NATIONAL FIDDLE CHAMPIONS THE BEE EATERS

AND GRAMMY ARTIST SEAN WATKINS

the bee eaters

“…here come the Bee Eaters. …so tastefully arranged and so well played..."

-Tim O’Brien

In the words of The Boston Globe, [The Bee Eaters] combine chamber music’s finely calibrated arrangements with bluegrass’s playful virtuosity and pop music’s melodic resourcefulness.”

With Tashina’s delicate fiddle and Tristan’s grounding cello wrapped around Simon’s ethereal dulcimer, they have created a never-before-heard sound in American music.

Grand National Fiddle Champion Tashina Clarridge has toured with Mark O’Connor, Tony Trischka and Laurie Lewis and performed at Carnegie Hall as a part of MacArthur Fellow/Grammy-winning bassist Edgar Meyer’s Young Artists program.  Multi-instrumentalist brother Tristan Clarridge is a 5-time Grand National Fiddle Champion and a pioneering cellist, synthesizing traditional folk influences with rhythmic vocabulary from jazz, rock and pop music, and leading a revolution among adventurous young cellists throughout the country. He has toured the world with bluegrass/nu-folk sensation Crooked Still and Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings, as well as Mike Marshall, Bruce Molsky and Cape Breton fiddle phenomenon Natalie MacMaster. Hammer dulcimer wizard Simon Chrisman brings a whole new approach to an instrument that has previously been thought to have limited range and technique. His inventive virtuosic touch and sophisticated rhythmic sensibilities are redefining the instrument and earning the attention of musicians from all over the world.

Tashina and Tristan co-founded the Shasta Music Summit, now in its 13th year, which unites the highest level of musical masterminds with musicians of all ages and skill levels, for a series of workshops and all-star concerts exploring the connections between musical traditions of the world, in a holistic community environment. The Shasta Music Summit is revered by many as a powerful musical and social melting pot; young students and professional musicians come together to share, driven by a bold vision of strengthening the interwoven connectedness of music, community, and culture.

 “It is a joy to hear both the exploration of this music and the grounding of it simultaneously. Also, I love the emphasis on the simple beauty of the acoustic instruments.”

-Edgar Meyer

(3 time Grammy-winning composer/bassist/MacArthur Fellow)

“The Bee Eaters are the instrumental cream of the brand new string nation.”

-Darol Anger

Listen to The Bee Eaters "The Way It Is":  https://beeeaters.bandcamp.com/track/the-way-it-is

Listen to The Bee Eaters "Theodore's Waltz"  https://beeeaters.bandcamp.com/track/theodores-waltz

Listen to more Bee Eaters:  https://beeeaters.bandcamp.com/album/oddfellows-road

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 Grammys to the top of the bluegrass charts. The groundbreaking trio's platinum selling albums earned them a Grammy Award and the respect of musicians and listeners everywhere.  Along the way, he's become a masterful guitarist, singer and songwriter and a member of many different groups, alongside his sister Sara in the Watkins Family Hour, and on tours with Jackson Browne, Lyle Lovett and many others. 

Following a 25 anniversary tour of Nickel Creek, Sean hit the road solo. His newest release “What to Fear” is a powerfully honest and insightful lyrical and musical statement.  Watkins displays tremendous warmth and soulfulness as a singer, a refreshing candor and humor as a lyricist, and prodigious skill as an arranger.  As a writer, Watkins deftly juggles the observational and the autobiographical, convincingly taking on the personalities of others – a stalker, a preacher, a cynical newscaster – and then juxtaposing them with a voice that is clearly his own. Watkins’ singing unites disparate narrative threads; he’s disarmingly honest and sympathetic, no matter whom the character he is channeling might be.

Sean Watkins "Local Honey":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHxufSSRzcI

Sean Watkins ("Last Time for Everything" with The Bee Eaters: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zQqS5C_Vno

Sean Watkins feat. with Nickel Creek on NPR

Tiny Desk Concert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFycqnOpifQ#t=10m5s

Here's a playlist with many tunes of Sean's songs/tunes:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQIkfFdr-5d35Y63zrzRBY2dQZZus2Qsa