Buh. Just\u2026
\n
\nbuh<\/i>
\n<\/b> .<\/p>\n
It’s very hard to write a review when you’re stunned and look
\nlike a pithed frog, staring at the speakers in disbelief. From the
\nfirst five seconds I heard Nickel Creek (on one of those late night
\nsyndicated music video shows) I was stunned. They are, quite
\nsimply, the best roots\/Celtic\/bluegrass music I’ve heard this year.
\nThis is
\ngood stuff<\/i>, gang.<\/p>\n
All right, now that I’ve stated my opinion, let me tell you
\nwhy.<\/p>\n
Nickel Creek is a band of wunderkinder. Fiddler and vocalist
\nSara Watkins won the Arizona State Fiddle Champion when she was 15.
\nHer brother Sean placed in the finals of the National Flatpicking
\nGuitar Championship when he was 16. Mandolin player Chris Thile has
\nbeen an International Bluegrass Music Award nominee for four years
\nrunning. In short, Nickel Creek is a roots music supergroup where
\nthe oldest member is 22. Thank the myriad gods that not
\neveryone<\/i> is trying to be Britney Spears.<\/p>\n
It’s not just the awards that make Nickel Creek great. Sara
\nWatkins’ voice is alternately plaintive, sensual, and pure, an
\noracle of sound vaguely reminiscent of Raylene Rankin’s without
\nRaylene’s occasional nasality. She remains clear as crystal,
\nheart-stopping as shattered glass. The guitar and mandolin work of
\nThile and Sean Watkins is transcendent, intricate, and brilliant,
\nand they’re no slouch at vocals, either. While upright bass player
\nScott Thile is no longer with the band, his work on
\nNickel Creek<\/i> is rhythmic, insistent, the heartbeat of the
\nmusic. (Nashville session bassist Byron House has joined the band,
\nat least for touring.)<\/p>\n
The songs are marvelous. I cannot, for the life of me, get
\n“Reasons Why” out of my CD player. In many ways the heart of the
\nCD, it is the perfect showcase for Sara Watkins’ precise vocals and
\nChris Thile’s mandolin work. The hypnotic melody will stay in your
\nhead for hours after you hear it. (I ordered the CD based on
\nhearing it
\nonce<\/i>.) The rest of the CD is a fun and eclectic mix of
\noriginals (“The Lighthouse’s Tale”), covers (“Out Of The Woods”),
\ninstrumentals (“House Of Tom Bombadil”, showing off Sara Watkins’
\nblazing fiddle and Chris Thile’s hyperactive mandolin), and
\ntraditional tunes (“The Fox” and a musical version of Robert Burns’
\n“Flow Gently Sweet Afton”). All are excellent.<\/p>\n
For fans of roots music,
\nNickel Creek<\/i> is a must have, and quickly has risen into my
\ntop ten CDs for the year, if not number one. Get it. You won’t be
\nsorry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":25609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6448],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-36815","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-nickel-creek","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36815"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36815"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}