Nickel Creek

by George Varga | Jul 9, 2001
Nickel Creek Its down-to-earth name to the contrary, Nickel Creek is soaring sky-high.

Formed in San Diego`s North County in 1990, the trio has become one of pop music`s most notable crossover success stories of the past year, earning two Grammy Award nominations and rave reviews in such publications as Time, The New York Times and Bluegrass Unlimited. And its tour schedule is booked solid through December.

"The whole year has been pretty mind-boggling," said Sean Watkins, 24, Nickel Creek`s guitarist and lead singer. "The Grammy nominations were huge; we didn`t expect one, let alone two. And to headline our own shows, and have them sell out, is amazing."

Amazing, yes, but well-deserved. And not so surprising for three devoted young musicians with so much skill and vision. Their impact should increase in the fall, when Nickel Creek will tour with ex-Toad the Wet Sprocket singer Glen Phillips to promote its upcoming joint album.

"So much contemporary country and pop is marketed along incredibly narrow lines," said Phillips, "that Nickel Creek`s fresh sound and honesty really strike a chord with people. We`re all ready for something like this."

"Nickel Creek, along with Alison Krauss, really is the future of acoustic music," agreed the Bonsall-based violinist Mark O`Connor, who has won Grammys for both country and classical crossover.

The group`s remarkably assured debut album, last year`s self-titled "Nickel Creek," is leaping up Billboard`s national independent, pop- and country-music charts, where it`s cracked the top 20 with a bullet.

"When You Come Back Down," the second video from the album, recently rose to No. 1 on Country Music Television, jumping past videos by such established stars as Faith Hill and Travis Tritt.

Never mind that Nickel Creek doesn`t include a drummer and features a front line of mandolin, violin and acoustic guitar. Or that the group`s genre-leaping approach deftly mixes Celtic, classical, jazz and sophisticated pop elements with the bluegrass music that anchors its sparkling synthesis.

"Although we`re based in bluegrass, and our instruments are bluegrass instruments, we can`t be categorized as bluegrass - or country," said Sara Watkins, 20, Nickel Creek`s violinist-singer, speaking from the Vista, Calif., home where she grew up with her brother, fellow band member Sean. She was only 8 when the trio was formed, after being inspired when their parents took them to local bluegrass jam sessions.

"The thing I love most about this band," agreed mandolinist-singer Chris Thile, also 20, "is that we`re not thinking in terms of genres.

"Our writing draws from lots of different styles," he said from his Nashville home. "But instead of (making) a bouquet of genres that might look nice together, I hope what we`re doing is like making `genre soup,` where we`re throwing all our influences in a pot and melting them down where you can`t tell anymore that it`s all these genres."

With a dozen years of experience together - more than half of Thile and Sara Watkins` lives - Nickel Creek`s members perform with a seamless elan and maturity that would be impressive in musicians twice their age.

Even more so than Krauss - the chart-topping singer and violinist who produced Nickel Creek`s debut album - this fresh-faced trio is poised to attract a broad audience. Its growing following includes young listeners who might normally pay little attention to "newgrass," the progressive bluegrass style pioneered by such Nickel Creek influences as Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Sam Bush and violinist O`Connor.

"Without Nickel Creek, it`s a much more barren landscape," O`Connor said. "So it makes it that much more exciting to see not only how wonderful they are as musicians and as a group, but to see them thriving in a climate where they`re really sticking out there by themselves. And it`s easy to apply the word `virtuoso` to their leader, Chris Thile. It`s great to see talents like these pop up once or twice every generation."

Increasingly in demand as a session musician, Thile has collaborated with Dolly Parton, Reba McIntire and Hank Williams Jr., as well as with Kid Rock and Hootie and the Blowfish. Earlier this year, the San Diego Symphony featured Thile as the soloist for its performance of Vivaldi`s mandolin concerto, in addition to playing one of his original compositions.

But a separate career is not looming for this precocious instrumental marvel, whose third solo album - due out in the fall on Sugar Hill - features Fleck, Meyer, Bush and other idols-turned-contemporaries. The same label released Nickel Creek`s album and Watkins` predominantly instrumental solo outing, "Let It Fall."

"I`m never happier than after a good Nickel Creek show, where we seem to have touched somebody," Thile said. "I`d love to get more into the pop sessions, and to work with artists like Elliott Smith or Radiohead, not that Radiohead is looking to use a mandolin. But studio work is just filling in the cracks of Nickel Creek. I am so blessed to be in this band."

"Blessed" is a word heard frequently from all three members, each of whom opted for home schooling, the better to suit their concert commitments. All three enrolled in college, but have since put their studies on hold.

"Since we grew up with the same influences, learned the same things at the same time and met the same people, it`s been exciting, because we can all share it," Sara Watkins said. "When one person in the group gets into something, we usually all get into it."

And what Nickel Creek is into is vital music that provides a fresh alternative in an era when "alternative music" has become as formulaic and bland as fast food.

"Because we`re young, we have an interesting appeal to kids our age, and also to people in general," Thile said. "People wonder how kids (like us) got into this music. And we never considered what we did to be different; it`s just what was around us. We had no idea it was any different from what our friends were into.

"Right now, unfortunately, `alternative` means (fellow North County trio) blink-182, which is as mainstream as you could possibly be. It`s a shame, because alternative started as such a cool thing with Nirvana. I think people are being force-fed what their musical tastes are supposed to be by the major record companies, which say: `If you`re this age, you should like this music, or we`ll lose money, because we won`t be able to pigeonhole you anymore.`

"So it`ll be great if we can help any other kids break out of these expectations. If we can help people dig out of the rut that other people have been digging, I`ll consider it a big victory."

(c) Copley News Service

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Author: George Varga

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