Sean and Sara Watkins are at the heart of Watkins Family Hour. Photo by Jacob Boll.
All Swallow Hill Music programming, including concerts, is on hold through March 31, 2020. To learn about postponed and rescheduled concerts, please click here. To read our statement on Swallow Hill’s response to the COVID-19 situation, click here.
American roots music owes a debt of gratitude to family bands. Siblings, in particular, demonstrate how the familiarity of growing up musically with a brother or sister can create passionate, heartfelt art, be it the pioneering bluegrass of The Stanley Brothers or the haunted, high harmonies of the Louvin Brothers. In modern times this tradition is embodied in the voices and musical interplay of Sean and Sara Watkins.
Music fans know Sean and Sara as part of Nickel Creek, as solo artists, or collaborators, such as Sara’s role in I’m With Her. For nearly two decades the brother and sister have also been at the heart of Watkins Family Hour, which has allowed them create new music while exploring well-known and obscure covers alike.
This spring Watkins Family Hour returns as Sean and Sara release brother sister, a finely-honed collection of mostly original songs that finds Sean and Sara poignantly bonding as musicians and siblings.
“From the beginning, our goal was to work on these songs to be as strong as they could be, just the two of us,” Sara explained. “And with a few exceptions on the record, that’s really how things were. It was a tight little group of us, working dense days where we could squeeze them in.”
Swallow Hill Music is excited to present Watkins Family Hour – Sean and Sara – at the First Baptist Church in Denver on Friday, May 15 at 8 p.m.
Tickets for Watkins Family Hour and other shows are on sale now. Get complete details below. Thank you for supporting live music in Denver with Swallow Hill!
FULL EVENT DETAILS
Grant-Lee Phillips is coming to Denver!
Grant-Lee Phillips in Tuft Theatre
Sunday, March 22 at 7 pm; $22 advance, $24 day of show
As the past and present converge and the journey of Grant-Lee Phillips continues, his craftsmanship continues to blossom. In times of tumult, he awakens comfort and hope by shining light into darker corners. With his latest album Widdershins, he invests the insight, nuance, and wit that has distinguished his songcraft over the past three decades in a riveting dissection of today’s fraught social landscape.
Watkins Family Hour at the First Baptist Church
Friday, May 15 at 8pm; $30 day of show, $32 advance
Returning to the studio as Watkins Family Hour, Sean and Sara Watkins consider brother sister a duo-centric record – yet one that feels bigger than just two people. With Sean primarily on guitar and Sara on fiddle, and with both of them sharing vocals, the siblings enlisted producer Mike Viola (Jenny Lewis, Mandy Moore, J.S. Ondara) and mixer-engineer Clay Blair to harness the energy and honesty of their live sound.
Also coming to Swallow Hill Music
Erik Stucky in Quinlan Cafe on Thursday, April 9
Christian Simeon in Tuft Theatre on Friday, April 10
Steff Mahan in Quinlan Cafe on Thursday, April 16
Joshua Lee Fenner and Double Sun in Tuft Theatre on Saturday, April 18