Singer/mandolinist Sierra Hull explores contemporary sound on “Weighted Mind”

When you burst onto the bluegrass scene as a child, like singer and mandolinist Sierra Hull did when she self-released her first album, “Angel Mountain,” at the age of 10, people are bound to take notice.

And when you release two well-received records, “Secrets” and “Daybreak,” after signing to Nashville’s Rounder Records, like Hull did, they’re bound to peg you as a bluegrass prodigy.

But after years of heading down one path, the itch to try something new can become irresistible.

The result of Hull scratching that itch, 2016’s “Weighted Mind,” is more sparse than her previous releases, with Hull, on vocals and mandolin, accompanied only by double bassist Ethan Jodziewicz. Alison Krauss, Abigail Washburn and Rhiannon Giddens provide backing vocals.

Although a departure from her previous releases, “Weighted Mind” was just as well-received, earning Hull a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album.

Hull brings this contemporary sound to Chateau Rive at the Flour Mill on Thursday.

Nothing in particular pushed Hull to move away from the “traditional” bluegrass heard on her first three releases; it was simply a matter of growing up and expanding her musical horizons.

“It’s a combo of getting older and living life and listening to all kinds of different things and life experience,” she said. “Then wanting to write about something that is really meaningful to me, and I think through writing my own stuff, those other inspirations came through musically.”

Hull’s musical evolution to what’s heard on “Weighted Mind” happened in stages.

After deciding to make an album she knew was going to be different than her previous releases, Hull self-produced six songs with herself on guitar backed by a much bigger band than she had recorded with before.

But that sound didn’t sit right with Hull and the music once again evolved.

At the suggestion of producer and renowned banjo player Béla Fleck, Hull went back to basics and picked up the mandolin, which she calls her home instrument.

“It gave the songs a new fresh spin to be able to come back to mandolin and try to approach them from that point of view,” she said.

After overcoming the frustration she felt trying to dial in on her new sound, and with Fleck’s encouragement along the way, Hull let go of the apprehension she felt about how people would receive “Weighted Mind.”

“This is music that’s honest to me and I’m going to put it out there and try to be proud of it,” she remembers thinking.

With this new sound firmly nailed down, Hull is open to trusting whatever inspiration comes along for future projects, be it a solo album or a collaborative effort with others.

No matter what future releases sound like though, Hull’s certain they will be true to her.

“At the end of the day, if I make music that I’m not connected to or music that everybody else thinks I’m supposed to be making, it’s not going to be good music because my heart’s not going to be in it.”