The Watkins Family Hour at Largo has been the fulcrum of my musical life for well over a decade now. The first few years I would just come and sit in the back, awestruck at the barrage of inspiration and pure musical flow coming off the stage. Intimidated and in awe of the musicians and singers. Then eventually I got to sub now and again for Sebastian and then, with much fear and trembling, even for Benmont. And somewhere along the way, I become solidly a cousin in the family tree, and I’ll rarely miss a WFH if I can help it. Watching these people play music, and then eventually getting to play music with these people, these absolute heroes, changed me completely. It made me so much more confident, so much more free, unafraid of mistakes, willing to dive in completely with my friends standing beside me. And it has left a huge impression on me of how important musical community is. It’s the thread that holds everything else together, that ties us from gig to gig, from season to season, across generations. In a way, my long journey of study and eventually participation in the WFH aesthetic made me a good fit to help produce this record- a 20th anniversary celebration of all things WFH. It’s star studded, to say the least- but it’s all people that have jumped in the deep end with Sean and Sara on any given Wednesday or Friday night for the last 20 year. The best kind of family! And lucky us, to get to record almost all of it at East West studio 3, the Pet Sounds room. Kudos to David Boucher for the incredible sounds. #ripdonheffington @watkinsfamilyhour @seancwatkins @sarawatkins @largolosangeles