Sara Watkins

Watkins has spent most of her younger years, nearly two decades, as singer and fiddle player for the Grammy Award-winning, bluegrass-folk hybrid Nickel Creek, a trio she started performing in when she was a mere 8 years old, alongside her guitarist brother Sean and mandolinist Chris Thile. Now, for the first time, she is stepping away from that marquee name, alone. As the BBC put it, “Watkins’ time in the spotlight is a triumph with her agile playing and the kind of voice that gives your goose bumps the shivers.”