‘I’m With Her’ Band Comes to Jorgensen

I’m With Her is a trio of musicians who are well-known in their own right – Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan. They are multi-Grammy Award winners with nine solo recordings, and co-founders of two seminal acoustic bands – Nickel Creek and Crooked Still.

From left, band members Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz, and Sara Watkins. (Photo by Shervin Lainez)

On Feb. 14, Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts will be one of the stops on the world tour of the critically acclaimed band I’m With Her. From left, band members Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz, and Sara Watkins. (Photo by Shervin Lainez)

On Thursday, Feb. 14, Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts will be one of the stops on the world tour of I’m With Her, a group that has been critically acclaimed over the past year.

I’m With Her is a trio of musicians who are well-known in their own right – Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan. They are multi-Grammy Award winners with nine solo recordings, and co-founders of two seminal acoustic bands – Nickel Creek and Crooked Still. They also are in demand as guest performers on recordings of other prominent musicians.

Their debut recording, “See You Around,” has been critically praised by The New York Times, Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, Variety, and NPR’s World Café for its exquisite musicianship and soaring harmonies that are compared to the Everly Brothers. The recording was produced by Ethan Johns, whose work includes producing recent CDs by Ryan Adams and Paul McCartney.

Watkins’ primary instrument is the violin and she first came to prominence with Nickel Creek, the bluegrass band she formed with her brother Sean on guitar and Chris Thile on mandolin. Thile, who performed with his band The Punch Brothers at Jorgensen last year, is now the host of NPR’s weekly program “Live From Here.”

Watkins performed previously at Jorgensen in 2016 with Patti Griffin and Anais Mitchel as part of the Use Your Voice Tour, which was urging voter registration during the 2016 Presidential Election.

She spoke with Ken Best of the UConn360 Podcast about her new band and their current tour, which started last year in Europe and will take them throughout the United States and to Australia after leaving Storrs.