Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek |
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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. On February 13, 2007, Nickel Creek's spring tour schedule was announced. [1]
Hiatus
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." [2]
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." [3]
Discography
Albums & Singles
| Album | Statistics | Singles |
|---|---|---|
| File:NickelCreekCowpoke.jpg | Little Cowpoke
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Singles Released
None |
| Album | Statistics | Singles |
| File:Nicklecreek.jpg | Here to There
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Singles Released
None |
| Album | Statistics | Singles |
|
Nickel Creek | Singles Released |
| Album | Statistics | Singles |
|
This Side
|
Singles Released
|
| Album | Statistics | Singles |
|
Why Should the Fire Die?
|
Singles Released |
| Album | Statistics | Singles |
|
Reasons Why: The Very Best
|
Singles Released
None |
Singles information
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US Country | US Rock | US AAA | UK | |||
| 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
External links
- Nickel Creek's official site
- VH1 biography
- Acoustic Guitar article
- PopMatters interview (11/2005)
- August 2005 performance for World Cafe broadcast on NPR
- October 2005 interview on All Things Considered
- Nickel Creek's Song "Tomorrow is a Long Time" played on NPR's All Songs Considered
- Review Nickel Creek - Reasons Why