Song Review – Sierra Ferrell – “The Fox Hunt”

Like some sort of woodland creature captured in a folk story that’s more myth and legend than physical manifestation, Sierra Ferrell dazzles the mind and imagination, arrests you in a spell of charisma, and steals your attention until nothing else enters your thoughts except the marvelous noise she makes so you can attain full immersion under her spell. Push forward Sierra Ferrell’s new song “The Fox Hunt” as corroborating evidence of this captivating phenomenon.
The allure of the song is not necessarily its compositional expertise or poetic disposition, but its adventurous spirit. It’s a dance song that calls upon the carnal drive of hunger, the fever and frenetic nature of the hunt, and the thrill of the kill until you’re enveloped in a primal, almost rapacious frenzy of earthly pleasures.
The beauty and charm of “The Fox Hunt” is it’s the result of Sierra Ferrell opening up a second front in her deep and reverent exploration of roots music. The song blossomed from her pursuit of the fiddle as a fresh discipline. But far from novice, “The Fox Hunt” is evidence of her formidable talents brought to bear from an intimate knowledge of the very germination points of American country music.
What “The Fox Hunt” awakens in an audience is as elemental as breath. Resisting it is to resist your very nature.
For half a hundred years, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in beautiful Colorado has held firmly to certain traditions and decorum for how the crowd is supposed to behave for performers ahead of the main headliners, namely that nobody is allowed to stand and dance directly in front of the stage so the folks near the front can be allowed to sit and enjoy the music early on.
When Sierra Ferrell sang and played “The Fox Hunt” at Telluride in the summer of 2023, it caused such a wave of uncontrollable euphoria swelling like a wave throughout the crowd, it bust through like dam being compromised, and the crowd erupted in a manner rarely or ever seen aside from inebriated rave parties.
Sierra Ferrell is not of this world, and neither is “The Fox Hunt.” Though Ferrell comes from the side of music where live performance is the foremost concern due to her history as a street performer, producers Eddie Spear and Gary Paczosa took this original song and made sure to inject it with a live energy as best they could manage in the studio setting, while working wetness and reverberation into the signals to hopefully convey the other-worldly experience of seeing Sierra Ferrell in the flesh.
Though no formal announcement of a new album accompanies the song release, expect a new collection of Sierra Ferrell tunes to feast upon in the upcoming year. Until then “The Fox Hunt” will leave us salivating like ravenous beasts for more from the enchanting experience of Sierra Ferrell.
Two Guns Up (9.2/10)
October 19, 2023 @ 9:17 am
Was pleasantly surprised earlier this morning to have coffee and watch new music from her.
Finally was able to catch her live a few weeks ago and she did not disappoint.
October 19, 2023 @ 10:09 am
Love Sierra. Love Long Time Coming and a lot of her singles and Bandcamp material that haven’t made their way to a traditional album release. That being said, I mean no disrespect when I say I thought this one was a little stock. The hook just sounds somewhat generic to me; could easily see Mumford & Sons or the Lumineers doing something similar. Guess I maybe just prefer her traditional jazz/country songs more compared to the pop folk style of this tune.
October 19, 2023 @ 10:16 am
“it caused such a wave of uncontrollable euphoria swelling like a wave throughout the crowd, it bust through like dam being compromised, and the crowd erupted in a manner rarely or ever seen aside from inebriated rave parties.”
This made me think of the concert scene at the end of O Brother Where Art Thou.
October 19, 2023 @ 10:33 am
Great review Trigger! Seeing this show up on my YouTube feed made my morning. Can’t wait for a new album!
October 19, 2023 @ 10:57 am
Awesome review, she said at Railbird this year a new album was coming. Seriously folks if you haven’t seen her yet, go right now! She’s awesome in concert
October 19, 2023 @ 11:06 am
I thought she mentioned new album on instagram the other day, but I might have fever dreamed it
October 19, 2023 @ 11:23 am
I heard her mention a new album back in April, but there is no formal announcement, meaning title, release date, etc. for the new album just yet.
October 19, 2023 @ 11:06 am
Pistols firing.
October 19, 2023 @ 11:49 am
The fox appears to be on her head.
October 19, 2023 @ 1:31 pm
How do you think she got it?
October 19, 2023 @ 1:44 pm
Man, I’d love to catch a Sierra show. I’ve been following her and hoping for a year or two now to see her come through the Kansas City area but I think Oklahoma is as close as she’s come. Maybe 2024 I’ll get my chance!
October 19, 2023 @ 1:56 pm
Great song, I love it! Toe was tappin’ all the way through. There’s no one like Sierra. Can’t wait to get this one in the car and crank it!!!
October 19, 2023 @ 2:59 pm
It conjured young Dolly vibes for me. Not the voice but the clever lyrics and delivery. Loving it!
October 19, 2023 @ 3:00 pm
I drove across two states to see her last March. This song alone made it worth every penny! I was surprised the stage didn’t burst into flames.
October 19, 2023 @ 5:58 pm
This kinda melts your face off.
October 19, 2023 @ 10:10 pm
it’s okay, but kinda dramatic and hillbilly at the same time…which is a little odd. Sounds like something from a movie or written for one. She continues to me cold. That east of the Mississippi sound….
October 20, 2023 @ 1:19 am
Love the song and can’t wait for the album.
October 20, 2023 @ 6:02 am
I liked it. Her album was a let down for me because I liked all the previous versions of most of the songs.
I also missed seeing her live when she passed through Toronto at the beginning of the year. Hopefully she makes it back this way sometime, and doesn’t cancel.
October 20, 2023 @ 8:02 am
The issue with an artist like Sierra Ferrell is the studio versions are never going to live up to the live ones. That’s just the nature of this beast. Billy Strings suffers from the same fate. They do the best they can in the studio, and I think this is a solid effort on a song you really have to see in the live context to appreciate.
October 22, 2023 @ 10:02 am
see The Allman Brothers
May 15, 2024 @ 12:53 pm
Billy Strings live was a huge disappointment. He was dragging out the songs in tedious solos up and down the neck. Nothing interesting. And yet I am very fond of his studio albums. I haven’t seen Sierra live but from what I have seen on YouTube she is quite amazing live aswell
October 20, 2023 @ 6:36 am
Love Sierra, and her vocals on this are outstanding as always, but it’s honestly not my favorite song from her. I agree with one of the comments above about this having a movie soundtrack sound to it with the huge overproduction. The cartoon video that accompanied the song was cool though, and kind of fit the Disney movie vibe of the song.
Overall fun and ok song made better by Sierra’s singing.
October 20, 2023 @ 1:59 pm
I am asking any and all hunters who might be reading this:
Is the phrase “We aren’t going anywhere without a prize from the land!” a common phrase you have heard before, or, is it original from Sierra Ferrell?
Either way, that’s eloquent. Ime. Hella eloquent.
October 20, 2023 @ 7:09 pm
I’m not a hunter, but have respect for it. I am a bit surprised there hasn’t been any uproar over the subject of the lyrics though. Especially since fox are hunted for sport or for their pelts, not to feed your family as the lyrics suggest. Though you could eat one I suppose. Maybe deer hunt or elk hunt didn’t sound as good as fox hunt.
October 21, 2023 @ 8:12 am
I take it you don’t keep chickens.
October 20, 2023 @ 8:14 pm
Fox pelts could be traded for flour, salted pork, and sugar if you want to overthink it. I don’t want to get too serious about this.
October 20, 2023 @ 8:26 pm
I am listening to some of her stuff, and to me, what I hear is very, very good. There is a unique vocal style and most songs have great hooks. In other words, this stuff may well be remembered beyond just acoustic guitars which seems to dominate what is praised by most fans. I hear fiddles, bass, mandolin and actual talent beyond the major chords. Fox Hunt, I predict, will remain a popular song for decades to come, if there is any musical justice!
October 20, 2023 @ 11:01 pm
I have liked some of her stuff but I’m not sure about this one. It definitely probably would seem better live. Definitely a toe tapper.
October 21, 2023 @ 7:35 am
I’ve seen her do this live a few times and now the studio version and I’m just finding out its an original tune. I thought for sure it was a cover. There’s something very timeless about it.
October 21, 2023 @ 8:09 am
Old Time psychedelia.
It could be worse. I’d like to see her write an American folk album to films by the Brothers Quay.
But the hyperbole is too much, Trig. Are you her manager?
October 21, 2023 @ 9:00 am
I agree he sounds ridiculous…. what’s he talking about a “woodland creature in a magical woods”. lollll
October 23, 2023 @ 1:27 am
I like her cover of John Anderson’s “Years”.
Fun fact: if I had better luck in love, my name could legally be John Anderson by now!
This song was good too though.
October 23, 2023 @ 7:37 pm
Y’all who might think Sierra Ferrell isn’t all that, who might think Saving Country Music is over the top with the praise for Sierra Ferrell … https://youtu.be/xSb4wvDXtUo
When she sings a song IT REMAINS SUNG, people!
November 1, 2023 @ 7:13 pm
Because of “The Fox Hunt,” I’ve officially gotten drunk on the Sierra Ferrell Kool-Aid! There’s some tracks like “To the Sea” I’ll never understand, but I’ve come around on most.
I even found a stellar cover of Dolly Parton’s “Coat of May Colors.” I think that is Parton’s best song and a top 50 all-time country song and although I still prefer the original, Ferrell’s cover fantastic.