As a member of the Grammy-winning progressive-acoustic trio Nickel Creek, Watkins, a fiddler, along with Chris Thile and her brother Sean, helped introduce finger-picked jams to fans who had never given mandolins a second thought.

NPR: Sara Watkins: Summertime Blues

His little brother, Burris, stood in the driveway with a finger in one of his ears, peering down the barrel of a cap pistol while he pulled the trigger repeatedly.

NEWYORKER: Fiction