Sara Watkins may still be best known as the fiddling third of the prodigious trio Nickel Creek, but her solo album draws a solid line between what she has to offer as a solo artist and the work of her former band mates,although both Chris Thile and her brother Sean are all over this disc. (Read my interview with Sara Watkins about this album.)
Packed with Guest Players
This is hardly a solo album in the traditional sense of the word. Watkins is joined by some of contemporary folk, roots, and bluegrass music's greatest players. Her accompanists on this disc include John Brion, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Ronnie McCoury (Del McCoury Band), Chris Eldridge (Infamous Stringdusters, Punch Brothers) and her former Nickel Creek collaborators Chris Thile and Sean Watkins. She wrote about half the songs herself and pulled the others from traditional folk and gospel songbooks, and a John Brion cover tune.Sara Watkins, Solo Artist
Sara Watkins
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While it may be easy to assume this record is as good as it is because of the incredible pool of talent with which Watkins has surrounded herself, doing so would be selling short her creative vision. She may not be the innovative envelope-pusher that Thile has become, nor is she the introverted songwriter embodied by her brother Sean. What Watkins asserts on this, her "solo" debut, is her own artistic integrity. Much like fellow fiddle prodigy Alison Krauss (who produced Nickel Creek's first two albums), Watkins is an expert interpreter of music. This disc displays her impeccable creative judgment and points a direction her anyone with discerning taste would be wise to follow.
