SARA Watkins remembers her first taste of bluegrass was in a pizzeria.
"My parents took us when we were little to go see this bluegrass band Bluegrass Etc. that played every Saturday night at a pizza parlour near where we lived," she says. "What got me into it was watching their interactions on stage and the improvisation and the fun that they had up there."
Eventually, Watkins grew to love the regular performances and wanted to become a performing artist herself.
"I thought I could do this too," Watkins says. "What I loved about it was this community around it as well."
By the time Watkins was eight she was already singing and performing in front of audiences with her brother Sean, and Chris Thile as a member of Nickel Creek.
Nineteen years later, Watkins will be performing at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival this weekend at Jericho Beach Park in Vancouver.
"I am really excited actually," she says. "I haven't been to Vancouver in quite some time. I've heard nothing but great things about the festival and I am really excited to bring my band up there."
Watkins career began as a member of the Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band Nickel Creek. For 18 years and seven months, Watkins performed all over the world with her brother and Thile.
"It was great. I loved my time with Nickel Creek," she says. "I was eight when the band started and I was 27 when we did our farewell tour. It was incredible. That was my life and a huge learning experience as far as music and touring, and how to be a touring musician."
In 2007, Nickel Creek decided to call it a career after receiving four Grammy nominations and the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2003.
"We just needed a break," Watkins says. "We didn't have time to do anything else. I think we were just exhausted a little bit."
It didn't take long for the fiddler to embark on her own solo career. In 2009, Watkins released her first solo album titled Sara Watkins and says she has no regrets about departing from Nickel Creek.
"I stand behind that decision 100 per cent," Watkins says. "I'm twice the musician now as I was then."
Former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones produced Watkins' eponymous EP, after he inquired about working with her.
"He approached me about producing the record. I thought he was just being really nice and complimenting me," she says.
"He was the perfect man to produce that record. My goal for that record was to find my personal musical home. .. and I didn't want to make any rash decision in terms of where I was going to go musically," she adds.
The Californian says the biggest challenge from transitioning from a band to a solo artist was starting over and not having a team around.
"The biggest change for me was starting over again," she says. "The biggest change was taking care of myself, without this team of people that had helped me in Nickel Creek."
"I think it has given me a lot of fight and a lot of strength that I didn't have before," she adds.
Watkins latest album, Sun Midnight Sun, was released in May of 2012 and features Fiona Apple.
"I love Fiona, she is great," Watkins says. "She's been a part of the Watkins Family Hour, which is a show we've done in Los Angeles for 10 years now. Fiona has been a member of the family for years now. Whenever she's in town she comes and plays a couple songs."
Apple is featured on Watkins' song "You're the One I Love," which was originally recorded by The Everly Brothers. She says working with Apple was an intense experience.
"The Everly Brothers recorded it first and I was listening to it and I thought this song should be a little more intense and I wanted to sing it with a girl. I immediately thought of Fiona," she says.
"It was the most intense things I've ever had in terms of focus. We sang the song together looking at each other," she adds.
Watkins wrote many of the songs on Sun Midnight Sun when she was touring. She would often begin writing them and then complete them when she returned home.
"When I would get home I would look at them and be able to dig in a little deeper and finish them."
For more information about the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, including schedule and tickets, visit thefestival.bc.ca. To learn more about Sara Watkins visit sarawatkins.com or follow her on Twitter: @SaraWatkins.
