While much of what I wrote about for the Merlefest trip, had to do with the girl I had gone with (we had, in effect, a 2 day first date!), here's the big musical takeaway:
"Chris Thile will be the name to remember . . ."
That was April 2000. And here I am 14 years later, thrilled to have seen Chris Thile, Sean Watkins and Sara Watkins, together and in other configurations another half-dozen times, with the promise of seeing them together again this summer when they come to Newport Folk.
It was notable that at Newport Folk 2012, the 3 members of Nickel Creek were all on campus, but did not play together. Chris Thile was performing with Punch Brothers; Sara Watkins was there as a solo act, with her brother Sean as part of her band.
At the time I said to myself, they'll probably play together, but not until the time is right, and now is not the time.
18 months later, now IS the time.
In the 9 years since their last record, collectively the 3 members of Nickel Creek have put out records under their individual names, and worked on projects as part of Fiction Family, Goat Rodeo, The Decemberists and WPA, as well as making guest appearances on many, many other projects.
All of this musical exploration can only mean great things, as the already talented and progressive members of Nickel Creek can return to the band with fresh ideas, perspective and confidence.
I'm on vacation this week, so I'm keeping the posts brief (but hopefully still interesting).
Occasionally, there is some specious reasoning that goes into why I might want to add a song.
A few months ago, while rooting around for older songs that would sound good to add to the mvy library, we pulled out Nickel Creek's "Lighthouse's Tale."
We have several lighthouse songs in rotation. It's geographically appropriate.
So when I remembered that Vampire Weekend had a really great song called "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" I thought we should go back and revisit it. Because it's geographically appropriate.
It IS now in our library.
But really, does it have anything to do with Cape Cod?
Welcome to another segment of "Let Me Ruin This Song For You."
(If you missed the first entry, you should probably read this)
You, perhaps, remember this as the song that brought Nickel Creek from the bluegrass scene to a more eclectic, beyond-Americana stage. The kind of folks who say they don't like country music, but listen to Lyle Lovett and Lucinda Williams.
You remember it as a great leap forward to a wider audience from a promising young, forward-thinking band who had an exciting vision.
Let me ruin this song for you.
I saw Nickel Creek in concert around the time this album came out, where they sheepishly explained that the lyrics of this song were written after a viewing of "The Matrix."
Dude, this song is, like, totally about an alternate reality.
What's more "Country" sounding to you? A mandolin or a banjo?
My instinct would be to say, a banjo. You can slip a mandolin into a tasteful rock song (think "Losing My Religion") but you can't hide the twang of a banjo.
I wrote about Nickel Creek last week, and a friend from high school commented that it was strange that a progressive act like Nickel Creek never found the mass-appeal audience that Mumford & Sons is finding.
Why?
Both are great bands with great songs. And both are driven by instruments that are country-music-associated.
But only one band gets airplay on Modern Rock radio.
I can remember when this Mumford & Sons song song came in to mvy and we had decided we'd play it, but I did note that it was pretty remarkable that a song with a driving banjo was receiving widespread acceptance.
But how is it different, or "less country" than Nickel Creek?
I'm not sure, but I'll share my theory.
It's a simple guilt-by-association.
Nickel Creek came up from the bluegrass scene, shepherded by the likes of Alison Krauss. No matter how many Nirvana or Pavement covers they went on to do, they were always going to be a "Country" act.
Mumford & Sons is from the U.K. They aren't associated with American mainstream country in any way whatsoever.
And here's where we get to the prejudice.
Just as there are many people who won't listen to the Grateful Dead because of the culture of Deadheads, there are people who steadfastly won't listen to anything Country music, because of some of the stereotypes that Country is associated with.
So even a cool band like Nickel Creek, gets the cold shoulder.
But a cool band like Mumford & Sons, one that's foreign and dynamic and whatever, catches the attention of folks because they are unfettered by that blanket bologna.
Listen to both songs, and tell me which is more "Country."
And tonight, listen to mvy Live at 9pm, as we play the Chris Thile (formerly of Nickel Creek) and Michael Daves set from Newport Folk 2011, at 9pm ET. You can also hear the set on demand, or even download it at mvyradio's Newport Folk 2011 page.
This week, I'm looking at artists that we came to play later in their career, asking the question "should we go back and play the band's earlier tracks?"
I can remember sometime around 2000, being in the mvyradio production room with Barbara. I'd been telling her about a band I'd seen at Merlefest the year before, that I thought might be a good fit for mvy.
Nickel Creek had just released their first major record, and I had had an early window into this band, as they had played the North Carolina festival as teenagers, wowing both the crowd and the older musicians with their progressive excellence.
"The Lighthouse's Tale" had even made a ripple on CMT, where the video was getting some play.
Barbara and I listened, and I can remember her comment: It was good, but it wasn't quite there.
Where was "There" I asked myself? And, truthfully, I still ask myself that question, most every day, about half the songs that cross my path.
If you were looking at baseball stats, you could easily quantify when something was "There."
(What's that? Pedro has thrown 110 pitches? Then for God's Sake, take him out of the game! He's There!)
But with art, you can't quantify things as easily.
It makes sense, of course. Some bands are strong enough, some songs are strong enough, that they deserve to get regular airplay. And some bands and songs are not strong enough.
But where is that line?
That's the "There" Barbara was talking about.
Nickel Creek's early, self-released albums probably weren't even close to being mature or strong enough for regular airplay. And Nickel Creek's second major release was strong enough---we did play "This Side."
But that first major release, well, it was close, but we didn't end up playing it, because it didn't quite cross that arbitrary line of "There."
So now it's many years later, and we've played a bunch of Nickel Creek songs in regular rotation. They have built up a reputation as a quality band. They have a fan base and a recognizable sound.
We could go back and add it to rotation. But should we?
One of the cool things about doing an interview with an artist, is that even though you are recording it, or broadcasting it for all to hear, there is a part of you that is just a fan, who's getting a little concert-for-one.
Glen Phillips was on the road a couple of years ago, with his old band Toad The Wet Sprocket. But he also had a solo album out at the time, so I headed over to The Cape Cod Melody Tent to chat with him. They gave us some space in a "dressing room" which was basically a large walk-in closet with a mirror. And there we sat. He played some songs, and talked brightly about his new record.
As often happens, the conversation continued after the tape stopped rolling. We talked current events for a few minutes, and some trouble in the Middle East prompted him to offer to cover Randy Newman's "Political Science."
And we talked about Pete Thomas.
Pete Thomas has been part of Elvis Costello's Attractions and Imposters. And Pete had worked on a side project with Glen a few years previous. I'd been to the Melody Tent a few weeks earlier, and had seen Pete play with Elvis. And just the mention of how good he was, sparked Glen's excitement. We talked with great enthusiasm about how incredible Pete is.
So it wasn't a huge surprise to get the W.P.A. record in, and find out that it's Glen, and Pete Thomas, and some other folks Glen talks about in the interview, Sean and Sara Watkins from Nickel Creek.
Sara Watkins was one-third of the band Nickel Creek, and this is from her 2009 solo album.
It’s a funny thing, going from a democratic band, to being the solo force.
In the band, you are part of the sound, part of the chemistry. Your contribution is balanced or buoyed or offset by the contributions of the other players.
So when you are on your own, the dynamic that was evident as an ingredient in the group, is suddenly the only flavor there. It’s like eating chicken soup, chicken soup, chicken soup, and then you’re served a steaming bowl of just carrots in broth. It’s not that the carrots taste bad, but you immediately, naturally, miss the other flavors.
It’s kind of unfair. This is a really cool song, with an effective arrangement and some great playing, but the initial reaction is that it sounds like an incomplete Nickel Creek song.
I'm the Program and Music Director of mvyradio, a broadcast and internet station on the Island of Martha's Vineyard. You can hear it here.
I've been in radio since the early 90s, programming shows. As Music Director, I receive dozens of CDs and songs every week, from Record Labels, Promotion People and Independent Artists. I try to listen to everything anyone asks me to.
So the old iTunes list is pretty long.
The idea of this blog is to go to that list, grab one (usually at random, but not always) and write about it. Every song has a story. How it fits into the artists oeuvre. What it meant to me when I first heard it.
I'll try to post the song in full, whenever possible, and I invite you to listen and tell me what it makes you think of.
And for more great music, you can stream mvyradio from anywhere in the world, here.
