Sara Watkins, a native of Vista, California, co-founded her first band in 1989 when she was eight, playing with her brother Sean Watkins and a family friend, Chris Thile. The band was Nickel Creek, and over the next 18 years, they won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album, received several more nominations, and released six albums’ worth of wonderful music in the progressive bluegrass vein. After the band went on “indefinite hiatus,” Sara recorded a self-titled solo album with more of a folk and country emphasis, which the BBC described by saying that Sara’s “time in the spotlight is a triumph with her agile playing and the kind of voice that gives your goose bumps the shivers.” She has worked with such artists as Richard Thompson, Bela Fleck, the Chieftains, and the Decemberists, and recently released her second solo album, Sun Midnight Sun, featuring musical contributions from the album’s producer, Blake Mills, as well as Fiona Apple, Jackson Browne, Benmont Tench, and her brother Sean. The album has a few well-chosen covers, like Willie Nelson’s “I’m a Memory,” but most of the songs are originals, including the lovely “Impossible,” which asks a series of plaintive questions, like “is it impossible to learn to love?” Is it impossible to learn to love Sara Watkins? One listen to her heartfelt singing and fiddling will tell you that the answer is a resounding no. Joining her tonight are Tyler Chester on bass and brother Sean on guitar.

Kris Orlowski is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter who leads his own band and sings in a full-bodied baritone that grabs listeners and holds on for a good long while.

Visit Sara Watkins's website

Visit Kris Orlowski's website

Listen to a track from Sara Watkins:

Photo by Aaron Redfield