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Sean Watkins

Sean Watkins co-founded Nickel Creek when he was just 12 years old, kickstarting a career that's taken him from the stage of the Grammy Awards to the top of the bluegrass charts. Along the way, he's become an award-winning guitarist, a singer/songwriter and a member of several different bands, not to mention one of the early pioneers of a genre now known across the world as Americana. Now, after 25 years of being either a band member of sideman, Watkins is throwing his full weight behind a new solo album, All I Do Is Lie.

"It's a culmination of the past 10 years," he says of the record. "It was borne out of a drive to step out of supportive roles in bands. I do like backing up other artists, but in the last couple of years, I've started owning my own personality as a musician. I've had the urge to put my name on something and step out of the supporting role."

Folk fans are already familiar with Nickel Creek's story. Formed decades ago as a bluegrass trio, the group expanding its sound and its popularity with albums like the Grammy-winning This Side, which became a crossover hit on the bluegrass, country and pop charts in 2002. Three years later, when Nickel Creek decided to take an open-ended break from the studio, Watkins found himself with more time to focus on other projects. He made the most of it, forming an indie-folk duo called Fiction Family with Switchfoot's frontman, Jon Foreman, and launching a monthly variety show called the Watkins Family Hour with his sister. Meanwhile, he also played with musicians from all different genres, even joining the touring bands of legendary songwriters like Jackson Browne and Lyle Lovett.