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<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nThe bluegrass trio reunites with a new album that defies categories \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Grammy-winning Nickel Creek\u00a0took an indefinite hiatus in 2007 to pursue solo projects. Now the trio\u2014mandolinist Chris Thile, fiddler Sara Watkins and her brother, guitarist Sean Watkins\u2014has returned with a new album, A Dotted Line<\/i>, which coincides with their 25th anniversary. Featuring eight originals and two covers\u2014Sam Phillips\u2019 \u201cWhere Is Love Now\u201d and Mother Mother\u2019s \u201cHayloft\u201d\u2014A Dotted Line <\/i>is a clever amalgamation of alt-country, bluegrass and folk. \u201cIt all came together so quickly and easily,\u201d says Sean Watkins, who filled in details on how the group rediscovered their old magic.<\/p>\n
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Why did you reunite?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
We all wanted to get together and write songs to mark the occasion of our\u00a025th anniversary. We thought it might turn out to be an EP or something. Last June we went to Chris\u2019 place and started writing. There was way less stress this time compared with past albums. We know that we can take the individual things we do and put them together. For example, we realized the three-part harmony was something we were good at, and tried to do\u00a0that more often.<\/p>\n
Did the solo projects offer inspiration?<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure they helped in some way. When you listen to someone you respect, you end up learning from them\u2014whether that was Chris\u2019 and Sara\u2019s solo albums or our Watkins Family Hour shows at the Largo in L.A. I know that Chris and Sara have both become better singers and have gained a lot of confidence. Putting ourselves in these different musical situations has made us better.<\/p>\n
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How\u2019d the recording go?<\/b><\/p>\n
It was all a very comfortable process. The album was produced by Eric Valentine [Queens of the Stone Age, Smash Mouth], who also produced our last album, Why Should the Fire Die?<\/i>. We recorded at his studio, and he really brought the best out of each of us. It\u2019s the right combination. We completely trust him to guide us so we can focus on the music. He helps us see the bigger picture. And the recording took such a small amount of time compared to our other albums. We went in later to put down some parts, but it was little more than a week.<\/p>\n
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Did the time off help?<\/b><\/p>\n
The break helped us mature. I think we all individually have grown up a lot and evolved. I feel like lyrically I know more about what I like and what I don\u2019t like. Not that I\u2019m not proud of what I wrote before, but it\u2019s different now. It\u2019s easier to analyze why I like songs and why I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
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How has your process changed?<\/b><\/p>\n
You learn to pick your battles. There\u2019ve been times in the past when we got too caught up in the little details, and our wheels would spin. Now when we\u2019re writing, we get down the skeleton of the song and then figure out the lyric later. We\u2019ve cut out a lot of the extraneous stuff and put those questions aside. It\u2019s made the songwriting process a lot easier. I know I\u2019m better now at communicating why I like something and being direct about it. It\u2019s a lot more efficient.<\/p>\n
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Does your music fit a genre?<\/b><\/p>\n
It\u2019s a question that doesn\u2019t really accomplish anything. We never set out to record a certain style. When you try to do that sort of blending or genre melding, it can end up sounding affected. We don\u2019t bother putting a bunch of adjectives on it. To us it doesn\u2019t matter the label you put on our music. We leave that to the journalists.<\/p>\n
\u2013Blake Boldt<\/p>\n