Best known as the fiddler for CMT starlets, Nickel Creek, Watkins hit the solo ground running with the enlistment of John Paul Jones as producer and a barnhouse full of collaborators - from Gillian Welch to Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench. Though she stacks the deck with accessible covers of Jimmie Rodgers, Jon Brion and Tom Waits tunes, Watkins follows up with genuine arrangements that make old-time country feel new again. (Gavin Paul)
