Music: Postmodern Country Songs

Nothing about them smells of bluegrass. They’re from San Diego, for one thing, and the fresh faces of Nickel Creek’s musicians make them look like one of those trendy outfits from Iceland. Their influences range from Mozart to Counting Crows, and their tunes have ethereal titles like Ode to a Butterfly. But this nontraditional trio is the biggest thing behind a budding bluegrass revival. Their sound? Something like Dueling Banjos as remixed by Fatboy Slim. This cultural collision of the sweetest kind is the handiwork of guitarist Sean Watkins, 24; his sister Sara, 19, a violinist; and mandolin player Chris Thile, 20. Their virtuoso flights of whimsy give the music’s Celtic roots a postmodern jangle of complexity. Says Watkins: “We want to bring the acoustic message to youth right now.”

Nickel Creek has been hailed by country fans turned off by the superslick pop sound that Nashville has been peddling in recent years. The band members earned their right to be playful with the form by becoming some of the best players around. They learned their tricks from “newgrass” innovators such as Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, then went off in search of even sweeter harmonies and trickier licks. Now success is arriving faster than the Orange Blossom Special. Nickel Creek’s video, When You Come Back Down, is in heavy rotation on CMT, and its eponymous debut album cracked the Billboard country Top 20 and earned two Grammy nominations. Says Alison Krauss, herself a former bluegrass prodigy, who produced the band’s album: “I can’t imagine what they’ll be doing in a year.” And that’s just the point, for to hear Nickel Creek is to hear the vibrant reinvention of a classic form.