Nickel Creek's Sara Watkins To Release Solo Album Under the Pepper Tree On March 26

Artist: Sara Watkins

Album: Under the Pepper Tree

Label: New West Records

Release date: March 26, 2021

Sara Watkins of the Grammy-winning groups Nickel Creek and I'm With Her, as well as The Watkins Family Hour, will release a family-friendly album of soothing songs called Under the Pepper Tree on March 26th via New West Records. 

The album reunites her Nickel Creek and I'm With Her bandmates & features guest appearances by Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, David Garza, and Watkins' three-year-old daughter.

Created with families in mind, the personal project encompasses songs Sara embraced as a child herself and brings storytelling, solace, and encouragement to the listener, no matter the age. In addition to two stunning original songs, the album includes Sara's renditions of "Pure Imagination" from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, The Beatles' "Good Night," "Moon River" (originally sung by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's), and more. Under the Pepper Tree also reunites Sara's Nickel Creek bandmates Chris Thile and her brother Sean on "Blue Shadows on the Trail" (from the 1986 comedy The Three Amigos), Sara's I'm With Her bandmates Sarah Jarosz & Aoife O'Donovan on "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" (originally performed by Roy Rogers & Sons of the Pioneers), Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes on Harry Nilsson's "Blanket for a Sail," David Garza on Roy Orbison's "Beautiful Dreamer," and Sara's now three-year old daughter on her immensely sweet rendition of The Sound of Music's "Edelweiss."

That Nashville Sound Saturday Newsbytes: New Albums, New Videos & COVID-19 Hits Joe Diffie

As the earth spins around like any other day, our lives living on this big rock are anything but. Terms like social distancing have gone mainstream and yesterday, a massive 2+ trillion dollar economy stimulus bill was passed to help rescue some of the reported 25% of Americans that have lost their job or been furloughed in this crazy time. Here's hoping you can let country music help be a diversion from some of the harsher stuff going on in the world...

~ Country music fans can’t come to Nashville to see the Grand Ole Opry, so Circle All Access and the Opry are bringing Saturday Night Opry to the globe. Tune in tonight for the Opry’s 4,917th consecutive Saturday night show as Vince Gill, Amy Grant, daughters Jenny Gill and Corrina Grant Gill take the stage for an intimate live performance.  Tune in to the livestream event at 8PM ET / 7PM CT on Saturday, March 28 at Circle All Access on Facebook, or Circle All Access on YouTube.

~ Think a healthy thought for country legend Joe Diffie. Diffie, 61, has tested positive for COVID-19, he said via a statement. “I am under the care of medical professionals and currently receiving treatment. My family and I are asking for privacy at this time. We want to remind the public and all my fans to be vigilant, cautious and careful during this pandemic,” Diffie said.

~ Craig Morgan unveiled the details on his upcoming latest album, God, Family, Country, set for release May 22 on Broken Bow. The album includes five new tracks and remastered versions of some songs recorded over the past six years along with his faith-filled tribute to his son Jerry, “The Father, My Son, and the Holy Ghost.” Says Morgan, “This album is based on everything that’s happened in my life and my career,” Craig says. “I feel like I have some of the most quality songs I’ve ever recorded, and there is a new energy here. After all I’ve been through, I’m at one of the most inspired places I’ve ever been.”

~ Watkins Family Hour, the acclaimed musical collective featuring Grammy Award-winning siblings Sara and Sean Watkins (also 2/3 of the band Nickel Creek) announced their upcoming new album, brother sister, which is due April 10 via Family Hour Records/Thirty Tigers. Of the project, Sara shares, “It felt really good to dig into the potential of two people…the primary goal of this record became to see what we could do when it is just the two of us. The arrangements and the writing were all focused on that. Listening now, I’m really proud of what we did. These are songs that would not have come out of either one of us individually and it feels like a band sound, like this is what we do, the two of us.”

~ Sarah Jarosz announced that she will be releasing her 5th solo album, World On The Ground, on June 5th. Says, Jarosz on the project, "World On The Ground captures the music that producer John Leventhal and I created in the control room of his home studio in Manhattan throughout the second half of 2019. Many of the performances that made it onto the album were often demos that neither of us thought would be the final takes. From the beginning of this recording process, John challenged me to be more detailed in my writing — to create lyrics that told a story. A wealth of ideas opened up from the moment we began working together, and so many of the images that emerged during the writing process were based on my memories of the landscape, the people, and my experiences growing up in the Texas Hill Country."

~ Kip Moore also announced an upcoming project announcing that his fourth album Wild World will be released on May 29. Says Moore on the new album, “We wanted this project to be more in-your-face. More earthy, more analog. I know it’s an unsettling time for a lot of people right now, and so my hope is that this music can bring even just one person some peace. I try to make music that reaches people in a pure sense – something that’s light and easy to carry with you, but 1000 pounds of weight at the same time, and I think Wild World is just a depiction of what I see. Life is one crazy, wild ride. But it can be so simple if we look for the right things, and I think that is more important than ever right now.”

~ The new album announcements just keep coming. Gwen Sebastian will be releasing the album sequel of sorts to her 2017 project with an April 24th release of Once Upon A Time In The West: Act II on Flying Island Records. 

~ And last, but certainly not least, Lennon Stella has a new project coming out called Three. Two. One. out on April 24th as well. It is the debut album from the Nashville-based singer, songwriter, actress, and multi-instrumentalist. Stella first rose to popularity when she was just 12 years old as part of the duo Lennon & Maisy, alongside her younger sister. The pair gained national attention with a cover of Robyn's "Call Your Girlfriend". Lennon then went on to star in the ABC/CMT smash television series Nashville as Maddie Conrad for six years.

~ New music videos and key live performances that just came out:

      Mike Aiken - "Nashville Skyline"
      Matt Stell - "Everywhere But On"
      Willie & Lukas Nelson & Family - "Turn Off The World And Start A Garden"
      Huey Lewis & The News - "Her Love Is Killin' Me"
      The Mastersons - "King of the Castle"
      Ben Rector - "I Saw The Moon"
      LeAnn Rimes - "There Will Be A Better Day"
      Gone West - "What Could've Been"
      Ingrid Andress - "The Stranger"
      Margo Price - "Nobody Told Me" (John Lennon cover)
      Granger Smith - "Don't Cough On Me" (parody song on the toilet paper shortage)
   
~ Earlier this week, we announced some country artists that were going to stream online concerts. Here's a handful more that have been added in the last couple days.

Chris Bandi
Date: Saturday, March 28
Time: 12pm ET / 11am CT
Title: Kindness Isn’t Canceled
https://www.instagram.com/nycountryswag

Temecula Road and Adam Doleac
Date: Saturday, March 28
Time: 5:30pm ET / 4:30pm CT
https://www.instagram.com/temecularoad/
+ https://www.instagram.com/adamdoleac/

Temecula Road
Date: Monday, March 30
Time: 5:30pm ET / 4:30pm CT

https://www.instagram.com/radiodisneycountry/

Carly Pearce

Date: Monday, March 30

Time: 2 p.m. CT
What: Livestream performance with iHeartCountry.
Where: Instagram

Logan Mize
Date: Monday, March 30
Time: 2 p.m. CT
What: #BYDCouchConcert: livestream series to help spread positivity during this time of crisis.
Where: Instagram

Jimmie Allen
Date: Monday, March 30
Time: 2 p.m. CT
Where: Instagram

Logan Mize
Date: Monday, March 30
Time: 3 p.m. CT
What: Couch Concert Series benefitting MusiCares.
Where: Instagram

Carly Pearce
Date: Monday, March 30
Time: 6 p.m. CT
What: Live performance.
Where: Facebook

Brandy Clark
Date: Monday, March 30
Time: 6 p.m.
What: Weekly book club.
Where: Instagram and Facebook

Caitlyn Smith with Cam
Date: Tuesday, March 31
Time: 2 p.m. CT
What: Lonely Together series.
Where: Instagram

Sam Riggs
Date: Tuesday, March 31
Time: 3 p.m. CT
What: Couch Concert Series benefitting MusiCares.
Where: Instagram

Jordan Davis
Date: Tuesday, March 31
Time: 4 p.m. CT
What: Playing new album and discussing the songs.
When: Instagram and Facebook

Parmalee
Date: Tuesday, March 31
Time: 4 p.m. CT
Where: Instagram

Lucas Hoge
Date: Tuesday, March 31
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
What: Tequila Tuesday with special guest.
Where: Instagram

Matt Stell with Lindsay Ell, Jameson Rodgers and Hardy
Date: Wednesday, April 1
Time: 9pm ET / 8pm CT
https://www.instagram.com/mattstellmusic/
What: Each artist performs a new song they wrote solo that week while in quarantine

George Ducas
Wide Open Country
Date, Friday, April 3
Time: 9pm ET/ 8pm CT
https://www.facebook.com/WOCountry/

New Music Video From Watkins Family Hour- "Steal Your Heart Away"

Sara Watkins & Sean Watkins To Release Watkins Family Hour Project On July 24

For singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalists Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins, the Watkins Family Hour has long been an oasis from the rigors of the road, a laboratory where they can try out new material or master beloved cover songs. This revival of sorts has resulted in WFH in releasing their debut album out July 24th, 2015 on Family Hour Records / Thirty Tigers.

Their monthly show at L.A.’s famed venue Largo has been hailed as a convivial, communal event where they welcome an impressive array of musician friends old and new. While it’s true that fans who aren’t lucky enough to be in L.A. and score a coveted ticket can check out the proceedings via youtube or on the podcasts the Watkins siblings have created, the fun of these evenings is really in being there as the unscripted show unfolds. The Watkins Family Hour is always full of surprises, unexpected guests, one-of-a-kind match-ups; serendipity plays as much of a role as virtuosity. Fiona Apple often joins them, and recent guests have included Dawes, Jackson Browne, Nikka Costa, Booker T. and actor-singer John C. Reilly, as well as comedians Paul F. Tompkins, Nick Kroll and Pete Holmes.

Now Sara and Sean have decided to take their Family Hour format on the road -- a kind of musical pop-up shop, if you will -- to clubs and concert halls around the country. And to mark this undertaking, this summer they are releasing the first-ever Watkins Family Hour LP on their own Family Hour Records imprint. The album, recorded live over three days in the studio of their friend and producer-engineer Sheldon Gomberg, beautifully captures the freewheeling spirit of the shows. It features Apple and the stellar players who have become a de facto house band: drummer Don Heffington, pedal steel and dobro player Greg Leisz, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, and keyboardist Benmont Tench, each of whom take a vocal turn at the mic. The Watkins Family Hour is an all-covers affair; tracks include Sara doing Lindsey Buckingham’s “Steal Your Heart Away,” Sean essaying Roger Miller’s wistful “Not In Nottingham,” from Disney’s 1973 animated Robin Hood, and Apple singing “Where I Ought To Be,” originally performed by Skeeter Davis.

On tour, the Watkinses plan to make every venue they visit a home away from home. In each town, they’ll extend an invitation to the many artists they’ve befriended over the years -- through their touring in Nickel Creek, as solo artists, and as frequent collaborators with other like-minded musicians from the worlds of bluegrass, folk, country and rock.

“Taking the Watkins Family Hour on tour and releasing this record feels like the right next step,” says Sara. “The show is about a community of players and that community stretches across the country. If we can’t get everyone to L.A. to do our show, we’ll come to them.”

“The Family Hour has always been something we’ve really loved,” echoes Sean. “It’s been an amazing outlet for us for so many years. Until recently we had thought of it as just an L.A. thing at Largo. But now we feel it’s time to take the show out to more people.”