While Chris Thile is barely into his thirties, he's already had a lifetime of experience in the music industry. He began taking mandolin lesson at age five, by age eight he was performing with the an early incarnation of his longtime band Nickel Creek and at age 12 had won the national mandolin championship. When Nickel Creek called it quits in 2006, after 5 studios albums and a Grammy win for Best Contemporary Folk Album, Thile began working on his solo album How to Grow a Woman From the Ground , recruiting a new band that would [...]
I stumbled upon this yesterday, amazingly while on a random site that profiles upcoming documentaries, with which I have a time-consuming obsession. ** While I've spent a fair amount of my life in love with whatever it is that Chris Thile is throwing down, I was so happy to see this. Even better was the commentary from the dude who discovered this just as I did, by stumbling over the top of it. He'd never heard of the Punch Brothers and yet, after watching [...]
Punch Brothers at Red Light Management Party at Stubb's at SXSW (03/15/12) Photo : Chris Becker Big things are happening these days for Chris Thile and his band Punch Brothers . First of all, if you're reading this on Saturday ( Mar 24 ), you can catch Chris Thile's Mandolin Concerto tonight at the venerable Carnegie Hall . In addition to tonight's Carnegie Hall gig, the band will be playing a proper show with Jesca Hoop [...]
It's been a long haul these last couple of weeks, with new projects and courses to teach at work, and budget season fast approaching at the local school committee table. School vacation was cancelled, and the skies and ground remain dry as a bone despite the calendrical claim of New England February, leaving us grey and wan in the pale light of almost-winter above the equatorial line. And here at home, the stress is sky-high, thanks to an unfortunate incident at the beginning of the month that turned us into a single-car family struggling to make ends and [...]
Chris Thile is a monster of modern music. A rare talent, Thile is known for his constant progress, taking his skills and voice into new territories with every endeavor. The mandolin virtuoso has released 19 full-lengths in the last 19 years, while working with renowned artists like Yo Yo Ma, Béla Fleck, Dolly Parton, Jack White and Steve Martin, among many others. In 2009, he debut his mandolin concerto Ad astra per alas porci with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, later to be played in as many as 10 high-profile orchestras across the country. He released two highly acclaimed [...]
Filed under: News , Exclusive , Spinner Interview , New Music , New Releases Danny Clinch Punch Brothers frontman Chris Thile has the demeanor of a world-class pitcher. While upon the mound of his Brooklyn , N.Y., progressive bluegrass outfit, he clutches his mandolin, fingers across the frets like the stitching of a baseball, waiting to release the heat. [...]
Yesterday the Punch Brothers released their third full-length album yesterday on Nonesuch Records . You can stream the entire album all week over at Spinner or you can purchase it here: Who's Feeling Young Now? If you are unfamiliar with Punch Brothers, they are a bluegrass group that Chris Thile started shortly after Nickel Creek called it quits. The new album was produced by Jacquire King (Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon), and has a really fun sound. Take a listen to this great track from the album courtesy of Direct Current . [...]
Applying labels is an easy and sometimes necessary thing -- we all do it. But to simply pigeonhole Punch Brothers as a bluegrass band -- even with the indie -friendly "progressi ve " attached -- is to miss the larger more interesting picture. We thnk we already know what "bluegrass" is...or do we? Assembled originally to support Nickel Creek frontman Chris Thile for a 2006 solo project, the collection of virtuoso acoustic players doesn't dwell in anything remotely "old timey [...]
Yo-Yo Ma is a master facilitator, a crafter of people and music into projects that can deepen our understanding of almost any musical tradition.
To say Anaïs Mitchell's fourth album, Young Man in America, was my most anticipated release of the new year would be a chasmic understatement. Listening to this worthy followup to 20102s spectacular "folk opera" Hadestown, I kept thinking Anaïs Mitchell is like a modern day Woody Guthrie or Bob Dylan. Her epic lyrical narratives echo [...]
This week in NYC shows is another mellow one compared to the normal onslaught of great concerts, but there are definitely some interesting happenings, including the New York Guitar Festival, Girls and Real Estate at Terminal 5, and Brother Past's return to Brooklyn Bowl...
Geographically speaking, I don't think I could be further from Scotland and still be in the UK. You'd never guess that from reading this blog however, as Scottish acts seem to be dominating my tastes for the last few years. 2011 has been no exception, and four albums on this list have their roots firmly planted north of the borders. As well as being a year for Scots, 2011 appears to be the year of the Return To Form. In itself this is a good thing, as recent years have seen more disappointing highly-hy ped albums than good ones, but it means there's a [...]
It's that time of year to look back on the past 12 months and say "what the hell happened to the last 12 months?!". It's also that time of year where us music bloggers and self-proclaimed critics take the time to put together some Best Of lists for your reading pleasure. They don't really mean a whole lot and you can love 'em or leave 'em, but it seems like the right thing to do to sum up the year in preparation of the next. This year we're featuring personal lists from all of our fantastic writers. [...]
![[Introducing] – Deep Dark Woods](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3929548_lg.jpg)
Tweet Canadian crooners Deep Dark Woods offer harmonies that are delivered with such an enchanting seriousness that upon hearing their brand of folk rock I simply fell head over heels. The first track to catch my attention is "Sugar Mama" - a song about growing older, taking chances and rekindling old flames. "Come on sugar mama take a chance with me/ I'm a lot older than I used to be" is enough to charm me; I'd head out with [...]
50 (All week we're counting down the top songs of 2011. For previous entries on the list, click here . We hope you enjoy the music.) 10. Youth Lagoon - "Montana" We were early champions of the music of Youth Lagoon, and our love of Trevor Powers bedroom-pop project has only grown over the course of 2011. Each song on debut full-length The Year of Hibernation has its own merits, but [...]
Classical + bluegrass = a truly amazing album.
The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , Video Archive As my buddy Ben said when he sent me this link and album, "YoYo Ma does bluegrass...saw them performing on Colbert last night , it may have changed my life. This album is AMAZING!" Indeed. Those were exactly my sentiments. You can pick up The Goat Rodeo Sessions at Amazon for only $12.
Videos rarely emerge from Largo (and Rawkblog does not endorse taking them!), but whenever they do, they're always so remarkable that I can't help but repost. Here's a killer version of Fiona Apple's 1999 classic "Fast As You Can," which probably has my favorite bridge of all time.
Check out my quick video preview of some of the artists that you can see today for FREE down in Golden Gate Park as part of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass . Why am I not there and publishing this now, you ask?! There may have been a flask involved in yesterday's preceedings... Here's my quick thoughts from day one and read on for a bunch of videos from the amazing talent on the lineup from day two... Greensky Bluegrass [...]
Chris Thile Mandolinist Chris Thile is set to perform at Carolina Theatre of Durham in North Carolina on Sunday, November 13th, 2011, at 8:00 pm. Mandolinist Chris Thile, a charismatic prodigy, is best-known for the mainstream success of his audacious string bands Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers. With Bach in one ear and Radiohead in the other, Thile is positioned to steward bold new directions in bluegrass. In this solo performance at the historic Carolina Theatre, he showcases sparkling original tunes alongside Bach Partitas that he transcribed for mandolin, galvanizing them [...]
![Feed of [Chris Thile] at Elbo.ws](http://cdn.elbo.ws/images/feedicon.png)
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I Hope Your Ears Bleed
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