LIVE REVIEW: I’m With Her in Groton, MA (08.15.26)
With beautiful three-part harmonizing and stellar instrumentation, I’m With Her performed a lovely set of originals and cover songs on Saturday at Groton Hill Music Center in Groton, Mass. This was the second show on the August tour for I’m With Her. They’d played Portsmouth, NH the night before and recognized many familiar faces in the audience. A woman called out: “I’ll be in Bar Harbor” and I don’t know why she felt the need to share this information. It’s a particular peeve of mine that people think they need to have a conversation with the performer or be a part of the show. Concerts aren’t participatory in that way. Let the performers do the talking.
Multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan formed the group I’m With Her after collaborating at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2014. Their voices complement each other and they’re all talented on their own, so why not form a folk supergroup? Between the three, they’ve founded seminal groups Crooked Still (O’Donovan) and Nickel Creek (Watkins), released more than 15 solo albums, contributed to countless other musical projects and won several Grammys. California-native Watkins plays violin, guitar, ukelele. Texas-native Sarah Jarosz plays banjo, mandolin, octave mandolin. Massachusetts-native Aoife O’ Donovan plays guitar and keyboards. They’ve put out two albums: See You Around (2018) and the Grammy-winning Wild and Clear and Blue (2025).
Unfortunately they didn’t play their sweet version of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.” They did play Paul Simon’s “Obvious Child” and a Willie Nelson song that I didn’t know—”Wake Me When It’s Over”—as well as their pretty and heartfelt hit cover of John Hiatt’s “Crossing Muddy Waters.” They take turns on lead vocals. Their songs lean heavily into bluegrass and Americana—sometimes gentle and melodic, sometimes raucous toe-tappers. sometimes sad and melancholy, sometimes exuberant and hopeful. Watkins showcased her superb fiddling talents on the glorious, Grammy-winning song “Ancient Light” and potent vocal stylings on “Sisters of the Night Watch” during a particularly fervent chorus. Other standouts included the thoughtful “Call My Name,” a rousing “Ain’t that Fine,” and a subdued, haunting “Mother Eagle (Sing Me Alive).” They wore white providing an angelic cohesiveness while reflecting their individual styles. I couldn’t get out of my mind that Watkins looked like she was off the set of Pride and Prejudice–her wavy hair in a loose bun with tendrils in front and a long white dress belted below the bosom that screamed Victorian style. Jarosz dressed in a shorter straight white skirt and O’Donovan in a flowy dress.
“Nothing I like more than being in my home state of Massachusetts,” an exuberant O’Donovan said. “I love August. It’s a magical time. Still pure summer.” Currently living in Florida, O’Donovan grew up in Newton and graduated from New England Conservatory. Fun memory—When I was a college at Simmons, my friends and I met some guys who were sledding with cafeteria trays. They invited us to come over to watch the Superbowl where the focus was on the half-time performance. O’ Donovan formed Crooked Still while at New England Conservatory. I really like Crooked Still with their unconventional bluegrass style. Many of the I’m With Her songs are more traditional bluegrass or rootsy. Even though bluegrass isn’t a genre I generally listen to, I appreciated this strong performance from three talented women.
Featured image by: Alysse-Gafkjen
