Nickel Creek's Sara Watkins signs with Nonesuch

Watkins, a songwriter/fiddler for Nickel Creek, will have her self-titled debut out April 7. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, Soul Coughing bassist Sebastian Steinberg and Nickel Creek band mates Chris Tile and Sean Watkins all appear on the disc. Nickel Creek has been on hiatus allowing band members to pursue other projects. Thile has played with Edgar Meyer and recorded and toured with the Punch Brothers.

Sara Watkins wrote or co-wrote 8 of the 14 songs, according to Billboard. Watkins included covers of Tom Waits (Pony), Jon Brion (Same Mistakes), Jimmie Rodgers (Any Old Time) and Norman Blake.

According to Billboard, Watkins teamed with Jones in a band called Mutual Admiration Society. They later met again at a folk festival in Cambridge, England. "He came up after Nickel Creek's performance and said that if I didn't let him produce my record he would never talk to me again," she said. "I was thrilled that he was that excited about it."