Nickel Creek: Smoothie Song

On “Traditional Tuesdays” I feature songs that are traditional, sound traditional, or use traditional instrumentation. Today it is the latter, as Nickel Creek is far from being what might be called a traditional band. Our featured tune today is an instrumental jam called “Smoothie Song” and features Chris Thile on bouzouki.

Nickel Creek formed when its three members, Scott Watkins (guitar), Chris Thile (mandolin), and Sara Watkins (fiddle) were pre-teenagers. Although the band released two albums in the 1990s, their self-titled album release in 2000 is considered their first major release. Alison Krauss produced this CD and helped the band develop their vocal talents.

In 2006, Nickel Creek announced that, following their 2007 tour, they were going to disband for an indefinite period of time so that band members could work on other projects. The members spent 18 years forging their own music genre that allowed these three talented musicians to win five Grammy and numerous other awards.

As a side note, the bassist in the accompanying video is Robert Trujilo of Metallica. While he did not play on the recording, he was used for the video shoot playing stand-up bass. “Smoothie Song” is a great little jam that showcases the talents of Sean, Chris, and Sara. Enjoy.