Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz + Aoife O’Donovan – Live @ SJE Arts
aaamusic | On 09, May 2015
Wednesday 29th April, Oxford
Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan have great charm. They’re central to the world of American folk, roots and acoustic music. After a performance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2014 they decided to collaborate with an “I’m With Her” tour to include a mix of each other’s songs, covers and traditional songs.
Californian singer-songwriter Sara Watkins is fiddler with progressive bluegrass band Nickel Creek where she joins her brother Sean Watkins (guitar) and Chris Thile (mandolin). She also plays guitar and ukulele and has released two solo albums, Sara Watkins and Sun Midnight Sun on Nonesuch Records.
New York based singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz graduated from New England Conservatory and plays banjo, guitar, mandolin and octave mandolin. In 2013 she released Build Me Up From Bones, her third album for Sugar Hill Records, which received two Grammy nominations and also a nomination for The Americana Music Association’s Album of the Year.
Aoife O’Donovan, Brooklyn based and a graduate from New England Conservatory, is known for her prolific songwriting. She was lead singer and main songwriter for Crooked Still, the successful progressive string band, and has worked with Alison Krauss and Dave Douglas. A collaboration with talented producer Tucker Martine resulted in the outstanding solo debut album Fossils.
The trio’s SJE Oxford event began with ‘Crossing Muddy Waters’, a beautiful cover of John Hyatt’s tender song. ‘Runaway’ ,‘Fuel the Fire’ and ‘Build Me Up From Bones’, were stunning songs by Sarah Jarosz’ and the depth and versatility of Aoife O’Donovan‘s music became clear with ‘Beekeeper’,‘Captain’s Clock’ and ‘Red & White & Blue & Gold’. Sara Watkins also sparkled with her personal and elegant compositions: ‘Be There’ ,‘You and Me’ and ‘The Ward Accord’. Magically the trio closed with an ethereal version of the Emmylou Harris gospel song ‘Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn’.
All three musicians have a history of contributing richly to The Transatlantic Sessions . They’re an extraordinary trio who have found common ground and a collective identity through their current tour. They’re remarkable instrumentally and with clear voices sing in glorious harmony.
