Nickel Creek takes over Sauder Concert Hall Friday night

The Grammy-winning string ensemble Nickel Creek, which just over a month ago announced that it would be breaking up for an indefinite amount of time after this tour, performed to a sold-out crowd on Friday in Sauder Concert Hall.

The Performing Arts Series Committee seems to have snagged the group just in time. This is the fifth year that they attempted to put the group—made up of mandolinist Chris Thile, violinist Sara Watkins and guitarist Sean Watkins—in the lineup.

According to Brian Mast [production manager] the holdup had to do with the group’s reluctance to commit by the date that the college wanted to have their schedule set.

Opening for Nickel Creek was country-rock soloist Tift Merritt. “I’ve never been to Goshen, Ohio,” Merritt announced after her first song.

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Rockin’ in the Free Jazz World

Charlie Hunter is a phenomenal guitarist with the distinctive ability to play fluid bass lines with his thumbs while picking complex leads and rhythms on a custom seven-string guitar.

When his new trio took the stage at Alley Katz Thursday, Oct. 5, at 9:30 p.m., it was 90 minutes after the advertised start. But all memory of the delay was swept away by a marathon, two-and-a-half-hour, two-set performance that kept the audience — including many local musicians — spellbound.

The band drew much of its material from its recent “Copperopolis” CD, with detours into “Amazing Grace” and kaleidoscopic snippets of other songs, delivering a performance that revolved around structured free associations and the many ways of subdividing a backbeat.

Hunter never lingers with one idea long, ranging through tones and textures electronically expanded by the jumble of pedals and effect boxes he controls with his feet. His fondness for the wah-wah gives his solos a classic ’60s patina.

Hunter’s sharply focused attack is the balance point for the contrasting styles of his new sidemen, the extroverted drummer Simon Lott and poetic keyboard player Erik Deutsch. Lott attacked the set with loose-limbed enthusiasm, smiling with surprise when his sticks delivered an unpredictable bit of cleverness from the rhythmic cascade.

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Gonzalez boasts silky-smooth voice, guitar

Jose Gonzalez — 9 p . m . Saturday in the Wexner Center for the Arts performance space , 1871 N . High St . ( 614-292-3535 )

Gonzalez, born in Argentina and raised in Sweden, has made waves with his velvety voice and lilting acoustic guitar. The combination yields a pastoral folk sound.

His debut album, Veneer, might be sparse on instrumentation, but it bursts with melody and emotional depth.

Tickets cost $12 at the Wexner/Mershon box office and Ticketmaster outlets

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