I'm With Her: Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O'Donovan

with Billy Strings Solo

Co-sponsored by the UConn Women's Center

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, Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife 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). Nominated for Duo/Group of the Year by the Americana Music Association and Artist of the Year at the International Folk Music Awards, the band has also taken the stage on late-night shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Last Call with Carson Daly. 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 Ampitheatre in Colorado, I’m With Her will soon return to Europe as well as make their debut across Australia.

BILLY STRINGS SOLO 
The improbable child of Pantera & Doc Watson delivers EXTREME American string band music with energy levels usually associated with a box of dynamite. The industry has taken notice, he was the IBMA 2016 Momentum Awards Instrumentalist of the Year (for guitar, banjo and mandolin), named a “Top 10 New Country Artist” by Rolling Stone, voted #1 in The Bluegrass Situation’s Top 16 of 16 and received praise from top tastemakers in Americana from No Depression to Planet Bluegrass.  Billy’s debut LP “Turmoil & Tinfoil” hit the street on Sept 22, 2017 and has been selling out shows across the country since!

"Billy Strings has made a name for himself with his fiery live performances and virtuosic musicianship." - No Depression 

"We're living in a moment where a very young, up-and-coming former bluegrass prodigy might be the very best thing going in all of country and roots music." - Saving Country Music

Info and tickets: jorgensen.uconn.edu