Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile

Collecting five singular abilities and viewpoints into one musical force, Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thiele have established their place among the most dynamic and talented presences across the full range of contemporary music-making.  As performing and recording artists, composers and interpreters, technicians and stylists, they continue to push the boundaries of possibility while maintaining an unerring devotion to the basic audience experience.  Somewhere between classical, The Beatles and bluegrass you will find old time influence and The Punch Brothers.

Punch Brothers first came together, though nameless at the time, for the making of the 2006 album How to Grow A Woman from the Ground, which earned them a Grammy® nomination for the song “The Eleventh Reel” and contains an eclectic mix of covers and original songs. Following that experience, the band began touring and eventually adopted the name Punch Brothers (from the Mark Twain story “Punch, Brothers, Punch!”) before releasing their second album, Punch, on Nonesuch in 2008. Punch comprises music written collectively by Punch Brothers alongside Thile’s The Blind Leaving the Blind, a 40-minute quintet that was premiered at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall and performed across the US and UK.

Mandolin player Chris Thile is better known for his role in Nickel Creek, but in 2010, it was all about his new band, Punch Brothers, and the group's second album, Antifogmatic. The band — Thile on mandolin, Noam Pikelny on banjo, Paul Kowert on bass, Gabe Witcher on fiddle and Chris Eldrige on guitar — uses standard bluegrass instrumentation in songs that are anything but conventional. The music on Antifogmatic is adventurous and complex while remaining thoughtful and personal; a true crowd pleasure and perfect for this 10^thanniversary season in Shaftman Performance Hall.