CARLSBAD – Typically it would take a promoter and a publicist, a booking agent, a band manager and the marketing department of a venue to stage a benefit concert featuring Grammy Award-winning musicians.
But it only took David Bolt's blind enthusiasm and belief in his mission to persuade Sara and Sean Watkins to donate their talents.
The brother and sister team from the bluegrass band Nickel Creek will perform tomorrow at New Song Church in Oceanside.
The show benefits the Fallbrook-based Bring Me Hope, Bolt's nonprofit organization that helps Americans sponsor Chinese orphans at an annual summer camp. Bolt was inspired to launch the camp when his parents brought home Mary, his adoptive sister from China, in 2003.
The summer camp offers adoptive parents and volunteers the opportunity to meet and interact with orphans. Five of Bolt's family members help to support the organization.
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If you go
Bring Me Hope Benefit Concert with Sean and Sara Watkins
8 p.m. tomorrow,
New Song Church, 3985 Mission Ave., Oceanside;
No advance tickets. $10; $90 VIP seats at the door.
(760) 723-5885 or www.bring
mehope.org
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Bolt, 25, travels regularly to China and is working on a master's degree in organizational leadership from Biola University.
But he had never booked a band. He remembered that Sara Watkins, an old friend from his teen church camp, was an accomplished fiddler and that she was “fun and friendly.” He sent her a video of the summer camp and after consulting with her brother, she agreed to perform at the benefit.
Sara and Sean Watkins, who grew up in Vista, formed Nickel Creek in 1989 with mandolinist Chris Thile when they were all youngsters. Sean Watkins, who plays guitar, was 12, and his sister and Thile were 8.
The band excelled in the bluegrass genre, but their inclination toward pop, country and rock influences expanded their fan base. In 2002, Nickel Creek won a Grammy Award for the album “This Side,” and last year they received two nominations for “Why Should the Fire Die?”
Last March, when Bolt approached Sara Watkins with the idea of raising money for Bring Me Hope, the timing was right. Nickel Creek was ending its longtime union, with one more tour scheduled from April to November. All three musicians are working on separate projects.
Standing in the backyard of her Carlsbad home this week, Sara Watkins smiled as she talked about Bolt's enthusiasm for Bring Me Hope and his naiveté about booking a concert.
“He's never done any type of shows, and his organization is only two years old,” she said. “He's doing it because it's important to him.”
Now that he's booked the band and reserved a venue, the next challenge Bolt faces is when he introduces the Watkins to the audience and thanks them for their willingness to help his organization. He's only a little nervous.
“What helps me is it's not about me or my pride or my image,” Bolt said.
“It's about the kids in China.”
Marcia Manna covers community news and arts and entertainment in North County for the Union-Tribune.
