INTRO INTERVIEW
A minute’s all it takes to discover what makes a great musician tick. Before they jumped into their limo for the airport, we grabbed a quick chat with bluegrass picking sensations’ Sean Watkins and Chris Thile.
GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can’t live without?
Chris: I’m a one-pick man. It’s a 1.4 mm tri-point pick made of casein that I helped D’Addario design (right down to the bevel!), and I’m VERY happy with it. Sean: Yes, my current favourite pic is a Wegen triangle pick, 1.2mm and I love it. It’s the one with the holes in it. It’s great for grip and just feels wonderful.
GT: Do you play another instrument well enough to do so in a band?
Chris: I can get by okay on guitar and fiddle and play both on the Goat Rodeo Sessions project. It always feels like I’m in character or something, which can be fun, but I don’t think I’d wanna do it for a whole show.
Sean: Maybe mandolin. I could maybe be in a mediocre bluegrass band. Other than that, I play a little bass and some keyboards.
GT: If a music chart were put in front of you, could you read it?
Chris: Yeah. Not as well as a badass session musician though! When I was doing the Live From Here radio show I was always amazed by how musically someone like Mike Elizondo (who played bass and generally made everything better on our new album Celebrants) could play while reading a chart down for the first time. I usually try to memorise as quickly as possible, and that’s when I start feeling like myself.
Sean: Yes. But I prefer the number system charts with numbers on them. But I can read a chart with the chords as well. I’m not very good at reading notated music.
GT: Is there anyone’s playing that you’re slightly jealous of?
Chris: Oh I mean, SO MANY. Right now, I’m super geeked out on the way composer Andrew Norman plays a symphony orchestra. Check out the recording of the LA Philharmonic with Dudamel playing Andrew’s piece, Sustain.
Sean: I would say Madison Cunningham. She is one of my absolute favourite artists. Right now and of all time. The thing I’m jealous of in particular is the way that she plays fills while she’s singing on the guitar. So she’s playing fills in between vocal phrases. And sometimes while she’s singing. That’s insane.
GT:Your house or studio is burning down: which instrument do you salvage?
Chris: Since they’re so small, I’m grabbing both of my babies (Gibson F-5 mandolins #75316 and #75318).
Sean: My 1949 Gibson LG was given to me by a friend and someone who I really admire. And it’s become my main guitar over the last 10 years. I’ve never played another guitar like it, and
