Nickel Creek - Smoothie Song - PBS Sound Stage

[oldstonebuddha]

Amazing talent.

[boastingkitty]

mandocello is cool

[redheadcover]

@boastingkitty a bouzouki is what that thing is called 

[cranie4]

You will never see anyone rock a Bouzouki (or Mandolin) harder. I am consistently in awe of Chris Thile and everything he produces.

[hhzoukman]

completely intentional improv!  watch Sean's right (pick) hand - at that point he pulls the pick upward across the strings in a deliberate slow arpeggio, completely different than the other background picking or bluegrass downstroke style bass notes and chords he is playing throughout... he put that in for effect.

[sonicfrogdotnet]

The chord was definitely something planned. Though nowhere near the level of talent these guys are, I am an active musician. Been doing it for many years. You can usually tell a wrong note from right by watching the body language. If you watch closely, he's concentrating on getting it just right when he plays it. And, if it was a mistake.. Who Cares!!!!! Anyone that's played their fair share of performances will sooner or later have an oppsie on stage. It happens.

[sonicfrogdotnet]

@sonicfrogdotnet

Oh, plus he plays the chord again at the end of the song. So it was indeed intentional.

[emilymichellenelson]

Sean Watkins has been an award-winning guitar player for decades. I'm pretty dang sure that he wouldn't play such a loud and deliberate chord that way on accident. And given how a lot of his solo stuff sounds, and given the fact that this was taped but they didn't ask to do it over, it's definitely not unreasonable to think he did it on purpose.

[Machiavelli70]

Miles Davis would play an out of tune note then stare at the audience, daring them to tell him he was wrong.

Good job to the people who caught the guitarist's bad chord! Don't let him get away with it! Don't let him be Miles Davis!

[DulcisGuitar]

I hear that chord as a streak of brilliance, but probably discovered by accident in a rehearsal. It's sharpness of a semitone gives it a middle eastern feel and makes the piece more suprising and fun. Performers tend to get bored playing the same tunes in the same way every show and these sorts of impros keep things alive for them.

[Yngsatchvai]

@DulcisGuitar I have a double live cd of theirs and have watched a ton of videos on you tube by them and they play different just about every time. I like the live cd better than the studio. They are flawless live anyways.

[ijamhxc4him09]

the greatest improv group of all time, no questions asked

[ijamhxc4him09]

that chord near the beginning had to be intentional with all the improv stuff they did in this video lol

[Kolenekeo]

Yes, for all you musically inclined individuals ... we musicians know, everyone misses a note or 2 but, its how fast you can cover it up and, keep it going... its not a big deal, its just the way it is... and, it's still rocks! Either way, its all good! Do we care what others think ... Hell NO!

[c8rooney]

God, that atonal chord was amazing. I'm a musician, and playing the same show every night with the same songs can get boring. Especially when they are your songs. So, this is called revision. They like different stuff and can play it. I mean, hell, they are awesome. They can do whatever they want.

[NastyJ007]

I love that weird strum sean does! if any1 else did it they couldnt get away w it, but its nickel creek thats wat they do an it works 4 them ! plus their so good they can do watever they want lol

[OntoitinThere]

I think it was clearly intentional. My guess is that the song was being played too fast for his tastes and he just wanted to make a statement with his slowed and dissonant strum. Dissonance is only desireable in the realm of the song being played. That was out of nowhere and was not contributing dissonance. It's probably a good thing that Nickel Creek split up - they have been together for so long and it is good to have time away and change. I'm enjoying what they are doing separately too!

[juskiddinfreak91]

@pornholio420 i guess her eyes must be the only good looking features she got fat over the years lol

[scottus1955]

awesome

[nanooman]

Let me just clear something up for you guys. It's actually very simple. Nickel Creek does not screw up. Not one note is an accident. The talent in the fingers of these musicians comes from playing together since they were all around 12 years old. So, to sum up, they're basically perfect when it comes to musical live performance.

[theryano94]

Im a huge fan of the band but im pretty sure that was just a mistake

[nanooman]

@theryano94 Your mother was a mistake. If you're a fan of the band, then you've seen them live and know that they don't confine themselves to classical scales. Grow an ear.

[robinjones251]

@nanooman - All musicians screw up. Regularly. It's a testament to (some of) their greatness that most of us don't catch it. They can play themselves out of corners most can't play themselves into. And Nickle Creek really knew what they were doing.

[MultiStratoman]

@nanooman Right on bro :-)

[drewsky67]

Not my favorite song of their's, but I have to admire the skill!

[jklseattle]

What the CRAP is at 1:24? I'll tell you what, a REALLY nasty screw up. You can see the dude's face totally freeze with the look of, "Oh, hell. What did I just do on TV?"

[NthgToFear]

It wasn't a mistake. I've heard him do that before live. Plus, Nickel Creek was given a chance to redo any songs they felt they screwed up again and the only one they played again was Reasons Why.

[VWingTMA]

Yeah I actually really enjoyed that chord. not a mistake. :)

[Shalebot]

Welcome to "out of the box" soloing. If you don't like that, Thile's atonality in many of his solos will probably destroy your mind. Sean's just a lightweight in that respect. =]

[darkhorsegirl]

@Shalebot Totally love Sean. :)

[blugrastooth]

na that was absolutely intentional. its called dissonance.

[EricBlues]

I don't know what that was, but I really didn't like it. It sounded like the guy wanted to do too much and trying the impossible. Dissonance is good, but that was just like glass breaking in a church. I've liked everything Thile's done so far though.

[silendt]

haha yeah I'm pretty sure it was intentional. beautifully dissonant.

[DHGroove]

@jklseattle Definitely not a mistake. But if I didn't have a trained ear, I'd probably think the same way you do.

[jklseattle]

@DHGroove lol @"if I didn't have a trained ear".  4 years of theory, 8 years concert choir, play 4 instruments proficiently, dip shit. My ear makes your trained ear look like Corky from Life Goes On. The people up NickelCreek's ass on here (like you and NthgToFear) seem to know that the dude plays that same shitty, awful sounding chord "all the time". Newsflash: Shitty chords don't cease to be shitty just because you're famous and play them on purpose.

[ctbeggs]

@jklseattle it was a dissonant accent.

[jklseattle]

@ctbeggs "Shit" was just called "shit" until one day someone came up with the phrase "fecal matter." I'm doubting Bach ever smashed a bunch of random keys while performing a fugue, then turned and announced, "That was just a little dissonant accent."

[O0Salmon0O]

@jklseattle The guitarist has that look on his face all of the time. He hit several similar chords at around 2:53 as well.

[Brushles83]

its a bazouki

[jjnmeg]

what instrument is Chris Thile playing? Is that an octave mandolin or bazouki?

[kidsinsuits]

Ridiculously good.

[kalanidmb17]

wish they would get back together

[RedElfFilms]

may have had a time limit on the show

[NthgToFear]

The did. In fact, they didn't broadcast all the songs that NC played.

[Jack458111]

when was this?

[rickwilli]

you can also catch Chris Thile jamming this tune on the BET program StudioJams. I think the StudioJams jam version is by far the best rendition of this tune as he is backed up by some of the best jazz musicians...excellent tune!

[donkeegan1107]

where in the heck can I buy this video?