Published on May 17, 2001
Warning: The Surgeon General has determined that aspiring
guitarists should
not listen to Sean Watkins. You’ll only become hopelessly
frustrated at your own lack
of skills. I mean, come on he’s in his early 20s and he
already plays
this good? It’s
enough to make you take up crocheting. I speak from
experience.
Sean Watkins, guitarist for Nickel Creek, has released his first
solo album,
Let
It Fall, and let me tell you, folks, it’s a doozy.
Watkins may be the best young
flatpicking guitarist out there, and this album is a
masterpiece of guitar styling. And
to add insult to injury, Watkins self-produced this CD, and
the production is perfect.
It’s hard to quantify this CD in a lot of ways. Nickel Creek is
(mostly) a
bluegrass outfit, and there’s a good deal of traditional
bluegrass and newgrass on
Let It Fall. However, Watkins branches out in a lot of ways;
there are discrete
musical influences and accents that show he’s not just a
flatpicker. In a lot of ways,
Watkins’ work reminds me of Lawrence Juber’s solo CDs; he has
that same plain
love for the guitar and how it sounds, and it makes the CD a
joy to listen to.
Watkins’ brilliance aside, the guest musicians are the “Usual
Sugar Hill
Suspects” with a few surprises. Sean’s sister, Sara Watkins,
shows up playing
elegant fiddle on three tracks; Chris Thile contributes
mandolin to two tracks; six-time
International Bluegrass Music Award winner Jerry Douglas
plays dobro on three
tracks; and Bluegrass Etc.’s Dennis Caplinger chimes in with
banjo on two. All are
wonderful. Even weirder, and just as wonderful, is former
Toad The Wet Sprocket
lead vocalist Glen Phillips, who sings lead vocals on the
title track, the only
non-instrumental piece on the CD.
Wonderful is, indeed, the word. “Let It Fall” is, simply, one of
the most beautiful
songs I’ve ever heard, and Phillips nails the vocals
perfectly. Other tracks worth
special notice: “Neo’s Song”, “January Second”, “Ferdinand
The Bull”, “The Orange
Autumn Days”…oh, heck, it’s all good. Even the hidden track
at the end, a device
which sometimes annoys me, is a lot of fun.
Yes, Watkins is young. Yes, it’s aggravating sometimes that he’s
this good,
though only for a little while and with a smile on one’s
face. But there’s one
advantage to that; if he’s this good already, think how much
better he’ll get. I, for
one, can hardly wait.