Published on Oct 16, 2000
Buh. Just…
buh
.
It’s very hard to write a review when you’re stunned and look
like a pithed frog, staring at the speakers in disbelief. From the
first five seconds I heard Nickel Creek (on one of those late night
syndicated music video shows) I was stunned. They are, quite
simply, the best roots/Celtic/bluegrass music I’ve heard this year.
This is
good stuff, gang.
All right, now that I’ve stated my opinion, let me tell you
why.
Nickel Creek is a band of wunderkinder. Fiddler and vocalist
Sara Watkins won the Arizona State Fiddle Champion when she was 15.
Her brother Sean placed in the finals of the National Flatpicking
Guitar Championship when he was 16. Mandolin player Chris Thile has
been an International Bluegrass Music Award nominee for four years
running. In short, Nickel Creek is a roots music supergroup where
the oldest member is 22. Thank the myriad gods that not
everyone is trying to be Britney Spears.
It’s not just the awards that make Nickel Creek great. Sara
Watkins’ voice is alternately plaintive, sensual, and pure, an
oracle of sound vaguely reminiscent of Raylene Rankin’s without
Raylene’s occasional nasality. She remains clear as crystal,
heart-stopping as shattered glass. The guitar and mandolin work of
Thile and Sean Watkins is transcendent, intricate, and brilliant,
and they’re no slouch at vocals, either. While upright bass player
Scott Thile is no longer with the band, his work on
Nickel Creek is rhythmic, insistent, the heartbeat of the
music. (Nashville session bassist Byron House has joined the band,
at least for touring.)
The songs are marvelous. I cannot, for the life of me, get
“Reasons Why” out of my CD player. In many ways the heart of the
CD, it is the perfect showcase for Sara Watkins’ precise vocals and
Chris Thile’s mandolin work. The hypnotic melody will stay in your
head for hours after you hear it. (I ordered the CD based on
hearing it
once.) The rest of the CD is a fun and eclectic mix of
originals (“The Lighthouse’s Tale”), covers (“Out Of The Woods”),
instrumentals (“House Of Tom Bombadil”, showing off Sara Watkins’
blazing fiddle and Chris Thile’s hyperactive mandolin), and
traditional tunes (“The Fox” and a musical version of Robert Burns’
“Flow Gently Sweet Afton”). All are excellent.
For fans of roots music,
Nickel Creek is a must have, and quickly has risen into my
top ten CDs for the year, if not number one. Get it. You won’t be
sorry.