Sara Watkins

Sara Watkin's self-titled, eagerly anticipated by the significant fan base she's built after nearly two decades as fiddle player and vocalist for Grammy Award-winning trio Nickel Creek, boasts an easygoing virtuosity. The youthful Watkins, who joined Nickel Creek when she was barely in her teens, displays formidable skill as a multi-instrumentalist, playing the guitar and ukelele as well as the fiddle, and is just as versatile, and breathtakingly mature, as a singer. Watkins incorporates folk, country, gospel and pop into her 14-song set. She's joined by a wide range of old friends and longtime heroes, including alt-country duo Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, and Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas; colleagues from the bluegrass world like Tim O'Brien, Punch Brothers' Chris Eldridge, Ronnie McCoury, and Ryan Gellert; and Nickel Creen band-mates Chris Thile and Sean Watkins.