Sean Watkins - Blinders On

Sean Watkins delivers great work with Blinders On, his third solo effort. His songs are more demure and earnest than those of his Nickel Creek bandmates, and more whisperingly pretty. His voice is sweet and calm, and his guitar playing is, of course, fantastic. The songs on this record stand out as being truly unique from what you may be used to. His bluegrass roots are mostly left behind in exchange for the stylings of an earnest folk singer/songwriter.

You may know Sean Watkins as a member of Nickel Creek, a three-pack of prodigious young players who shook the bluegrass world from the time they were tweens. As they've matured the group has become more experimental with other forms of music. Still inspired by their bluegrass roots, they've branched out more recently, exploring the realms of rock, alt.country, and folk-pop.

But on his third solo effort, Blinders On, Watkins takes an even clearer departure from his background and the work he does with Nickel Creek.

Although his sister Sara (and her fiddle) does make a rather notable appearance on the record, it is Sean's songs that are the stars here, tackling mostly relationships with a cool pop sensibility. He is still clearly experimenting with instrumentation, but that manages to remain complimentary to his easy, lovely melodies on this record.

Highlights include the appropriately brief "Hello ... Goodbye," which is quite possibly the biggest heart-wrencher on the record. After the CD ends, there is a secret track featuring a cello being played like an appalachian fiddle. Like the rest of the record, quite impressive stuff.