Article Contributed by IVPR
Published on 2026-11-13
As the holiday season quickly approaches, families, friends, and neighbors are beginning to shift their attention to the end of the year. Thanksgiving dinners are planned, and the most excited revelers may already be putting up Christmas decorations. GRAMMY-nominated musician Sierra Hull is ringing in the end of her busiest year to date by sharing her beautiful take on “Christmas Lullaby (Hush My Babe).” Originally a poem from English minister and hymn writer Isaac Watts—Watts also penned “Joy to the World”—Hull first heard “Christmas Lullaby (Hush My Babe)” from none other than the late Doc Watson.
“I’ve always been drawn to old songs and hymns, especially at Christmas time,” says Hull of her decision to cover this song. “I first came to know and love the song after hearing Doc Watson singing a haunting version on his 1990 release, On Praying Ground. I got together with the guys in my band to arrange and record the song with a goal of honoring this timeless melody and story, while hopefully bringing something new and fresh to a song many may just be discovering for the first time. It’s one of my favorite tracks we’ve recorded to date, and I hope it can become a song folks will enjoy as part of the holiday listening for many seasons to come.”
Produced by Hull, mixed by longtime collaborator Shani Gandhi, and mastered by Daniel Bacogalupi, “Christmas Lullaby (Hush My Babe)” features Hull along with her ace touring band, Avery Merritt, Erik Coveney, Mark Raudabaugh, and Shaun Richardson, arranging and performing the traditional song with their widely loved, modern bluegrass style.
Following Richardson’s percussive 6-string bed, Hull delivers the song’s first verse with an effortless, almost haunting vocal before mandolin, fiddle, bass, and drums ease the song into its harmony-laden second verse. The award-winning musicians sneak in a few different familiar melodies in the song’s bridge before closing out the way they started. “Christmas Lullaby (Hush My Babe)” joins two previously released holiday tunes from Hull, “Country Christmas” and “The First Snowfall,” to make a compilation EP cheekily dubbed Holiday Favorites, Vol. 1.5, which is out today.
This release marks the tail end of a whirlwind year for Hull, who played 80+ headline shows in 2026, including a headlining Ryman Auditorium show where Alison Krauss was a surprise guest, and has performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Newport Folk Fest, Bourbon and Beyond, Crossroads Guitar Festival—with both Marcus King and Del McCoury Band—and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco.
At the top of 2026, Hull was nominated for four GRAMMY Awards for her album A Tip Toe High Wire before releasing The Movements, a three-part bluegrass concerto commissioned by FreshGrass, in April. As part of the First Ladies of Bluegrass, Hull and her bandmates were joined by Dolly Parton for “Bound to Ride” in tribute to the Stanley Brothers, and Hull was invited to perform alongside Brad Paisley for CMA Presents: I Will Always Love You, A Tribute to Dolly Parton, which aired on ABC in October. Most recently, Hull co-hosted the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards with Sam Bush, where she won her eighth Mandolin Player of the Year IBMA Award.
Hull will perform as part of the Allman Betts Band’s Family Revival shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and New York City’s Beacon Theatre on November 30th and December 5th, respectively, before heading down to Puerto Morelos, Mexico, for Strings & Sol on December 9–13.
Fans can stream or purchase Holiday Favorites, Vol. 1.5 at this link. For more information, please visit sierrahull.com.
