Sean Charles WatkinsSean Charles Watkins Writing Credits at ASCAP.com
/ref> (born February 18, 1977) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is a member of the

contemporary folk Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid-20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music. Starting in the mid-20th century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from trad ...

band

Nickel Creek Nickel Creek (formerly known as the Nickel Creek Band) is an American bluegrass music, bluegrass band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), and siblings Sara Watkins (fiddle) and Sean Watkins (guitar). Formed in 1989 in Southern California, the ...

, the duo

Fiction Family Fiction Family is a musical collaboration between Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman and Nickel Creek guitarist Sean Watkins. The duo's self-titled, full-length album was released on January 20, 2009. The band has since added a drummer and a bassis ...

and the supergroup

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

. He is the brother of

Sara Watkins Sara Ullrika Watkins (born June 8, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler. Watkins debuted in 1989 as the fiddler of Nickel Creek, the progressive bluegrass group she formed with her brother Sean and mandolinist Chris Thile. In addi ...

Career

Nickel Creek

Sean Watkins began his tenure with Nickel Creek playing mandolin, but later switched to guitar. The band has released six albums and a CD composed of their hits (called ''Reasons Why: The Very Best'') and won a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

for ''

This Side ''This Side'' is the Grammy-winning third album by the progressive bluegrass band Nickel Creek, released on Sugar Hill in the summer of 2002. It gained attention in indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that o ...

'' – a coveted trophy that Watkins reportedly put on top of his toilet at home. Explaining the somewhat odd situation, Watkins said that "it seems like a humble place. I didn't want to put it out in plain view of my house. I didn't feel like displaying it right when you walk in. It's a nice crown for the porcelain."Million-selling trio Nickel Creek gives bluegrass a facelift
/ref> In addition to playing with Nickel Creek, Watkins has released multiple solo albums. As a solo musician, his early material was contemporary bluegrass, but he has since incorporated other influences into his music (especially indie rock.) Watkins' solo music career seems to reflect Nickel Creek's: turning from traditional bluegrass songs to indie rock with bluegrass instrumentation. He is the oldest member of

. Sean qualified for the National Flatpicking Championship in 1993 at age 16. His sister

, also a member of

, plays violin and sings background vocals on the two latest of his three solo albums. In 2004,

participated in a project dubbed ''Mutual Admiration Society'', a collaboration with former

Toad The Wet Sprocket Toad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in Santa Barbara, California, in 1986. The band at the time consisted of vocalist/guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss, ...

singer Glen Phillips. Sean and

Sara Sara may refer to: People * Sara (given name), a feminine given name People with the given name * Sara Aboobacker (1936–2023), Indian writer and translator * Sara Ahmed (born 1969), British-Australian writer * Sara Allgood (1880–1950), Ir ...

are also part of the 2007 soundtrack for the psychological thriller '' Bug'' with the track "No Way to Live".

Current projects

In 2006, Sean and

Switchfoot Switchfoot is an American rock music, rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drum kit, drums, percussion), and Jerome Fontamillas (g ...

frontman

Jon Foreman Jonathan Mark Foreman (born October 22, 1976) is an American musician who is the lead singer, guitarist, primary songwriter, and co-founder of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. As a solo act, Foreman has released 14 extended plays and two st ...

started a collaborating duo called The Real SeanJon.Nickel Creek Official Website
/ref>Watkins, Sean. "a very long blog about what i'm up to". ''MySpace''. January 5, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2007. In March 2008, the duo announced that they had changed their band name to

. In a spring 2008 interview, Jon Foreman said that the album would have a summer 2008 release and the duo was considering having the album be distributed by

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

. However, a September 2008 press release by Nickel Creek confirmed that the album, ''Fiction Family'', is to be released on January 20, 2009, on

ATO Records ATO Records (or According to Our Records) is an American independent record label based in New York City. The label was established in 2000 by Dave Matthews and manager Coran Capshaw. ATO's roster includes My Morning Jacket, Brittany Howard, ...

. In January 2008, it was reported by

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

that a new supergroup octet tentatively named The Scrolls had formed, now known officially as

(W.P.A.). The octet is composed of Watkins, his sister Sara Watkins (fiddle), Glen Phillips (guitar, vocals),

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin M ...

(piano), Luke Bulla (fiddle),

Greg Leisz Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, banjo, lap steel and pedal steel guitar. Biography Leisz grew up in the garage ba ...

(various), Pete Thomas (drums), and

Davey Faragher David Allen "Davey" Faragher (born August 18, 1957) is an American bass guitarist from Redlands, California. Faragher's career took off and received critical notice as a founding member of the nineties band Cracker, and his subsequent work wit ...

(bass). The group released their self-titled debut album on August 28, 2009. As the group continued, the lead singer-songwriters Watkins (Sean), Phillips, and Bulla were considered the core group and were supported by others when their projects made it possible. Bulla is no longer considered part of the group and as of summer 2011, their most recent lineup was Watkins and Phillips supported by Jerry Roe on drums and Sebastian Steinberg on bass guitar. Sean and sister Sara play regularly at the Largo nightclub in Los Angeles as "The Watkins Family Hour". Keyboardist

(of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and bassist

Sebastian Steinberg Sebastian Steinberg (born February 20, 1959) is an American double bass, bass player, best known for his work in the band Soul Coughing. Biography Steinberg played with Soul Coughing throughout the band's entire history, from 1992 to 2000. In 200 ...

(formerly of Soul Coughing) are regular participants and other guest musicians from the Largo family generally show up as well, including

Jon Brion Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and The Grays (band), the Grays before becoming an established pro ...

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She released five albums from 1996 to 2020, all of which reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart. As of 2021, she has sold over ...

, Don Heffington,

, and former Nickel Creek bandmate

Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile (; born February 20, 1981) is an American mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive blue ...

when he is in town. The irregular collaboration lead to a 2015 album and tour under the same name. Sean has also frequently supported his sister Sara on guitar and vocals for her solo dates since the release of her debut album in April 2009. In addition, Watkins plans to release what he calls "15 minutes of noise" as a digital download on his website. He said that the final product was "very strange", and that there would "be some cool art to go with it". In October 2013, Sean announced that he had completed a record entitled ''All I Do Is Lie'', which was released in June 2014.

Personal life

Sean married musician Dominique Arciero on October 19th, 2019 in

Vista, California Vista (; Spanish language, Spanish for "view") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is a medium-sized city within the San Diego-Carlsbad metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, V ...

. They currently reside in northeast

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Discography

Solo

* '' Let It Fall'' (2001) * '' 26 Miles'' (2003) * '' Blinders On'' (2005) * '' All I Do Is Lie'' (2014) * '' What to Fear'' (2016) * ''This Is Who We Are'' (2020) – with The Bee Eaters

Nickel Creek

Fiction Family

With Watkins Family Hour

Albums

*Watkins Family Hour (2015) *Brother Sister (2020)

References

External links

Sean's websiteNickel Creek's websiteLAist Interview with Sean WatkinsFiction Family WebsiteWorks Progress Administration website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Sean People from Vista, California Nickel Creek members 1977 births American country singer-songwriters American folk guitarists American male guitarists American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from California Living people American bluegrass mandolinists Guitarists from California 21st-century American singer-songwriters Country musicians from California 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers Works Progress Administration (band) members Mutual Admiration Society (band) members