New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Sean Watkins has long been known for his work as one-third of the Grammy Award-winning trio Nickel Creek and, more recently, for helming the itinerant and genre-hopping ensemble Watkins Family Hour with his sister Sara. However, in the last year he has more assertively - and impressively - taken on the role of solo artist. On March 18, Sean will release his new album What To Fear via Thirty Tigers, a follow-up to 2014's acclaimed All I Do Is Lie, which had been his first solo record in nearly a decade. Today, Consequence of Sound debuted his new single "Keep Your Promises II."
LISTEN: Sean Watkins - "Keep Your Promises II" on Consequence of Sound:
On his own, Watkins displays tremendous warmth and soulfulness as a singer, a refreshing candor and humor as a lyricist, and prodigious skill as an arranger. On What To Fear, he bolsters an acoustic lineup with a rock rhythm section, bringing drama and drive to these new tracks while keeping intact the emotional intimacy of all the stories he is telling.
Watkins deftly juggles the observational and the autobiographical, convincingly taking on the personalities of others - a stalker, a preacher, a cynical newscaster - and then juxtaposing them with a voice that is clearly his own. Watkins' singing unites disparate narrative threads; he's disarmingly honest and sympathetic, no matter whom the character he is channeling might be. Similarly, he has managed to combine the work of his acoustic collaborators - the gifted young Northern Californian trio Bee Eaters - with the robust bass and drums combo of Matt Chamberlain and Mike Elizondo.
Rolling Stone first announced the album last month with the premiere of the title track which they called "an articulate, razor-edged folk song, made up of equal parts melody and message."
What To Fear includes guest-star turns from Sara as well as pianist Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and bassist Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing). Having friends and family on board has long been a hallmark of every Watkins project, however What To Fear is all about Sean Watkins himself, front and center, as his songwriting matures and his persona as a solo performer blooms.
Unlike most of his peers, Watkins has been a performer for more than 25 years. He was a mere 12 years old when he played his first gig with Nickel Creek at a San Diego pizza parlor who's star ascended quickly, including a "Best Contemporary Folk Album" Grammy with 2002's This Side. Since then, Watkins has released three solo efforts as well as albums with Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman as the duo Fiction Family and with fellow guitarist Glen Phillips as Works Progress Administration, an eight-piece band featuring a stellar lineup of fellow L.A. session players. He's also been regularly invited to record and tour with artists such as Jackson Browne and Lyle Lovett.
Track List:
01) What To Fear
02) Last Time For Everything
03) I Am What You Want
04) Keep Your Promises II
05) Everything
06) Where You Were Living
07) Too Little Too Late
08) Local Honey
09) Tribulations
10) Back On My Feet
US Tour Dates:
03/29 - Northampton, MA @ Parlor Room
03/30 - Cambridge, MA @ Club Passim
03/31 - New York, NY @ City Winery
04/01 - Philadelphia, PA @ Boot and Saddle
04/02 - Vienna, VA @ Barns at Wolf Trap
04/05 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
04/06 - Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle
04/07 - Athens, GA @ The Foundry
04/08 - Decatur, GA @ Eddie's Attic
04/09 - Chattanooga, TN @ Barking Legs Theatre
04/10 - Nashville, TN @ Station Inn
04/12 - St. Louis, MO @ Duck Room
04/13 - Chesterfield, MO @ Break Room Concerts
04/14 - Davenport, IA @ Redstone Room
04/15 - Madison, WI @ Frequency
04/16 - Marshfield, WI @ Vox Concert Series
04/17 - Minneapolis, MN @ Dakota
04/19 - Chicago, IL @ City Winery
05/07 - Carlsbad, CA @ Museum of Making Music
05/08 - Phoenix, AZ @ Music Instrument Museum
05/10 - Santa Barbara, CA @ SoHo
05/11 - Berkeley, CA @ Freight & Salvage
05/12 - Grass Valley, CA @ Center for the Arts
05/14 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
05/15 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
