Over a decade into their time playing together, I'm With Her — the supergroup of folk stars Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O'Donovan and Sara Watkins — has honed in on a sound that's "Wild and Clear and Blue" as ever.
Whereas the trio's 2018 album, See You Around, almost exclusively featured singular trio arrangements, I'm With Her instead opted for a fuller, more lush feel on its follow-up, Wild & Clear & Blue. The elevated sound is a natural progression for the group, who first met in 2014; since then, they have thrived as much together as they have apart, building a collective chemistry that is undeniable.
After touring extensively in support of See You Around (which spawned the GRAMMY-winning "Call My Name"), each I'm With Her member has released multiple respective projects, including Jarosz's GRAMMY-winning set World On The Ground, O'Donovan's highly collaborative All My Friends, and Watkins' much-anticipated reunion with Nickel Creek. Though that resulted in a seven-year delay between I'm With Her albums, Wild & Clear & Blue feels like a culmination of everything they've experienced in that time: pushing creative boundaries, finding strength in pain, and growing from all of it.
Subsequently, Wild & Clear & Blue tackles weighty themes, from ancestral ties and life cycles ("Ancient Light") to the crossroads of sticking a situation out or moving on entirely ("Standing On The Fault Line"). But thanks to the trio's majestic layered harmonies and fine-tuned, joyfully melancholic sound, the album doesn't dwell on the darkness — instead, I'm With Her remind that even in the bleakest of times, there's still hope to be found.
Below, all three members detail the process of getting back together to record, working with producer/multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman for the first time, the healing power of music, and more.
Compared to your debut record, Wild & Clear & Blue features much richer instrumentals and production. Can you tell me about that evolution in sound from one album to the next?
Sarah Jarosz: This record feels like we know more of what we had to offer sonically as a band. When we were writing for that first record we were still figuring out what we wanted to sound like, so it was nice knowing that going in this time around. It felt like an even deeper dive into the songwriting and really being able to have this pure expression of what we felt in our heads and hearts over these long, drawn out sessions of writing together.
In addition to your familiarity with one another, I imagine producer Josh Kaufman was a driving force in that evolution, particularly on this album. Mind telling me about the influence and perspective he brought to the table?
Aoife O'Donovan: On the first record we were really establishing the sound of the band in record form. Because of that, all the songs on it were arranged pretty tightly to be contained within a trio format. These new songs were like that to an extent as well, but when we asked Josh Kaufman to produce, a big appeal was that he's got great ears and a wonderful sensibility that felt very comfortable to us. In a healthy and challenging way we wanted to also have his input on additional instruments to support the songs and bring a lushness and different textures to them.
Sara Watkins: In addition to everything he's done with Bonny Light Horseman, he also co-produced the Watchouse record that came out a couple years ago. I remember seeing them play those songs live at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2021 and being blown away by how much he expanded their intimate sound in a really cool way. That was one of many reasons why I thought it would be cool to work with him.
In addition to working with Kaufman, you also captured this album across two different studios in New York. What was behind that decision?
Jarosz: It was actually a scheduling conflict that put us in the position of needing to change locations for the second chunk of recording dates. It ended up being a silver lining because the first part was done at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, which ended up being the perfect setting since we initially set that time aside for demoing — since, at the time, we hadn't even met Josh yet.
However, he ended up being so good once we did meet that we decided to start recording there before a scheduling conflict kept us from finishing there, causing us to pivot at the last minute to The Outlier Inn in the middle of nowhere in the Catskills. It was an interesting journey because we had all fallen in love with The Clubhouse and had our hearts set on making the whole record there, so day one at Outlier was a bit skeptical. But we were able to quickly switch gears and fell in love with the room, which was a beautiful place to start all over again.
Watkins: Somebody asked me the other day why we didn't just go to Nashville to record and I told them that, like L.A., Nashville is a city where you go out for coffee and run into 20 people you know. It can immediately take you out of the vibe you need to be in to write and record. Being in the Catskills, we barely left the studio. We weren't really communing with the outside world too much when we were up there, which is a really fun way to make a record.
What does your songwriting process like?
O'Donovan: That main consistency is that we really enjoy writing together when that's all we're focused on — when we can spend a few days, get some groceries, settle into a house together and play in the living room. It allows for this wonderful continuation where we're not just writing from 9-5 in that one room, but it continues through dinner when you're talking about the subject matter we're addressing in song and how it pertains to our lives and our friend's lives.
There's something really nice about sharing that whole creative space and time. We did that for our first record and all three writing sessions for this new one as well. It's a great way to go deeper and allow for everyone to have their fingerprints on every step of the songwriting rather than having one person contribute most of it, another add a lyric or two and someone else plop it into an instrumental section.
The album centers around a lot of dark and somber themes, but still a hopeful sentiment remains. What are your thoughts on that dynamic with these songs and the general sense of healing that can accompany tunes like these?
Watkins: The cool thing for us about this album has been the catharsis of getting through these songs. There are a lot of very dark themes on this album like with 'Standing On The Fault Line' where we're really grappling with a changing planet juxtaposed with these moments of real urgency to take the bull by the horns and live life. The moment on "Year After Year" where the three-part harmony comes in — which is one of my favorite moments on the entire record — is us demonstrating our ability to live our lives to the fullest.
Jarosz: I love that you noticed the optimism buried in these darker songs because all three of us consider ourselves to be that, even though it feels harder and harder to do each day. So much of what we talk about when we're together is trying to see the good in a tough situation — not on a cheesy level, but more like lets get through this one day at a time, similar to the message of staying the course on "Find My Way To You."
Another song I wanted to touch on is the title track, "Wild And Clear And Blue," which I understand is partly inspired by the late Nanci Griffith and John Prine. What made you want to reflect on their legacies in song?
O'Donovan: It was one of the first ones we worked on in the living room of the house we were staying at in Los Angeles. Those first few songs we worked on really set the tone for a lot of what we expand on throughout the album, one of which is showing gratitude toward your ancestors, and both of them are like musical ancestors to us. It's about celebrating the times and memories we're making alongside their soundtracks and voices.
We wanted to make it as literal and tangible as we could. I remember talking about what we do in the car when you're picking a cassette out and what that's like, which led to the lines, "Diggin' around in the tapes on the passenger side/ Push one in and press rewind / Windshield wipers keeping time." When I hear that I can feel my hand touching these little plastic rectangles and trying to identify which one is which to start playing. We really wanted it to be a physical memory type of song. Each time we sing it we smile throughout because the lyrics bring back such fond memories.
Watkins: There's also places in the chorus where we reference specific songs by Nanci Griffith and John Prine, and the idea that there could be a specific lyric that your children may not get the reference to, which is something that's also pretty universal. It's like a "back in my day" kind of thing, only it's talking about Nanci Griffith singing about love at the five and dime, being a child and asking your mother what a "five and dime" was followed by asking the same about "paradise" in the next one. Just the idea that there are these moments, these mythical places, that exist outside your own realm of experience but may be familiar to others, and how you can turn those into things of beauty, has always mesmerized me and is the essence of that song.
You've been playing and writing together for over a decade now. What has your time playing together as I'm With Her taught you about yourselves?
Watkins: Every time we make something together I leave with this enthusiasm for what can be done when we work as a team and the delight of getting to be involved in it. There's also this feeling that my friends help to bring out of me things that would not have come out otherwise, which is the beauty of collaboration when it's wholeheartedly encouraged and loved by everyone in the band. It's left me very prideful of where we've grown to be as a band and the diligence we pursued in bringing this second album to life.