Renowned California folk/bluegrass siblings Sara and Sean Watkins play St. Cecilia Music Center in Grand Rapids on Thursday. The Local Spins interview.
Being Present in the Moment: Sean and Sara Watkins are reveling in performances of songs from their latest album. (Courtesy Photo)
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When siblings Sara and Sean Watkins started their “Family Hour” variety shows at Los Angeles’ Largo nightclub almost two decades ago, they viewed the casual jam sessions as the “opposite” of their usual, more formal performances.
With various musicians sitting in during the monthly residency, the collaborative sessions helped define and write the talented bluegrass duo’s next musical chapter.
“That was definitely a milestone,” said Sean Watkins, a guitarist and singer who first made a splash with his fiddle-playing sister and mandolinist Chris Thile in the folk/contemporary bluegrass band Nickel Creek.
“It completely changed the way we approached music and changed the way that we write because we were exposed to all these writers that were playing there.”
Added Sara: “We were playing with a lot of different people for the first time on stage. It was very casual and very much reconnecting us to the community of music that is the first love of so many musicians. It’s been a way to maintain a relationship with that community aspect of being a musician.”
Music That Feels Fresh and News: Watkins Family Hour (Courtesy Photo)
It’s also given them a new perspective.
“It’s always kind of supplied something in our musical lives that we don’t get anywhere else, from any other collaborations that we’re a part of,” she said.
The Watkins Family Hour experience has since led to two studio albums: 2015’s self-titled collection of covers (with guest appearances by the likes of Fiona Apple and Benmont Tench) and 2020’s “Brother Sister.”
Because the onset of the COVID pandemic upended the duo’s planned 2020 tour behind “Brother Sister,” their current U.S. tour – including Thursday’s stop at Grand Rapids’ St. Cecilia Music Center – represents the first opportunity to really showcase these tunes for live audiences. Tickets for the 7 p.m. Acoustic Cafe Folk Series show, $45-$55, available online at scmc-online.org.
Paste Magazine called the album a “tame but beautiful collection of entertaining Americana,” while The Guardian described it as “a model of sibling harmony.”
“It’s fresh, still feels new and exciting to me, at least when we play them,” Sean insisted during a phone interview with Local Spins from his home in California. “Every night playing these songs, it’s still fun and exciting. It doesn’t feel the least bit old. So even though there was a delay, it still feels good.”
Added Sara: “It feels like letting pressure out with me when we do these shows. It’s like letting some air out, so that at least creatively there’ll be room to fill the creative balloon up with other stuff.”
Joining the siblings on tour and on stage is bluegrass musician and singer-songwriter Courtney Hartman, who recently released her sophomore solo album, “Glade” and will join the duo on “a handful of songs” during their set.
“It’s been a real delight to play with her and sing with her,” Sara said of the Colorado-born, Wisconsin-based singer and guitarist.
NO-RULES MUSIC SPRINGING OUT OF ‘FAMILY HOUR’ SESSIONS
Sean stressed that he and his sister purposely recorded “Brother Sister” in a way that the folk, pop and bluegrass songs could stand “as just the two of us” so they could tour behind the album principally as duo.
But fans can also expect to hear elements of songs from Nickel Creek and other projects as part of the show.
“We do play songs that were recorded by Nickel Creek, but the thing is, they all sort of feel like Family Hour songs because that’s how so many of them started,” Sara said.
In essence, Sean added, their concerts aim to tell a story, sometimes weaving in material they may have been experimenting with over the years: “It’s all kind of in service to the story of the Family Hour.”
And while they’re already writing for another project, the duo is focused on material from “Brother Sister” and touring behind this album.
“The danger is to really get lost in the ‘what’s next’ instead of just staying focused on where you are,” Sean said. “Fortunately, it’s something that we love, and I can see us playing these songs for another year and really feeling good.”
Enjoying the Tour: The duo has three Midwest shows this week. (Courtesy Photo)
Added Sara: “If you’re looking forward all the time, aggressively looking forward, you risk not paying attention to who you are.”
Although they were immersed in bluegrass growing up in California, they also love the genre-mixing nature of “Brother Sister.”
“Even though we love bluegrass, we love these traditional songs and we love the instrumentation … we didn’t know that there were rules or that rules existed. That’s been our mindset from the beginning,” Sean said.
“It (songs on ‘Brother Sister’) can seem more adventurous than it felt at the time. It felt very natural putting these songs together. It all kind of springs out of individual experiences and what we do at Largo with the Family Hour.”
Of course, both musicians have numerous side projects to lean on when it comes to those experiences. Sara has released four solo albums over the years (including 2021’s “Under the Pepper Tree”) and contributed to other projects, from “A Prairie Home Companion” to the trio I’m With Her (featuring Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donavan). Sara also is emceeing both nights of the Ann Arbor Folk Festival taking place Jan. 28-29 at Ann Arbor’s Hill Auditorium.
Sean, meanwhile, has performed with Fiction Family and the Works Progress Administration super-group (of which Sara also was a part), and released a half-dozen solo albums since 2001.
But “Brother Sister” and the U.S tour – which wraps up in Wisconsin and Minnesota this weekend, before resuming in mid-January – remains their sole focus for now.
“I’m really enjoying this tour, this album and collaborating with the people who are around me,” Sara said. “Music is about being present and in the moment, and that’s kind of what I’m trying to do.”
VIDEO: Watkins Family Hour, “Just Another Reason”
VIDEO: Watkins Family Hour, “Fake Badge, Real Gun”
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