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Nickel Creek

Nickel Creek is a Grammy Award-winning American acoustic music trio with roots in bluegrass, which is now sometimes described as "progressive bluegrass" or "progressive acoustic." The band is composed of three permanent members: Chris Thile (mandolin), Sara Watkins (violin), and her brother Sean Watkins (guitar). The band's fourth guest member has been less permanent, although he is always a dynamic part of their performance. This position is currently filled by Mark Schatz (string bass), and it has previously been filled by Scott Thile, Edgar Meyer, Byron House, and Robert Trujillo. Over the band's three official albums, Nickel Creek's musical style seems to have shifted from contemporary bluegrass to the incorporation of indie rock elements, covering songs by Radiohead, Pavement, Elliott Smith, Bob Dylan, and even Toxic by Britney Spears, which has become a crowd favorite at their shows. However, the core influence of bluegrass remains evident in all three albums.

History

The band formed in California in 1989 with Scott Thile, Chris' father, playing string bass. The two families, the Watkins and the Thiles, met at That Pizza Place, in Carlsbad, California, where they listened to the band Bluegrass Etc. The oldest of the children, Sean, was only twelve years old at the time.

In Nickel Creek's early days they recorded two albums: Here to There and Little Cowpoke. Later, Alison Krauss helped to develop their style. She produced their self titled 2000 release on Sugar Hill. This is now recognized as their first major release. Scott Thile retired from the group when their touring schedule became too difficult to balance with his day job. After a few years of touring with various bassists, Mark Schatz has taken over the role.

The group has released five albums (three major releases) and won a Grammy Award in 2003 for Best Contemporary Folk Album for their release, This Side. Nickel Creek has been certified platinum, and This Side has been certified gold for sales above 500,000. They released their third album, Why Should The Fire Die? on August 9 2005 which was nominated for the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. The track Scotch & Chocolate from Why Should the Fire Die? was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.

Hiatus and Farewell (For Now) Tour

In the Summer of 2006 via Billboard Magazine and their official website, Nickel Creek announced that at the end of the year they would no longer be recording together as a group and their tour scheduled through 2007 would be their last for an indefinite period of time. According to Thile, "It's always been so natural, but lately it hasn't been quite as natural and we're running the risk of actually having to break up. We would rather leave it for a while, while it's still intact and healthy."

Sean Watkins stated that all three members are ready to expand their musical horizons by experiencing real life again: "When you're on the road all the time and meet all these people who love your music, you can't always relate to them because stuff never happens to you. We're supposed to be writing songs that relate to other people... I need to be out there and having a different life than that. I am ready to write about real things again.".^[1]

Nickel Creek's last tour before the hiatus was announced on via their website on February 13, 2007. The Farewell (For Now) Tour starts in April 2007 and ends in late 2007. In a recent statement, Nickel Creek said that they "wanted to do this in a positive way and take that last lap before our break. We want to see our fans one more time and play with the musicians that have inspired us over the years." ^[2]

Discography

Albums & Singles

Album	Statistics	Singles
File:NickelCreekCowpoke.jpg	Little Cowpoke Released: 1993 Did Not Chart Not Certified (Sales unknown)	Singles Released None
Album	Statistics	Singles
File:Nicklecreek.jpg	Here to There Released: 1997 Did Not Chart Not Certified (Sales Unknown)	Singles Released None
Album	Statistics	Singles
	Nickel Creek Released: March 21, 2000 Billboard Top 200 Peak: #101 Top Independent Album Peak: #9 Top Heatseeker Album Peak: #1 (4 weeks) Certified Gold (900,000 units sold) GRAMMY NOMINATION: Best Contemporary Folk Album	Singles Released "When You Come Back Down" "The Lighthouse's Tale" "Reasons Why"
Album	Statistics	Singles
	This Side Released: August 13, 2002 Billboard Top 200 Peak: #19 Top Independent Album Peak: #1 (2 weeks) AAA Contemporary Song Peak: #1 (3 weeks) for "Smoothie Song" Certified Gold (550,000 units sold) GRAMMY AWARD WINNER: Best Contemporary Folk Album GRAMMY AWARD NOMINEE: Best Country Instrumental- "Smoothie Song"	Singles Released "This Side" "Speak" "Smoothie Song"
Album	Statistics	Singles
	Why Should the Fire Die? Released: August 9, 2005 Billboard Top 200 Peak: #18 Top Independent Album Peak: #1 (1 Week) Not Certified (250,000 units sold) GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATION: Best Contemporary Folk Album GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATION: Best Country Instrumental- "Scotch & Chocolate"	Singles Released "When In Rome"
Album	Statistics	Singles
	Reasons Why: The Very Best Released: 2006 Not certified (55,000 units sold)	Singles Released None

Singles information

Year	Title	Chart positions					Album
Year	Title	US Hot 100	US Country	US Rock	US AAA	UK	Album
2001	"When You Come Back Down"	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Nickel Creek
2001	"The Lighthouse's Tale"	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Nickel Creek
2002	"Reasons Why"	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Nickel Creek
2003	"This Side"	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	This Side
2003	"Speak"	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	This Side
2003	"Smoothie Song"	N/A	N/A	N/A	#1(3w)*	N/A	This Side
2005	"When In Rome"	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Why Should the Fire Die?

Note: Due to the unique musical style of Nickel Creek, they were often overlooked and rarely played on radio, primarily on the Country Charts, even though they received heavy rotation on the Country Music Video Channels CMT and GAC. Smoothie Song is the exception, becoming the first purely instrumental track to go to number one on any of Billboard's music charts that wasn't instrumental based already.

Collaborations

Mutual Admiration Society (2004) with Glen Phillips
Little Worlds (2003) with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, featured on Off the Top (The Gravity Wheel) and Off the Top (Line Dance).
Further Down The Old Plank Road (2003) with The Chieftains, featured on The Raggle Taggle Gypsy

References

External links

[seanquote-1] Nickel Creek Going On Hiatus, Just Not Yet

[creekquote-2] Nickel Creek Prepares First Leg of Farewell Tour

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 |Current_members = [[Chris Thile]]<br>[[Sara Watkins]]<br>[[Sean Watkins]]
 |Past_members    =
-}}[[Image:Nickelcreeksteps.JPG|thumb|200px|right| ''The members of Nickel Creek'']]
+}}[[Image:Nickelcreeksteps.JPG|thumb|200px|right| ''Nickel Creek'']]
 '''Nickel Creek''' is a [[Grammy Award]]-winning American acoustic music trio with roots in [[Bluegrass music|bluegrass]], which is now sometimes described as "[[progressive bluegrass]]" or "progressive acoustic." The band is composed of three permanent members: [[Chris Thile]] ([[mandolin]]), [[Sara Watkins]] ([[violin]]), and her brother [[Sean Watkins]] ([[guitar]]). The band's fourth guest member has been less permanent, although he is always a dynamic part of their performance. This position is currently filled by Mark Schatz ([[string bass]]), and it has previously been filled by Scott Thile, [[Edgar Meyer]], Byron House, and [[Robert Trujillo]]. Over the band's three official albums, Nickel Creek's musical style seems to have shifted from contemporary bluegrass to the incorporation of indie rock elements, covering songs by [[Radiohead]], [[Pavement (band)|Pavement]], [[Elliott Smith]], [[Bob Dylan]], and even ''[[Toxic (song)|Toxic]]'' by [[Britney Spears]], which has become a crowd favorite at their shows. However, the core influence of bluegrass remains evident in all three albums.