Episode 140: Watkins Family Hour

Listen to an interview with Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins about their new album, ‘Watkins Family Hour Volume 2’ and much more.

By Team JamBase Sep 8, 2022 • 10:13 am PDT

Episode 140 of The JamBase Podcast, a partner of the Osiris Media Network, features an interview with the Watkins Family Hour. JamBase’s Nate Todd interviewed siblings Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins about the new Watkins Family Hour album, Vol. II, and much more.

Nate spoke with Sara and Sean on-site at this year’s High Sierra Music Festival, where the duo performed two sets over the course of the weekend. The interview focused on Watkins Family Hour’s recently released album, Vol. II. The LP sees Sara and Sean commemorating 20 years of the Watkins Family Hour as well as paying homage to where the project began, at the renowned Los Angeles venue, Largo.

Sean and Sara — who are two-thirds of the band Nickel Creek along with Chris Thile — began performing at Largo during time off from their busy Nickel Creek touring schedule. A hangout for L.A. musicians, the sessions were naturally highly collaborative and the duo wanted to highlight that collaborative spirit on Vol. II, bringing in a number of guests for the record including Fiona Apple, Jon Brion, Jackson Browne, Madison Cunningham, Lucius, Gaby Moreno, Benmont Tench, Willie Watson and more.

Sean and Sara discussed how their guests helped to inform the song selection on Vol. II as well as some of the arrangements on the 11-track, all covers set. The duo detailed working at the historic EastWest Studios in Los Angeles where a number of landmark records have been made including The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Sean and Sara also talked in-depth about the album’s lead single, a stellar arrangement of Tune Yards’ “Hypnotized.” Additionally, the conversation touched on performing the songs live as well as a busy fall touring schedule around Vol. II and more.

This episode is sponsored by Psychedelic Art Exchange. Psychedelic Art Exchange is the premier source to buy, sell, and learn about vintage concert posters. Explore decades’ worth of exciting collectible concert art from the 1960s to the modern day featuring the Grateful Dead, Phish, and many more of your favorite bands and artists. Be on the lookout for JamBase’s four-part series documenting the history of concert posters. Visit www.concertpostergallery.com to explore their expanding online store or to bid on vintage rarities in one of their twice-monthly auctions. Happy collecting!

Stream Episode 140 of The JamBase Podcast via all major podcast services including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Podcast.