The supergroup is a concept that’s been around rock ‘n’ roll at least as far back as Blind Faith, but most of the bands labeled as such are corporate creations that are far less super than the sum of their parts might suggest. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) certainly can be counted as a supergroup given the individual pedigrees of its members, but its genesis and subsequent execution has been anything but corporate-driven.
“I’ve known Sean and Sara Watkins since we were kids,” says fiddler and core WPA member Luke Bulla. “I met Glen through them around nine years ago.”
 

Works Progress Administration

The Watkins siblings gained fame through the progressive bluegrass of their band Nickel Creek, while Glen Phillips was a member of 90’s alt-rock hitmakers Toad The Wet Sprocket; he has since gone on to release a number of solo albums. Bulla, whose main gig is playing fiddle with Lyle Lovett, completes what they refer to as the “core band” version of WPA, which is the group playing tonight’s White Mule show. On the upcoming WPA album and selected shows, that core is expanded to include Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers), Greg Leisz (Matthew Sweet, Bill Frisell, many more), Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello), and Davey Faragher (Cracker, Elvis Costello).

The WPA started taking shape after Bulla, Phillips and the Watkins’ became friends, Bulla says.

“For the last eight years, Sean and Sara have had a weekly residency at the Largo club here in Los Angeles; they call it the Watkins Family Hour,” he says. “Lots of the guests involved in this project have played with them there.”

The final impetus was put in place only recently, however.

“In 2006, we were doing shows with Glen, Sean and Sara along with Benmont, Greg, and some others. We had such a good time we decided to do a tour for a few weeks and then record the songs. We actually had the whole WPA album done before we really even had a name for it.”

The songs on the album are a mixture of new material, covers (including Ray Davies’ “I Go to Sleep”) and some older songs that fit, Bulla says. The result is a moody acoustic set piece of rock ‘n’ roll with a traditionalist tendency. Phillips’ unmistakable voice cuts through songs like the upbeat opener “Always Have My Love” the same way it did on those Toad the Wet Sprocket albums a decade or more ago, and Bulla’s fiddle lines hold together even the most disparate tunes.

The biggest challenge for these professional yet passionate musicians is how to get the show on the road.

“With all the members from different groups, it has been interesting just to figure out how to make it work,” Bulla says. “It has become a rotating cast for the shows — usually a five-piece band, sometimes up to eight for the bigger shows like Telluride.”

Even though they have a new album to sell, Bulla promises a few surprises in the set.

“We are concentrating on the songs off the album because we want people to hear them, but there are [also] things that each of us has done that people love to hear and we like to play,” he says. “Glen does an occasional Toad song, and we pull out songs from my Texas fiddle background, too.”

Even though those additions bring the attention back to the origins of this acoustic supergroup, Bulla says it’s all done with a sense of being a big musical family.

“It all kind of fits with the WPA theme, that sense of community and camaraderie. It’s been so much fun we’re doing thirty shows between now and December.” 

Show time is 8 p.m. Tickets are available at etix.com and are $15 in advance and $18 on the day of show.