When worlds collide
Fiona Apple with Nickel Creek? Alison Krauss jamming with Robert Plant? Believe it.
If you were to count on both hands the obvious things that Fiona Apple and Nickel Creek have in common, you'd have a lot of extra fingers left over.
The stormy pop chanteuse and the sunny bluegrass trio normally operate in separate orbits, but when they join forces tonight at the
"I think people get confused about what makes a good collaboration," he says by phone from Chicago. "One would tend to want to put bluegrass bands with bluegrass bands and pop acts with pop acts, when in actuality it's the kind of musician, not the kind of music [that matters]. I feel like Nickel Creek and Fiona Apple are actually fairly ideally suited to one another, so it's been really fun. And her music is very well conceived, and well-conceived music always works in a variety of formats."
The tour partners will play material from both catalogs as well as a few surprises. The unorthodox pairing, says the banjo-mandolinist-vocalist, is a way for Nickel Creek to give fans a chance to say goodbye while still keeping themselves engaged. Thile, fiddler Sara Watkins, and her guitarist-brother Sean are taking a hiatus of indeterminate length after this tour to focus on solo projects. Apple, a friend from open jam sessions over the past three years at the Los Angeles club Largo, was happy to come along for the ride.
"Fiona really loves making music and finds that to be an all-encompassing endeavor," says Thile, who has been playing with the Watkins siblings since childhood. "I've rarely been around people that were more invested in what they were performing than she is. And we feel that way. The weight of our responsibility as performing musicians is something we feel very acutely and we take very seriously and I think that sort of approach to music in general really unites us."
That got us to thinking about some other collaborations that on paper sounded like chalk and cheese but ended up working like shampoo and conditioner . . .
ALICIA KEYS AND KEITH URBAN, "GIMME SHELTER"
Old-school soul singer Keys and hot Aussie country star Urban tore up this Rolling Stones scorcher at the New Jersey portion of this year's Live Earth festival, no doubt unintentionally contributing to global warming.
PHIL COLLINS AND PHILLIP BAILEY, "EASY LOVER" It sounded like the setup for a sitcom: He's a British drummer and singer famous for turning a prog-rock band pop; he's a soul music legend with a falsetto fantasies are made of. So how will they get along? We were all dancing in September 1985 and giggling at the video for this irresistible cross-continental pop gem.
OZZY OSBOURNE AND MISS PIGGY, "BORN TO BE WILD"
You haven't truly experienced all that both the Muppets and the Prince of (Bleeping) Darkness have to offer until you've heard this bizarro Steppenwolf cover, with Ozzy crooning, "I like smoke and lightning!" and Piggy replying with a coo, "Oh, I do, too!"
TIM MCGRAW AND NELLY, "OVER AND OVER" This song clearly started life as a corny gimmick, but boy, if the hunky country heartthrob and the rascally rapper didn't slay the ladies with this teary breakup ballad.
And stay tuned for . . .
ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS, "RAISING SAND" We can't wait to hear what the Zeppelin howler and the angelic bluegrass-country star have cooked up for their duet album, out Oct. 23 on Rounder Records with production by T Bone Burnett. Ditto for Stevie Wonder and Tony Bennett, who announced plans to record together as well. Last year when the Motown legend and the jazz icon teamed up, they won a Grammy for best pop collaboration with vocals.
