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Nickel Creek brings newgrass to Morrison Center
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Bluegrass music is currently experiencing a revival, fueled by the success of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.
The Platinum-selling album managed to bridge the gap between young and old virtually overnight.
Not only are younger generations now listening to bluegrass, they are also picking up mandolins, fiddles and acoustic guitars.
Three such young players are Nickel Creek from southern California-not a likely place to spawn bluegrass musicians-who have helped the musical genre cross over into the mainstream.
Brother and sister, guitarist Sean Watkins and fiddler Sara Watkins, 25 and 21, met mandolin player Chris Thile, 21, almost 12 years ago at a bluegrass show in Orange County, Calif., long before the Coen Bros. gave CPR to the movement.
Nickel Creek is bringing their brand of bluegrass to The Morrison Center on Sept. 4 with special guest Gillian Welch, who performed on the O Brother soundtrack.
Nickel Creek fuses bluegrass, folk and jazz into a hybrid newgrass sound. Critics are calling the California trio “bluegrass revivalists” and “acoustic innovators,” but Nickel Creek is more than just traditional grassroots music.
“It’s just Nickel Creek music,” bluegrass musician and producer Alison Krauss said.
The band started out primarily playing bluegrass, eventually adding other musical influences to their mix.
“It’s like having paintbrushes in all different sizes and shapes. Each brush paints color in a different way,” mandolin player Chris Thile said.
“What we’re trying to do is grab a really interesting brush and then blend all the various colors-of all the genres of music we love.”
Nickel Creek released their self-titled debut album in 2000. Their second studio effort, This Side, hit the shelves on Aug. 13, and has already been nominated for a Grammy Award.
Success has been sweet for the acoustic trio, and now they just want to keep on evolving as musicians.
“Musically, this band never stays the same. We love to grow. There are moments on stage where I look over and think ‘This is why I’ve been in this band since I was eight.’ …It’s so comfortable,” Thile said.
If you go. . .
Nickel Creek is performing with special guest Gillian Welch at The Morrison Center on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at all Ticketweb and Select-a-Seat locations, or at The Morrison Center box office.
James Patrick Kelly, The Arbiter
