It amazes me how not more music mags have written up rising music star Sierra Ferrell, whose story is so inspiring it may make you weep—and maybe even stomp your feet.
Ferrell was raised by her mother in rural West Virginia. When her social circles were infiltrated by the opioid epidemic in her early 20s, she decided it was time to go.
“I left because I feel like I’ve always had this wild side to me. And I knew that if I stayed there, I probably wouldn’t still be alive,” she told CBS in May. “And so, I left and searched for maybe myself, maybe to find out what else there is, maybe even a reason to live.”
And just like that, Ferrell was on the road. She busked on street corners and jumped on trains to see new towns.
“It felt like I was an outlaw,” she said. “I felt more free.”
There was a hitch: she came home and was briefly back in a bad drug scene— nearly dying before seeing the light.
“Taking accountability is huge,” she said. “Miraculously, things in your life just start to happen better.”
Ferrell is a vessel for Joan Didion’s vision of character: a willingness to take responsibility for one’s own life (is the source from which self-respect springs).
Back on the road, Ferrell made her way to Nashville. She found success at several bars for budding musicians—notably not the famous Bluebird Café, where Taylor Swift was discovered.
Now she’s released a new album, Trail of Flowers — and it’s beautiful. None of my friends have talked about it, but her fans on Reddit certainly shared praise for it.
“This album bangs,” reads the top comment.
One user points to the origin story of the album’s name—which Ferrell has laid out in the past: “I’ve always got flowers around me and sometimes I’ll put them in my hair… People who know me are always saying, ‘Sierra’s here, there’s a trail of flowers.”
I first heard Ferrell on a track called “In Dreams” off her 2021 album, aptly named for her road to stardom: Long Time Coming.
(More songs with links below.)
In awe of her new album, I went back to her earlier work and listened to all the songs I’d never heard. One after the other: ingenious. Her voice is eerie, sultry, raspy, pure — I am not a religious person, but if God is a woman, I’m nearly sure she sounds like Ferrell.
What attracts me most is her lyrics. She speaks from the soul of every young woman who’s felt insecure in her relationships.
The first stanza of “In Dreams,” for instance, goes as follows: I hope I’m in your dreams/ The way you are in all of mine/ You’ve got a love so fine/ I wish that I could make you mine.
If her story wasn’t so pure I may not have paid as much attention to the lyrics. I assume they hit home for a lot of young women.
A few songs to introduce you:
“In Dreams” Live at Red Rocks Amphitheater in 2022
“Dollar Bill Bar”
A slower song that speeds up around the chorus. It was written for women who’ve been let down by men after they promised to be careful with their hearts.
American Dreaming
Top track off her latest album Trail of Flowers (2024).
I should get some rest today
Then pack my bags, be on my way
But my mind’s always workin’ on the way it could have been
NPR Tiny Desk Concert
Two words: Must watch!
In other news, it seems YouTube is no longer allowing us WordPressers to embed videos?
Ashley Elizabeth Miller 
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