Folkadelphia Session: Sara Watkins

Listening to Sara Watkins and her band is a real treat for the ears. The former Nickel Creek fiddler writes songs that combine the frantic energy of bluegrass, the hooks of classic pop, and the immediate intimacy of adept singer-songwriters. It’s music to keep coming back to, as I often find myself doing over and over again. On Watkin’s most recent album (and sophomore solo release), Sun Midnight Sun, she shows off her vocal performance as often as her fiddling chops.

During our Folkadelphia session on March 30th, the day after her concert with Field Report (who we also recorded) at the Tin Angel, Sara appeared as a trio configuration featuring herself on vocals, fiddle, and guitar, her brother Sean Watkins on guitar and vocals, and Tyler Chester on bass and vocals. The stripped down format makes me feel like we’re listening to the band in a living room – mere feet from the song, like you could reach out and touch it. While you can’t touch them, let these four live cuts from Sun Midnight Sun touch, dance, and sing with you. I think you’ll be revisiting them for a long time to come.