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by Craig Havighurst In the 1980s, acoustic innovators like Edgar Meyer, Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, and Jerry Douglas shaped an utterly new neo-classical music out of traditional American folk themes and bluegrass instruments. Now a new generation is coming of age for whom this important genre was not a musical departure but a formative influence. What will they sound like when they form their first supergroup? Listen no further than Nickel Creek, whose eponymous Sugar Hill debut album was released this spring. "We pretty much started with newgrass," says guitarist Sean Watkins, who cites 1989’s Telluride Sessions by Strength in Numbers as a seminal album for the entire band. "In a lot of the places we played, people were doing traditional music, but there were always people who were pushing the envelope also." Nickel Creek played traditional bluegrass for a while, but Watkins describes that period as merely "a phase." The band was born in southern California, when Sean Watkins and his fiddling sister Sara befriended Chris Thile. When Thile and Sara were only eight (Sean is four years older), Thile’s father Scott, a jazz bass player, organized them into a band, first with Sean on mandolin and Chris on guitar. Before long, those roles were reversed, as it became clear that Chris was a genuine mandolin prodigy--a player who demonstrated world-class chops and sophisticated composing skills well before he turned ten. Sean and Chris received rigorous, technique-focused training from John Moore of Bluegrass Etc., while Sara studied with Moore’s bandmate Dennis Caplinger. As close friends, the trio encouraged and pushed each other to sharpen their skills. Chris made jaw-dropping solo albums when he was only 13 (Leading Off) and 16 (Stealing Second) for Sugar Hill, then stepped away from recording to focus on developing Nickel Creek’s sound and repertoire with Sean and Sara. They hit the circuit, playing festivals and winning competitions around the country as soloists and as a band. After a performance at the Ryman Auditorium a couple of years ago, Alison Krauss approached the band and gushed. Not long after that, they warily asked if she’d produce them, and she provided them with a career high by saying yes. The result is a brisk, warm, and engaging collection of original songs and instrumentals, with a couple of reworked traditional numbers thrown in. The band’s long history and family ties create an ease and connectedness within exceptionally difficult material, and the picking is invigorating, from the feathery quick arpeggios of the opening "Ode to a Butterfly" to the broad, impressionistic strokes of "Pastures New." Also noteworthy is the trio’s blend of sweet and clear voices, which owes a good deal to Krauss’ coaching, as well as the influence of favorite pop bands Toad the Wet Sprocket and the Dave Matthews Band. Sean’s guitar playing will remind listeners of Russ Barenberg, Scott Nygaard, and Dan Crary, even as the pervasive influence of Tony Rice hovers in the background. He’s 22 years old now and already at home in the top ranks of flatpickers, with spectacular execution and bold tone. He’s at work on a solo record for Sugar Hill that will feature Stuart Duncan, Jerry Douglas, and Caplinger on a range of his original tunes. And he’s also been sharing stages with a new California neighbor, fiddle god Mark O’Connor. People who know them say that the focus and dedication of the members of Nickel Creek is staggering. The challenge these days, according to Thile, is to transcend their technique-heavy training and evolve into mature, emotional musicians. "It’s a temptation when you can do something to do it frequently, which is why I’ve been working on not being that kind of player," he says. "I’m very geared toward accomplishing things, and for a long time that was faster, cleaner, and more complicated. And now it’s: can I pull off a solo that builds really well?" Thile could be speaking for each of the members of Nickel Creek, who with every passing month develop their chemistry and sensitivity. Thile’s playing advances so fast that he recently postponed studio time for a third solo project because his ideas were moving in new, more complex directions. He and Sean are both striving to take the music they absorbed as kids and further elevate it in the eyes of fans and critics. That’s gratifying, because newgrass (as unsatisfying a label as that is) always deserved to be more than a sideshow, and Nickel Creek has only just begun to scratch the surface. Excerpted from Acoustic Guitar magazine, August 2000, No. 92. Read about Nickel Creek's instruments and gear in the What They Play department.
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