The Best Sierra Ferrell Songs List

West Virginia Waltz

Sounding at once nostalgic and modern, Ferrell pays homage to her Appalachian roots with a sepia-toned story about an old flame. While her star ascends and her musical palette has no bounds, the waltz grounds her feet firmly in the heart of the country on this standout from Long Time Coming.

The Sea

One of Ferrell’s numerous strengths is her eclecticism. Rather than adhering to one genre, she moves from bluegrass, to roots country, to jazz without blinking. Here, a toy piano, fiddle, steel guitar and bowed saw comprise a sonic bed for Ferrell’s sighing tale of a lover who's left.

Read Holler's Premiere for 'The Sea' here.

Fox Hunt

Following her 2021 debut, Long Time Coming - which turned the West Virginia-born, Nashville based artist from a train-hopping, hitchhiking vagabond to a viral sensation and award winning Americana star - her follow up, Trail of Flowers, took us even deeper into her wild imagination and wondrous world building.

The first taste of the album came with 'Fox Hunt,' as she whipped up visions of lush enchanted forests, endless flowing rivers and fertile land to a frenzied fiddling hoedown with a song about the thrill of the chase, the camaraderie of adventure, and the beauty of the natural world.

The accompanying video combined children's book illustrations with her inimitable eccentrically free-spirited styling.

Real Down Lonesome

Ferrell calls Amy Winehouse to mind with her full-throttle, raw-edged delivery on this duet with Early James (from the Dan Auerbach-produced Strange Time to Be Alive).

Ferrell and James are well-matched sparring partners, eliciting more than a few sparks as they tango as two ill-fated lovers with their equally idiosyncratic and impossible-to-categorize voices.

The Garden

Taken from the soundtrack to The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, 'The Garden' was among the songs on the album that helped it top the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart.

With its moony melancholic lyrics, the song was a wistfully, metaphorical love song that likened relationships to the changing of the seasons and the cyclical way nature dies and is hopefully reborn.

Whispering Waltz

In Ferrell’s world, the truth is painful, but more importantly, liberating; as is the case on the down-tempo, minor-key waltz that closes out Long Time Coming.

Here, heartbreak is tinged with forgiveness: after discovering that a lover is unfaithful, she lets the perpetrator off the hook, singing “Now you don't have to whisper, I know”.

Years

Ferrell’s cover of the John Anderson song from 2022’s all-star tribute to the Nashville stalwart is one of the project’s highlights.

Sounding like the old soul she is, Ferrell wraps her knowing, nimble vocal around the lyric, drawing out each note as she sings ‘‘Don’t look back in sorrow / just hope you see tomorrow”.

Holy Roller (with Zach Bryan)

Taken from Zach Bryan's 2023 self titled album, 'Holy Roller' is just one of the many occasions that Sierra Ferrell has lent her inimitable vocals to another artist's work. She has collaborated with Margo Price, Diplo, The Mavericks and Old Crow Medicine Show, and more recently with Ray LaMontagne, Post Malone and Benjamin Tod.

The duet between Ferrell and Zach Bryan was a powerful and moving exploration love, loss, and redemption as the voices of two of the biggest singer-songwriters currently working in roots music blended seamlessly together to create a truly unforgettable moment in Americana history.

I could Drive You Crazy

Taken from Trail of Flowers, this old timey barroom sing-a-long found Sierra Ferrell at her most joyful and even included real life party sound effects.

“We decided to put in some audio of my New Year’s Eve crowd at the end, so you can hear them howling on there," Ferrell says. "I always love getting everyone to howl at my shows - it’s a good, free feeling”.

Discussing the creation of ‘I Could Drive You Crazy’, Sierra Ferrell explained, “I was hanging out with some friends and we had an idea for a song where you’re telling someone, ‘I’m not good at this and I’m not good at that, but one thing I can do is drive you crazy’”.

Silver Dollar - Alternative Version

Spare, spirited and direct, Ferrell’s unadorned performance here is a perfect fit for a song about living for love rather than money.

Ferrell’s live shows are known for being incandescent; the slightly rearranged, stripped-down acoustic version of one of Long Time Coming’s standouts captures that spirit.

Hey Me, Hey Mama

While still early in her career, Ferrell has already demonstrated that she’s as fine an interpreter of songs as she is a songwriter.

As is the case with her performance of this Ray LaMontagne original. It's an excellent showcase of Ferrell’s ability to embody a range of emotions, with nothing more than an acoustic guitar and her voice.

She'd go on to collaborate with Ray LaMontagne on his own 'I Was Born To Love You' in 2022.

Dollar Bill Bar

Taken from her 2024 album Trail of Flowers, 'Dollar Bill Bar' was a wistful tale of longing, regret and youthful recklessness, featuring backing vocals from Nikki Lane and Kristen Rogers.

Putting her own twist on the honky tonk standard, 'Dollar Bill Bar' sounded like Fleetwood Mac putting in a Friday night shift at Robert's Western World.

Jeremiah

Taken from Long Time Coming, this bluegrass gem was about a woman realizing she’s better off alone than with someone who is unfaithful, the tune demonstrates Ferrell’s unique brand of uncontrived and authentic musicianship.

An assured performance here on GemsonVHS — think Annie Oakley with a guitar instead of a gun — helped catapult her into widespread prominence.

American Dreaming

Taken from Trail of Flowers, Sierra Ferrell's performance of 'American Dreaming' stole the show at the 2024 Americana Honors & Awards as she walked off with the awards for Album of the Year and Artist of the Year.

A resilient rallying cry for self-care, the song has taken on a life of its own since the album's release and become a timely state of the nation address and a show-stopping centerpiece in her live set.

In Dreams

Ferrell is both vagabond and sage on this wistful meditation on impermanence and death, which went viral once it hit YouTube and TikTok.

“That river will flow on / Even after we’re all long gone,” she sings, skillfully deploying irresistible rounds of “Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh’s” that are both otherworldly and infectious.