Singer/songwriter/fiddle player Sara Watkins launches a tour of the UK and Ireland tonight in support of her acclaimed new album Sun Midnight Sun, which was released by Nonesuch Records in May. The two-week, 13-city tour begins in Sheffield, England, tonight and includes a show at London’s Lexington on Wednesday, January 30, as well as a double bill with The Be Good Tanyas at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow this Saturday, January 26. See below for all of the currently scheduled tour dates; for additional details and ticket links, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour.

Sun Midnight Sun is the follow up to Watkins’s critically acclaimed 2009 self-titled solo debut album, produced by John Paul Jones. The new album, produced by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Blake Mills, includes songs written by Watkins ("You and Me," "Take Up Your Spade") and several collaborations with Mills ("The Foothills," "Be There," "The Accord," "Impossible," and "Lock and Key"), and features special guest appearances by Fiona Apple, Jackson Browne, Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Benmont Tench, and Sean Watkins.

Watkins first gained recognition as a founding member of the Grammy Award–winning, platinum-selling trio Nickel Creek. When not on the road or in the studio, Watkins has guest-starred as fiddler and/or harmony vocalist on albums by Béla Fleck, the Chieftains, Ray LaMontagne, Ben Lee, Dan Wilson, Richard Thompson, and Alex Woodward, among others. Additionally, Watkins and her brother Sean continue an informal residency called the Watkins Family Hour at the LA club Largo, which often includes surprise cameos from friends and colleagues; free podcasts from the series are also available.

In the three years since her previous release, Watkins has been busy touring the world as guest fiddle player and vocalist with the Decemberists and joining Garrison Keillor on his nationwide Summer Love performance tours, as well as acting as his first and only guest host for A Prairie Home Companion broadcasts.

SARA WATKINS ON TOUR

† w/ Be Good Tanyas