Last night (April 17th), I had the pleasure of hearing one of my fiddling role models, Sara Watkins live in concert!! She was a member of the band Nickel Creek, which I have been a fan of for years. Sara has played with many other artists and most recently played with Fiction Family (consisting of Switchfoot's Jon Foreman and her brother and Nickel Creek's Sean Watkins). I went to that concert mainly in support of Sean Watkins and secretly hoping that Sara would make an appearance. And she did not disappoint! It was then that I heard about her up-and-coming debut album to be produced by former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. The release day at the end of February could not come soon enough. I debated waiting for the show to hear her new stuff or purchasing the album on Itunes ahead of time. I decided a day before the concert to go ahead and buy in order to be prepared for her new creations. I knew I loved all her work and would buy her music either way. Well, the concert was amazing! She has an energy and presence on stage like none other. Her brother was on stage performing with her as backup for most of the time. Their sibling antics and interaction with the audience was hysterical. It was interesting to me, to see how Sean was much more comfortable talking and joking around with the audience when he was performing with his sister, than when he was on stage with John Foreman in Family Fiction. If I were to be in a band, I would like to be in one like Nickel Creek/Watkins. She is not under a Christian label, but does Christian covers, as well as alt-country and bluegrass covers. And of course she writes her own original pieces as well. She has a unique style and sound all her own and she's not afraid to put herself out there.
SO I decided to do the same. The show was about to end and I had not heard my favorite song on her new album. My friend Rebekah agreed with me that I needed to do something drastic if I wanted to hear the song. I was waiting for an opportunity to yell out a request for it, but she had no pause for a breath. She's a fast talker and it was hard to find a chance to interject. Well, she announced that the next song would be their last and I knew that this was my last opportunity. She took a half-breath and I yelled out "Can you play "My Friend" too?" She paused and looked in my direction, with a look like, you have a lot of nerve and yet your gutsiness impresses me! She quickly responded back, "whether I play another song is for you to decide. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But if i do play another I will take your request into consideration." Sure enough, an encore ensued and she played my request!! Prior to that, she said, I know someone requested my friend. It was a girl from that area (as she pointed in my direction). She said she felt quite honored as this was the first time someone had requested a song off her solo album. She was quite excited! I loved the song that she had written, b/c of the simple words and melody. And it just resonated with me. It's one of those songs you can drift to sleep listening to, as I had the night before. So now I will introduce you to my friend...
My Friend
