John Paul Jones to sit in with Sara Watkins in afternoon set at Austin City Limits

Over a three-day stint in Austin, Texas, John Paul Jones is playing the Austin City Limits festival and the TV show of the same name as well as a great local venue for live music, all with Them Crooked Vultures, plus making a special guest appearance at the festival sitting in with Sara Watkins.

Watkins, who first became known as the sultry female vocalist and multi-instrumentalist in Nickel Creek, became solo star earlier this year with a debut album produced by Jones. They first played together on the road in 2004 as members of Mutual Admiration Society. Watkins now spends many of her days on the road, splitting her gigs between solo events and gigs with her latest group project, the Works Progress Administration.

Update: Footage from her performance with Jones added

During her solo set at 1 p.m. today, Jones will join her onstage again, just as he last did joining her on the set of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" in April. Around that time, Jones was hinting of a new project of his, something secretive that eventually became revealed to be Them Crooked Vultures.

On Wednesday night, a small crowd entered an Austin TV studio to witness Them Crooked Vultures' first performance in America since its debut show in August. Amid the studio audience, champion cyclist Lance Armstrong snapped cell phone pictures despite a prohibition on cameras inside. The next day, Armstrong wrote on Twitter, "Them Crooked Vultures put the hurt on me last night. Ouch.." The episode of "Austin City Limits" is to air on PBS early in the new year.

Them Crooked Vultures played at Stubb's BBQ last night and is scheduled to play an hour-long set beginning at 7:30 tonight.

As list of John Paul Jones collaborators builds, talk of Led Zeppelin reunion likely uninteresting

It was early last month that John Paul Jones was in Madrid, Spain, helping Takehisa Kosugi and the members of Sonic Youth create soundscapes backing up a dance troupe. It all started with a few performances in Brooklyn this April, preceded late last year by some getting-to-know-you rehearsal sessions.

Sonic Youth's drummer, Steve Shelley, has just spoken with the Detroit Free Press about his experience with the "Nearly Ninety" production, which celebrated choreographer Merce Cunningham's 90th birthday. In this interview, Shelley clarifies the extent to which their music was rehearsed versus improvised night in and night out:

That was a lot of fun; that was weird. We went and played music at this dance performance at B.A.M. [the Brooklyn Academy of Music]. We had written scores of music to play of various lengths -- a six-minute piece, a ten-minute piece -- and every night we performed, they would throw down the score in a different manner. Our music would be played in a different order each night, and so it didn't really go with the dancing in a traditional sense but in a more abstract sense.

We were also performing with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin and Takehisa Kosugi, a longtime Merce Cunningham compatriot. We were sitting on this weird metal sculpture they had built for the show that looked like a spaceship or building scaffolding, and it was just a very odd but very fun event to be at.

Just before this whole undertaking went to performance mode is when Jones made a solitary offhand comment about having been "working on some other music, which is more rock based, with a couple of other people." Not willing to let the cat out of the bag, he has since kept his "secret" under wraps.

One account that appeared this weekend suggests Jones has been rehearsing with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age.

Meanwhile, the blogosphere has been abuzz with a guessing game concentrating on a separately reported Homme recording project. The one person claiming to be in the know is Ipecac Records co-owner Greg Werckman; he tells Rock-a-Rolla magazine that his label's other co-owner -- former Faith No More singer Mike Patton -- has been approached about joining Homme on the project Werckman says is "top secret."

Werckman says his colleague isn't the only person Homme is trying to recruit now either. "He's trying to get a lot of people involved in it, too," Werckman says. Homme would be looking at an uphill battle if he has the Faith No More singer in mind. Werckman says Homme is "trying to convince Mike [Patton] to go out to the desert but Mike hates the desert."

The report on Jones, Grohl and Homme collaborating didn't say anything about the desert. In fact, it said they'd been making their music in a good, old-fashioned recording studio in Los Angeles.

L.A., meanwhile is the main stomping grounds for Sara Watkins, who recently completed a headlining tour in support of her debut solo album, which Jones produced. While in New York back in April around the time of his debut performances with Sonic Youth, Jones sat in with Watkins on a late night TV appearance.

Now, Watkins is focused on yet another recording project. Most of the same musicians who contributed to her solo album have returned for the first album under the name Works Progress Administration. From Toad the Wet Sprocket, Glen Phillips usually handles lead vocals. The lineup is actually a lot like the group Mutual Admiration Society that Jones toured with in 2004, except for mandolin player Chris Thile, who's been playing with the Punch Brothers since Nickel Creek split. But it does include drummer Pete Thomas, who played with Jones on two albums but whose major accolade was backing up Elvis Costello in the Attractions. Also, on keyboards, is Benmont Tench, an alumnus of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.



As is typical for Watkins projects, the sometimes-fourpiece/sometimes-eightpiece Works Progress Administration has already played a few dates on the road, including last weekend at the Telluride Bluegrass festival in the mountains of Colorado. Ralph Jaccodine, band manager, says Jones didn't have anything to do with the album "but we do have an all star cast."

There's a pretty good chance that if Los Angeles is Jones's hangout anytime in the near future, he would sneak his way onto the stage with Watkins and her brother Sean once again. For instance, the siblings will be in the Little Room at Largo at the Coronet this Sunday night, June 28, and the Watkins Family Hour returns on Wednesday, July 8.

Between those gigs, Works Progress Administration is booked at Fitzgerald's in Berwyn, Ill., on July 4. The band hits the road for a little longer beginning Aug. 16 at the Philadelphia Folk Festival.

On a final note, it would be funny if Jones gets to work with Mike Patton of Faith No More. Grohl may have had his mind set on drumming for Jones for years, but it was Faith No More's other Mike -- Mike Bordin -- whose name was mentioned as the other half of a prospective rhythm section with Jones way back in 1991. Bordin was Robert Plant's suggestion in 1991 for a drummer if Led Zeppelin had reunited at that time.

Quoted in the press back then about a possible Led Zeppelin reunion, Jones said, "It wouldn't be a bad thing to do. I'm not at all opposed to it. ... I think Jimmy feels the same as I do about it." And yes, 1991 was ages ago. For the highly productive Jones, a healthily growing list of collaborations probably stands in the way of resuming any pointless talks about a Led Zeppelin reunion.

John Paul Jones hints at summer tour, begins week in New York

Summer touring plans may be starting to develop for John Paul Jones, who appeared on TV last night performing with Sara Watkins for his first of five gigs in New York this week.

The four upcoming gigs, which run Thursday through Sunday, will see Jones playing with Sonic Youth and violinist Takehisa Kosugi at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Jones also spent some time at 30 Rockefeller Plaza on Monday backing Watkins on her first major media appearance as a solo artist since last Tuesday's release of her self-titled album.

He played bass on their rendition of "Long Hot Summer Days" for the new NBC show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. They also brought in Sean Watkins, Sara's brother and Nickel Creek bandmate, as well as Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, the drummer of Fallon's house band, the Roots, who previously jammed with Jones at the Bonnaroo Festival in June 2007.

While it appeared last week that none of the participants in Led Zeppelin's December 2007 reunion would likely be making any music this summer, plans have since emerged for at least one concert date involving drummer Jason Bonham as part of a supergroup also involving Slash, Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie Wood.

But that may not be all. John Paul Jones says he's hoping "to be everywhere this summer" with "a couple of other people" who've been "working [with him] on some other music, which is more rock based."

This comment comes from an interview printed in today's issue of Women's Wear Daily. When prompted to reveal some details, Jones tightened his lips, offering only:

"It’s a secret, actually. I shouldn’t have even said that, you know? There are some exciting projects coming up, let’s put it that way."

It's the first time this year that Jones has offered any public comment on his musical plans for the near future. Last October, Jones confirmed he was working with Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham and "trying out a couple of singers" for a record and a tour. Jones also said they were keen on playing loud music.

Talk of this possibility halted in early January, when Page's manager said singer audtions hadn't resulted in any selection.

So, what does this mean? Is Jones teaming up with the Slash-Osbourne-Wood-Bonham supergroup? And if he is, will Page join him too?

Could the "couple of other people" Jones mentioned be Page and Bonham? Furthermore, have they finally persuaded Robert Plant to do a 360 and participate in a Led Zeppelin reunion tour despite his most recent and insistent refusal last September?

No summer tour plans announced for any Zeppelin members; only a rumor of Jimmy Page joining Jeff Beck

• Jeff Beck, newly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is on tour right now. The first date was last night in Scranton, Pa., and he's set to visit Philadelphia's Electric Factory tomorrow and New York's Irving Plaza the next couple of nights. From there, he's off to New England, the Midwest and California, before a U.K. tour in June and July, with some Canadian dates and a short European tour rounding out that month.
  
  As for a rumor reported today by Boston Herald's Inside Track that says Jimmy Page may join Beck "on tour later this year," it's not a rumor I could find anywhere else recently. Of course, we did hear back in July 2007 another reported rumor -- that time courtesy of Rolling Stone magazine and others -- that Page and Beck were going to join up with the already-touring original Yardbirds members Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty, and that hasn't happened.
  
  But you never know if Jimmy Page might show up at Jeff Beck's concerts. Check out those tour dates here and decide for yourself.
  
  
• Sara Watkins just released an album produced by John Paul Jones, and she'll soon be out on tour. It looks like she's booked to open for Old Crow Medicine Show for a few dates in the South, starting this Thursday. She's supposed to play on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" next Monday night and then head to Minneapolis for shows on April 15-16 that kick off her first-ever headlining tour.
  
  Jones will not be a regular in the touring lineup although he is scheduled to appear with her on Monday's TV spot, which will tape in New York. Jones is committed to being in New York to perform with Sonic Youth on April 16-19, during Watkins's headlining shows in Minneapolis, Naperville, Ill., and Nashville. But if Jones sticks around in New York for just a few days more, he would still be around when Watkins performs at the Mercy Lounge on April 22. This may be the best chance of Jones sitting in during the tour, but you can view all the tour dates here and decide for yourself.

Side note: While Watkins is out touring, she will presumably take with her Pete Thomas, who drummed for Elvis Costello in the Attractions lineup that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and again later for Costello's Imposters lineup. That lineup also included bassist Davey Faragher, who was said to be one of the members of the Watkins solo band (also called the Works Progress Administration -- and, previously, the Scrolls) back when it was lining up in December 2007.

• But it probably doesn't bother Elvis Costello when his former bandmates find new things to do. He has a new band now called the Sugarcanes, and he'll be using them on a dozen or so tour dates this June and August. The band includes Stuart Duncan on fiddle and banjo and Dennis Crouch on bass; both toured last year with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Also in Costello's Sugarcanes lineup is Jerry Douglas, who's a member of Krauss's Union Station. They'll be supporting Costello's June album release, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, which (also like Plant and Krauss's Raising Sand) is produced by T Bone Burnett and features him on electric guitar.
  
  
• There was speculation late last year of a new studio project by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss leading them to some tour dates this year. However, nothing more currently appears on the horizon. Heck, there hasn't been any indication that any recordings proceeded beyond the "pre-production" stage as Krauss pronounced it. No word even if Krauss will be out at all this year.
  
  And whatever happened to Plant's band the Strange Sensation? I always thought it would be natural for him to return to that group once he was done with Krauss. That's the group that helped him record the albums Dreamland and Mighty ReArranger, and he went out on tour with them several times between 2001 and 2007, right up until Raising Sand was released. All throughout Plant's association with Krauss, the front page of his official Web site had a link to biographies of his band members, who were listed as the guys in the Strange Sensation. But last week, his site was redesigned for the first time in four years, and the Strange Sensation stuff has disappeared.
  
  
• Tour dates for Foreigner continue without Jason Bonham on drums anymore. They've had Bryan Head on drums ever since Bonham's departure last summer, which he explained at the time he was doing so he could rest up with his family in the event he was suddenly called into action by Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. Foreigner's out playing all the time and currently has shows booked through October.
  
  
• The surviving members of former Swan Song recording artist Bad Company have reunited again and will be playing 10 shows in late June and early July. I'm a fan of the fact that this band's first reunion of the original lineup reunited in honor of Peter Grant, their manager and Led Zeppelin's, after his 1995 funeral. They played a show last year, and they're returning to the same venue to kick off their limited tour and sell a DVD of the 2008 appearance.
  
  Perhaps it's a plan the Led Zeppelin members ought to consider since they have a DVD to release and seemingly don't have very much else to do in the near future.
  

John Paul Jones listed for TV appearance with Sara Watkins next week

Stay up Monday night (or set those newfangled or oldfangled recordin'-machines) to catch John Paul Jones sitting in with Sara Watkins on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

John Paul Jones-produced solo debut of Sara Watkins sounds great

A new album produced by John Paul Jones hits music stores and online retailers Tuesday, containing the solo debut of Sara Watkins.

Jones also plays a little bit of bass, a few keyboard instruments and mandolin, and why not a little bit of backup singing in for good measure. From a production standpoint, the John Paul Jones stamp is all over the 14 songs on this disc, but he limits his playing time to less than half the album. And what's more, you'd be hard pressed to find very much here that's reminiscent of his days in Led Zeppelin.

Most of the songs on this album are either slow or very soft, but the arrangements are appropriate. Having an ear like that of John Paul Jones was a huge asset to this record. The fact that none of these songs fades out makes it really sound less like a studio creation and more like a band performing for listeners' enjoyment.

Here's my track-by-track assessment, followed by some closing thoughts.

1. John Paul Jones is one of two harmony singers backing up Sara Watkins on the first track, "All This Time." The other is her brother and fellow Nickel Creek bandmate, Sean Watkins, who's also playing guitar. Greg Leisz plays a pretty steel guitar. Benmont Tench, the famed keyboard player for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, lends a delicate piano line, and Elvis Costello and the Attractions drummer Pete Thomas lays down a subtle drum line. Sebastian Steinberg plays a fine acoustic bass.
   
   The real treasure here, as on much of the album, is Sara's sexy lead vocal. There are few people who can make these words sound so sultry: "You're still in my cupboards. Get out of my cupboards. Get off of my walls. Get off." I mean, I think the only other time I've heard those words, it was my 90-year-old great-uncle having hallucinations. Sara makes it sound great, and because the song ends rather abruptly, it makes for a good opening track because it leaves you wanting more.
   
   
2. "Long Hot Summer Days" is the song that inspired my April Fool's Day joke last week. Sure, the tune has a similar chord progression to that good ol' traditional tune we Zeppelin fans call "Nobody's Fault but Mine," but songwriter John Hartford gave it a different melody and some lyrics about ways to blow off steam after a manual labor job in the sun.
   
   Sara Watkins and Rayna Gellert of Uncle Earl both play fiddle on the track. Billy Cardine is on Dobro. Sean Watkins plays guitar. Gillian Welch plays electric guitar. The bass is from Byron House and the drums from David Rawlings (Sara describes them as "caveman drums"). They are all responsible for the solid backing on this, and at the 4:22 mark one of the musicians even lets slip a "Whew!" It may have been Tim O'Brien, who sings backing vocals, but it's definitely not this writer. No, I'm really not on this album at all. If you still want to hear the track sung my way, you can -- at least until the cease-and-desist order is received. But forget all that because Sara's version is superb.
   
   
3. "My Friend" is a light song whose lyrics form sort of a prayer. This could easily be the companion piece to "Give Me Strength" on Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Boulevard. Imagine the protagonist of that song was badly wounded and was praying for strength. In Sara's song, she is a female friend praying for hope and relief to come to him.
   
   What's especially neat is that both songs include that fine instrument known as Dobro, in this case played by Michael Witcher. Sean Watkins plays acoustic guitar, and Mark Schatz is on bass.
   
   
4. So far, three out of three tracks have had both Sara and Sean Watkins on them. So, other than the absence of Chris Thile, there hasn't been much different from a Nickel Creek album. And this track adds to the similarities. At right about this place on a Nickel Creek record, we'd be listening to an instrumental. Well, that's what happens here, four tracks in.
   
   "Freiderick" is the first truly upbeat track on the album too. Chris Eldridge opens the track by laying down the rhythm and chords on acoustic guitar. It has a spirited and folksy melody, sounding almost Celtic in nature. Sara Watkins takes the lead on fiddle, with Ronnie McCoury following her closely on mandolin. This one doesn't have either bass or drums.
   
   
5. Pete Thomas delivers a lovely 6/8 rhythm for "Same Mistake," the majority of which Sara Watkins sings as a duet with her brother. Sara also plays some smooth fiddle here. Greg Leisz plays steel guitar throughout but never dominates. Benmont Tench is back on piano for this track again. And our fourth bass player, Sebastian Steinberg, takes over on this track and the next.
   
   The song was written by Sara's fellow Largo regular, Jon Brion, who oddly doesn't appear on the track, although he does on four others, including the next two.
   
   
6. "Any Old Time" is a particularly catchy song, originally recorded by Jimmie Rodgers. I keep playing it over and over because it's so enjoyable.
   
   It's partly because of the backing band, which is the same as on the last track except with Jon Brion on an additional guitar in place of Benmont Tench on piano. This track provides the best instrumental playing on the entire album. Leisz lets loose on a great solo with some jazzy chord substitutions, and Sara follows up with an equally compelling fiddle solo. Leisz adds a great "choo-choo" sound in the last verse.
   
   Not only that, but Sara and backing vocalist Tim O'Brien do a great job singing it. It's a song of forgiveness and second chances that is sure to put a smile on any face and halt any further straying from this forgiving lover.
   
   Seriously, if you're thinking of downloading only one or two tracks from the album, this is one not to be missed. See also No. 12.
   
   
7. Remember John Paul Jones? We haven't heard him since the first track! Well, he's back playing bass on this Tom Waits song, "Pony." Now, the bassline is nothing like what he played on "What Is and What Should Never Be." In fact, all he's doing is playing single sustained notes on the roots of the chords. I'd be willing to bet his track was added only as an afterthought to provide a previously missing bottom end to this really subtle song.
   
   Sara Watkins plays ukulele on this track for the one and only time on the album, and steel guitarist Greg Leisz resumes his role in the background. Jon Brion and Chris Eldridge share guitar duties.
   
   
8. John Paul Jones plays bass again on "Lord Won't You Help Me," which stops just short of the three-minute mark. Sean Watkins plays acoustic guitar and sings harmony while both David Rawlings and Gillian Welch play electric guitar and sing harmony. There's an uncredited bass drum on this track. The guitar solo here could pass for one of Jerry Garcia's on Workingman's Dead. The song was also recorded by Norman Blake.
   
   
9. "Jefferson" is the second and last instrumental on the album. Sara Watkins takes the lead on most of this track with her fiddle. Ronnie McCoury plays mandolin. Mark Schatz delivers a heavy acoustic bass guitar, bowing it halfway through the song to great effect. And yes, you guessed it, Sean Watkins plays acoustic guitar.
   
   So, where's that other guy from Nickel Creek? Oh, he's on the next one!
   
   
10. It's on this track that Chris Thile makes his only appearance on the album, playing mandola. Sara Watkins plays fiddle again, and joining her on vocals are Jenny Anne Mannan and Luke Bulla. But here's where Watkins is singing her absolute best.
    
    The song is the spiritual "Give Me Jesus," handled particularly well in this three-part harmony setting.
    
    
11. "Bygones" opens with a pair of fiddles played by Sara Watkins and Rayna Gellert. The tune is dirge-like, almost medieval-sounding. One minute in, Sara's singing is joined by Aoife O’Donovan and Claire Lynch. Soon, John Paul Jones joins in on organ, specifically what sounds like bass pedals. Though his instrumental contribution to this song is so slight, it's an important part of what makes the song work. He strays from the roots of the chords and adds some intriguing counterpoint.
    
    
12. So, if "Any Old Time" was a must-download, "Too Much" is its little sister. And guess what, Led Zeppelin fans? John Paul Jones plays bass on it! Written by David Garza, this is a catchy lighthearted pop tune that would be destined for some radio airplay if only that entity known as modern corporate radio could stray from the latest Hollywood-created Disney sensation and give us something out of Nashville instead. But given the proper promotion, this should chase Raising Sand in the charts.
    
    Pete Thomas tosses in a rhythm on "Too Much" that couldn't possibly sound any more straight, but that's acceptable because that's how John Bonham played on "Black Dog" and "Kashmir," right? Don't forget that Thomas accompanied Jones on some of his solo work, so he knows a little bit about satisfying the guy who's producing this album.
    
    Sean Watkins on acoustic guitar combines with Benmont Tench on piano to create a simple yet really integral facet of this pretty little song. Jon Brion is on electric guitar and really shines on his solo and through to the end. Aoife O'Donovan returns to sing a little backup in the middle chorus.
    
    
13. "Will We Go," a danceable swing number, starts off with only Sara Watkins on fiddle and her brother on guitar. There's a gradual buildup throughout the entire song. Sara sings the first verse, and then John Paul Jones joins in on what is at first a very simple bassline. Chris Eldridge and Luke Bulla eventually contribute harmony vocals. At Sara's fiddle solo, Jones comes in on a separate track, playing mandolin, and his bass part becomes more complicated. Then, when the vocals return, Jones adds a third track; this time, it's a tasty electric piano, not unlike what he played on "Down by the Seaside." The buildup having been completed, the song ends with a cute little tag line, with Jones having the last laugh on bass.
    
    
14. The album's closing song is not only the slowest but also the sweetest, although it's a breakup song. To the tune of a line from U2's "All I Want is You," Sara intones, "When my thoughts no longer comfort you, and my heart no longer moves you, when my voice no longer soothes you, where will you be?"
    
    Jon Brion plays some lush tremolo-filled electric guitar that would make Link Wray blush. Sean Watkins adds support on acoustic guitar. John Paul Jones is responsible for bass, again, and piano. Pete Thomas limits his playing to the bass drum only.
    

The following applies not only to this track but to all 14 of them. Each of the instruments on this album sounds like it was carefully and deliberately chosen. Nothing is here that shouldn't be, and nothing is obviously missing either. This is to the credit of John Paul Jones, who obviously knew what he was doing when he put it all together. The fact that the original tunes are worthy of listening to at all, however, is to the credit of songwriter Sara Watkins, who has made a fine solo debut. My guess is she'll never want to make a record without John Paul Jones giving this much assistance!

Recording sessions took place in Los Angeles at Henson Recording Studios, and in Nashville at the Sound Emporium, engineered by Dave Sinko at both locations. He then mixed the tapes at Nashville's Studio 5. Eric Conn mastered the album at Independent Mastering LLC in Nashville.

Some past comments from Sara Watkins on her album and how John Paul Jones's involvement came to be can be found here.

Sara Watkins album, produced by John Paul Jones, set for April release on Nonesuch

An album produced by John Paul Jones will be released April 7, 2009.

The self-titled debut of Nickel Creek member Sara Watkins now has a firm release date thanks to the support of Nonesuch Records, which this week announced its signing of the 27-year-old singer, guitarist and fiddle player.

In a statement released by Nonesuch, Watkins recalls when she first met Jones.

"A couple of years ago I saw John Paul Jones at the Cambridge folk festival. He came up after Nickel Creek's performance and said that if I didn't let him produce my record he would never talk to me again. I was thrilled that he was that excited about it."

And then they went on tour together in 2004 as members of Mutual Admiration Society. Now that Jones has produced the album and it's all finished, how does Watkins feel about Jones?

"John was an absolute dream to work with. I can't imagine anyone else with whom I would have felt more confident or comfortable. I think his undeniable musicianship and kindness made the ensemble on each song sound like a band that had played together for years."

Wow, who are the musicians performing on the album? Nonesuch says:

"Sara Watkins features a wide range of colleagues and old friends, including alt-country duo Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas; colleagues from the bluegrass world like Tim O'Brien, Punch Brothers' Chris Eldridge, Ronnie McCoury, and Rayna Gellert; and her Nickel Creek bandmates Chris Thile and Sean Watkins."

OK, an all-star cast, but what do they all sound like playing together? Sara Watkins says:

"Listening back to the finished record, it felt very natural. It is authentically me. I know that has so much to do with the process, with the years that I had been playing with all these guys, with the relationships I've made."

Well, what kind of music can we expect them to play? There are a few answers to this question. First, Watkins explains:

"I come from bluegrass and I wanted that to be part of the record. On the other hand, I've spent most of my life playing things that were not bluegrass, but maybe related to it, so all of the instrumentation and all of these players mean something to me. There are a lot of Nashville musicians on the record that I grew up performing with and players from L.A. who are musical heroes of mine. Even though not all of the songs on the album are my songs, it’s still really personal because I lived with this material for so long and I’ve played a lot of this music with the performers who are on it."

The record label adds:

"Already widely respected for her musical ability on the fiddle, Watkins' skills as a vocalist and songwriter are highlighted on this solo project. She wrote or co-wrote eight of the 14 songs on the record, which also includes renditions of tracks by Jimmie Rodgers, Jon Brion, Norman Blake, and Tom Waits."

The Xpress in Asheville, N.C., provided another description in a recent story on the singer. It says the forthcoming disc's original material is a collection of pop songs that sound like "a softer Neko Case" and "much like Alison Krauss's new album."

Also from Watkins:

"I had lived with a lot of this material for a while. It was tested and tweaked through the years playing at Largo. Songs would come and go; these are the songs that have stuck."

Largo is a club in Los Angeles where her Watkins Family Hour has been a regular feature. Fresh off her first-ever solo tour, she currently has two dates scheduled at that venue on Dec. 4 and 11. I'm mentioning this because you never know who might turn up. Sean Watkins and Benmont Tench did play with her on her tour this month.

Of course, Jones may be anywhere in December. Besides these Sara Watkins shows on Dec. 4 and 11, I have my eyes open to see if he might show up at a few other gigs.

• For instance, Alter Bridge is currently touring Europe and will have dates through Dec. 10. I'm wondering what the chances are Jones will pop up onstage in Amsterdam on Dec. 7, when the band with singer-guitarist Myles Kennedy is filming a DVD. It would be so reminiscent of a Foo Fighters concert in London earlier this year that was filmed for a DVD that's already being sold worldwide, with footage of Jones and Jimmy Page playing two Led Zeppelin songs in the encore.
• There is also the Christmas Jam in Asheville, N.C., scheduled for Dec. 12 and 13. It has been announced that Jones is booked to appear at the fundraiser for the local Habitat for Humanity, although it's unclear if his appearance has actually been confirmed.
• Of course, for my own reasons, I'd really like to see Jones turn out in December to see Classic Albums Live tackle Houses of the Holy at Paradise Live in Hollywood, Fla. The dates are Dec. 11-13 and Dec. 18-20. Earlier this month, I reviewed a faithful recitation of Led Zeppelin's first album at that venue by Classic Albums Live.
  

Sara Watkins goes solo under tutelage of John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones was playing at a bluegrass festival a few years ago when he said to the female member of Nickel Creek that he wanted to produce her solo album if she ever made one.

That's the way Sara Watkins recalls it went down. In an interview on Sept. 30 for the News Times in Danbury, Conn., the unsuspecting 26-year-old said she didn't know back then if Jones had any intention of following through.

Well, he has. Jones made good on that promise during some month-long sessions in Los Angeles this February, adding his magic touch much the same way he did in 2006 for the sophomore release by Uncle Earl. On both albums, he not only produces but also sits in on certain tracks.

On Watkins's solo debut album is a backing band with some famous musicians. Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers plays keyboards, and Gillian Welch links up to play some guitar. The record, whose title is not yet firm, is expected to drop early next year. In Asheville, N.C., the Xpress has passed on that the album is to contain self-penned pop songs described as sounding like "a softer Neko Case" and "much like Alison Krauss's new album."

Watkins takes her band and her new act on the road tonight for the first time billed under her own name. The singer and multi-instrumentalist opens for Donavon Frankenreiter on a brief tour of North America that is to continue all into November. Check here for tour dates.

In the past, Watkins has held a weekly gig called the Watkins Family Hour at Largo, her home base in Los Angeles, where she has welcomed many onstage special guest musicians. That steady gig was in addition to her many outings with Nickel Creek over the past 10 years.

As reported in the New Yorker on May 19, Jones guested on bass at one Watkins Family Hour earlier this year, while he was still in Los Angeles just after completing the album. Over the summer of 2004, Jones toured the United States playing bass and mandolin for a touring lineup called Mutual Admiration Society that included Watkins.

For more information, see news articles in Danbury News Times and Xpress or visit Watkins's official Web site.

John Paul Jones to produce Sara Watkins album

John Paul Jones will produce the debut solo album of his one-time touring partner, musician Sara Watkins. The California-born singer and guitarist reveals on her blog that work on her first solo project is scheduled to take place at the end of February with Jones producing.

"I'm really excited and a bit nervous, but in a good way. In a way that will keep me on my toes and working hard," writes Watkins, who sang for the band Nickel Creek, which played its final concert Nov. 29 in Nashville.

In December 2000, Watkins and the other members of Nickel Creek -- her brother Sean and mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile -- teamed up with Toad the Wet Sprocket singer Glen Phillips to record under the name Mutual Admiration Society. To support the album's release in July 2004, the all-star cast supported it on tour with the additional rhythm section of John Paul Jones on bass and Pete Thomas on drums.

Thomas and Jones worked together in 1994 as the rhythm section on an album and tour for Diamanda Galas, and Thomas also drummed on half of Jones's 1999 solo album, Zooma.

Watkins said her new band began rehearsing in September. In addition to the expected contributions by Jones, the project is to consist of several other holdovers from the Mutual Admiration Society touring lineup. These are Thomas on drums, and both Phillips and Sean Watkins both on guitar and vocals.

They will also be joined by Benmont Tench from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on piano and organ, Greg Leisz "on pedal steel and other slidey things," Davey Faragher on bass, and Luke Bulla on vocals, fiddle and guitar.

Sara Watkins writes that her goal will be to record an album with purpose. "Truly what it comes down to is that I'm tired of buying CDs and then thinking 'Really? Did this CD really need to be made? Really?' I don't want people to think that about my record."

Watkins's Myspace page currently includes an a cappella demo of her singing an original called "Where Will You Be," alongside a pair of demos she recorded in 2004 with her brother and two other musicians. She plays fiddle on both of those tracks and also sings on one.

She writes, "If I had put something out two or three years ago, that would have undoubtedly been the reaction of many. But I think the timing is right and I am hopeful it'll be something I'm proud of."

Watkins also writes that she and her brother attended Led Zeppelin's Dec. 10 reunion concert "and it was completely worth the trip," she recalls. "Without a doubt. They were great and it was a privilege to be there on that Momentous night."

She says the highlight for her was the band's performance of "Kashmir." "Now there's a band," Watkins writes. "It was surreal. I can't imagine what it was like for the band. All the things they were remembering and thinking about."

Jones has produced many albums over the years for bands including R.E.M., the Mission U.K., and the Butthole Surfers. Most recently, Jones produced Waterloo, Tennessee, the sophomore album by Uncle Earl.