, and was nominated for Artist of The Year last month. She sold out every one of her headline shows in 2023, in addition to playing festivals such as Bonnaroo, Newport Folk and Stagecoach, and has earned 50 million album streams on Spotify alone. While she has recently collaborated with Zach Bryan, Diplo and Margo Price, contributed to new records from The Black Keys, Ray LaMontagne and Shakey Graves, shared stages with Lana Del Rey, The Avett Brothers and Nathaniel Rateliff, and been covered by Kelly Clarkson, the themes of survival and train car imagery in the “Fox Hunt” video and lyrics harken back to her formative, nomadic roots.

“Ferrell built her act not from the comfort of a bedroom but in freight-train boxcars, and by playing on the streets as a romantic musical vagabond,” says The New Yorker. From growing up in small-town West Virginia to singing Shania Twain covers at seven years old in a dead-end bar, to joining a traveling pack of homeless musicians and busking on the streets of New Orleans and Seattle, Sierra Ferrell brings her signature sense of eclecticism to every stage, truckstop or alleyway she plays, driven by the constant desire to expand her audience’s capacity for wonder. 

Sierra Ferrell’s upcoming performances include a run of arenas, baseball stadiums and football fields with Zach Bryan, with more to be announced soon. Find dates, tickets and additional information at sierraferrellmusic.com/tour.