NICKEL CREEK’S NEW SONG
‘WHERE THE LONG LINE LEADS’ DEBUTS TODAY
CELEBRANTS – OUT MARCH 24TH,
FIRST NEW ALBUM IN NINE YEARS
LONDON BARBICAN HEADLINE SHOW – SEPT 1ST, 2023
GRAMMY Award-winning trio Nickel Creek’s new song, “Where the Long Line Leads,” written by mandolinist Chris Thile, violinist Sara Watkins and guitarist Sean Watkins, is debuting today.
Reflecting on the song, the band shares, “‘Where the Long Line Leads’ is the hardest we’ve ever sang and played on record, perhaps because the subject matter gets us all riled up, as does the harmonic progression, which almost feels like it’s playing tug-o-war with itself under our fingers.”
“Where the Long Line Leads” is the third rack unveiled from Nickel Creek’s highly anticipated new album, Celebrants, which will be released March 24 via Thirty Tigers (pre-order). Their fifth studio album and first new release in nine years, Celebrants marks a long-awaited return for the beloved trio and explores the inherent dynamics of human connection. Across the 18 tracks, the group addresses love, friendship and time with lyrics both poetic and plain-spoken, as they see bridges built, crossed, burned and rebuilt. Recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studio A, the album was produced by longtime collaborator Eric Valentine (Queens of the Stone Age, Grace Potter, Weezer) and features Mike Elizondo on bass.
Ahead of the release, Nickel Creek has unveiled two additional album tracks: “Holding Pattern” and “Strangers”.
In celebration of the new music, Nickel Creek will return to the road next month with their first headline tour since 2014 and will visit the UK again for a run of festival dates, including The Long Road, and a special show at London’ Barbican on September 1st. The band recently played two extremely special sold out shows at London’s Union Chapel.
Of the project, the band reflects, “This is a record about embracing the friction inherent in real human connection. We begin the record yearning for and pursuing harmonious connection. We end the record having realised that truly harmonious connection can only be achieved through the dissonance that we’ve spent our entire adult lives trying to avoid.”
Together a sum of more than their staggering parts, Nickel Creek revolutionised bluegrass and folk in the early 2000s and ushered in a new era of what we now recognise as Americana music.
After meeting as young children and subsequently earning the respect of the bluegrass circuit for a decade, the trio signed with venerable label, Sugar Hill Records, in 2000 and quickly broke through with their Grammy-nominated, Alison Krauss-produced self-titled LP. Since that effort, the trio has released three more studio albums to date: 2002’s This Side, which won Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 45th Grammy Awards, 2005’s Why Should the Fire Die? and 2014’s A Dotted Line.
Each member of Nickel Creek has also taken part in many outside projects over the years. Thile is a 2012 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and served as the host of the American radio variety show Live from Here (formerly A Prairie Home Companion) from 2016 to 2020. He has also released collaborative albums with world-renowned musicians like Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Brad Mehldau and Stuart Duncan as well as six studio albums with his Grammy-winning band, Punch Brothers.
Sean Watkins is a co-founder of Watkins Family Hour alongside Sara, who has released three albums and maintains a long-running collaborative show in Los Angeles. Sean has also released a string of solo albums, while Sara’s extracurricular projects include the aforementioned Watkins Family Hour, as well as the Grammy-winning roots trio, I’m With Her, which she co-founded alongside Aoife O’Donovan and Sarah Jarosz. Sara has released four studio albums and has contributed fiddle to recordings by artists like Phoebe Bridgers, the Killers and John Mayer.
NICKEL CREEK UK TOUR DATES
August
Sat 26th Buckingham, Towersey Festival
Sun 27th Leicester, The Long Road Festival
September
Fri 1st London, Barbican Centre
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My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago and married my childhood sweetheart and life is good.
