Punch Brothers feat. Chris Thile

http://www.myspace.com/punchbrothers
http://www.myspace.com/christhile


Listen: "Punch Bowl" from the album 'Punch'

At the conclusion of "The Blind Leaving the Blind", the 40-minute, four-movement suite that is the heart of Punch Brothers’ 'Punch' -- the band’s Nonesuch debut -- composer-singer-mandolin player Chris Thile conjures up the image of a heartbroken young man nursing his psychic wounds at a bar with his friends. In real life, the 26-year old Thile, who was recovering from his own tattered marriage as he developed the piece, took a more constructive approach, joining four of his own musical buddies to form a kind of super group/support group. The quintet did visit some bars along the way, but more importantly, over the course of two years, these performers helped Thile to realize the most conceptually daring, emotionally cathartic work of an already impressive career.

His equally youthful, prodigiously gifted band-mates are among the most in-demand performers in the worlds of bluegrass, folk, and traditional music. Guitarist Chris Eldridge was a founding member of the Infamous Stringdusters and occasionally sits in with his dad Ben’s band, The Seldom Scene; bassist Greg Garrison has played with trumpeter Ron Miles and Leftover Salmon -- along with banjo player Noam Pikelny. Pikelny he has performed and recorded as a solo artist and has collaborated with acoustic music heavyweights John Cowan and Tony Trischka. Violinist Gabe Witcher, a life-long friend of Thile’s, is a sought-after session man whose fiddle-playing has been featured on the soundtrack of films ranging from 'Toy Story' to 'Brokeback Mountain'.  Witcher also has recorded with a range of artists from Willie Nelson to Beck to Randy Newman and played in dobro master Jerry Douglas’ band for six years.

The story of Thile’s relationship was the jumping-off point for a broader rumination about the loss of innocence, the sobering transition into adulthood, and the sudden disruption of a young man’s spiritual journey. The album ends on its most traditional note, with the gentle and graceful “It’ll Happen,” which is the release from the mounting tension of “Nothing, Then.” It’s as if a spell had been broken; Witcher’s violin swells above the simple rhythm and it seems like Thile is finally putting his troubles behind him.

Thile released the first of five solo albums when he was just thirteen and, by the time he was 20, he was attracting a following among pop, country, and alternative-rock audiences as a member of the Grammy Award-winning Nickel Creek. A Washington Post critic recently said Thile “...may well be the most virtuosic American ever to play the mandolin.”