'I'm With Her' Comes to The Ridgefield Playhouse

From Ridgefield Playhouse:Discover new music and great beer at The Ridgefield Playhouse with shows in the Bandsintown Emerging Artist Series! Each show in this series will feature a craft beer tasting before the show - join us in the lobby at 7:15pm. I’m With Her is Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan(Crooked Still). Collectively, these multi-Grammy-Award-winners have released seven solo efforts, co-founded two seminal bands (Nickel Creek and Crooked Still), and contributed to critically acclaimed albums from a host of esteemed artists. Since joining forces four years ago, they have sold out shows across the US and Europe and have made appearances on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, “CBS Saturday Morning” and NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concerts.” The trio was recently nominated for Duo/Group of the year by the Americana Music Association. I’m With Her will perform at The Ridgefield Playhouse on Wednesday, February 13 at 8pm, part of Mountain Dew Country & Bluegrass Series built by Ring’s End, Doyle Coffin Architecture Singer Songwriter Series and Bandsintown Emerging Artist Series. Opening Act is Billy Strings Solo. Visit Southwest Cafe (109 Danbury Road, Ridgefield) for dinner before the show and enjoy a complimentary margarita with your entree when you show your ticket! Media sponsor for this event is 90.7 WFUV.

I’m With Her is a band rooted in a rare alchemy: three celebrated songwriters coming together to create music that reveals entirely new possibilities in their distinct and deep-seated talents. Since forming in 2014, Watkins, Jarosz, and O’Donovan have imbued their songs with a sharply detailed lyricism, graceful musicianship, and—perhaps most powerfully—mesmerizing harmonies that endlessly reflect their extraordinary chemistry.

The latest single from I’m With Her, “Call My Name,” again shows the strength and vitality of their connection. In a departure from the deliberately insular making of their debut album See You Around, the band pursued a new creative approach centered on true collaboration with producer Mike Elizondo (Regina Spektor, Fiona Apple, Dr. Dre). Recorded at Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville, “Call My Name” finds Elizondo building a hypnotic sonic backdrop, matching the track’s quietly urgent beat with I’m With Her’s interplay of guitar, Wurlitzer, and fiddle. The result is a song both stark and luminous, perfectly capturing the potent tension within even the most loving relationship.

After years of crossing paths in their intersecting music scenes, Watkins, Jarosz, and O’Donovan founded I’m With Her following an impromptu gig at the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride. Over the coming years they began playing shows and festivals around the world, in addition to taking time out for a number of intensely focused writing sessions (including eight days spent in purposeful seclusion at a borrowed Vermont farmhouse). Arriving in early 2018, See You Around quickly drew critical acclaim and ultimately graced best-of-the-year lists from leading outlets like the New York Times, NPR Music, and Paste.

Along with See You Around, 2018 saw the release of multiple singles from I’m With Her, including a remix by Tune-Yards of “Game to Lose,” a rendition of Adele’s “Send My Love (To Your New Lover),” and a Spotify Session featuring their version of Vampire Weekend’s “Hannah Hunt” (a cover that fast became a fan favorite at shows). With upcoming U.S. performances including the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, House of Blues in Boston, The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, I’m With Her will soon return to Europe as well as make their debut across Australia.

Billy Strings plays hard and he lives hard, picking so fast and intensely that he’s known to break multiple strings per song, and basing the songs he writes on the hard lives he grew up around in the abandoned rural communities of America. His latest album, Turmoil & Tinfoil, taps into a deep vein of psychedelia in Americana, referencing everything from the Dead to Sturgill Simpson, but all underlaid by Billy’s undeniable virtuosity and his knowledge of the roots of American music.

For tickets ($59.50) call or visit the box office, 203-438-5795 or go online at ridgefieldplayhouse.org. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a non-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT.

Image via Ridgefield Playhouse