26 Miles

After the disappointment of Nickel Creek's second CD last year, I was a little concerned as to what Sean Watkins might come up with for his second so ...

26 Miles
Provided By:The Daily Vault

26 Miles
Sean Watkins
Sugar Hill Records, 2003
REVIEW BY: Duke Egbert
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 04/14/2003
After the disappointment of Nickel Creek's second CD last year,I was a little concerned as to what Sean Watkins might come up withfor his second solo CD, 26 Miles. It seemed a little early to put out new material,as if Watkins was rushed; and as we all know, most of the time"rushed"="bad." Thankfully, in this case, I was wrong; 26 Miles is a return to form for guitar wunderkind Watkins,and a daring CD to boot.
Watkins doesn't rest on his laurels here. Rather than anotheralbum of newgrass and guitar instrumentals, 26 is almost a folk CD instead; the focus is on Watkins'songwriting and vocals, and they turn out to be pretty darnspecial. Along the way, he experiments with lyrical jazz forms("Letters Never Sent"), Duncan-Sheik-like vocal stylings ("LockingDoors") and violin and guitar stylings that remind me of nothingelse than the New Age group Shadowfax ("N.M.I.").
Indeed, Watkins proves himself to be an adept of many differentmusical stylings on 26 Miles. The production is simple and stripped down, reallyhighlighting the chameleon act going on here, as Watkins continuesto reinvent himself from song to song. There are some trulyastonishing things going on on this CD; it's almost as if forthirteen tracks Watkins became thirteen different musicians.
Other tracks of note: the straight-ahead newgrass instrumentalwork of "Chutes And Ladders"; Watkins' astonishingly expressivevocals on "On Ice"; the traditional country sounds of "Hiding";funky sampling and tape loops on "26 Miles"; the distortedpercussion and rich guitar work on "Brick Window" -- this is a CDwhere you just remain agape, astonished at the sheer talentinherent in Watkins' varying virtuosity.

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