Chris Thile
Encyclopedia
Christopher Scott Thile (icon ; born February 20, 1981) is an American
musician, best known as the mandolin
ist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek
. His current band is Punch Brothers
whose most recent album is Antifogmatic. Thile's most recent albums are a duet recording with guitarist Michael Daves called Sleep With One Eye Open and The Goat Rodeo Sessions
, a collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma
, Edgar Meyer
, and Stuart Duncan
. He has also recorded five albums as a solo artist, debuting with Leading Off in 1994. Chris Thile has collaborated with many artists such as Mike Marshall
, Béla Fleck
, Aoife O'Donovan
, Glen Phillips
, Edgar Meyer
, and Yo-Yo Ma
. Thile is a great-great-grandson of Baseball Hall of Famer Sam Thompson
.
The three members of Nickel Creek met in Carlsbad, California at That Pizza Place in 1989, listening to weekly bluegrass shows with their parents. Soon they were taking lessons from the same instructor, playing festivals, and even recording album
s. Their first, Little Cowpoke, was released in 1994. Nickel Creek has gone on to record several more albums, including their self-titled debut album and This Side
, which went platinum and won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. In 2005, Nickel Creek released Why Should the Fire Die?
, which received massive critical acclaim and sold 250,000 units.
Thile has released other solo albums, including the intricate Not All Who Wander Are Lost, released in 2001, and Deceiver in 2004 (in which he wrote, composed, sang, and played every part). In 2008, Thile released a collaboration album with bassist Edgar Meyer
, and also plans to release a collaborative album with Hilary Hahn
.
in 1981. His earliest memories of music are listening to Stan Getz
's recording of "The Girl from Ipanema" before he even turned one year old. When he was two, his family started going to That Pizza Place, where he listened to John Moore's band Bluegrass Etc. When Thile was four, his family moved to Idyllwild, California.
Thile began playing the mandolin at the age of five, taking occasional lessons from John Moore. At age eight, Chris' family and the Watkins family formed Nickel Creek
. The band performed at many California bluegrass festivals, and as a result Chris had to be home-schooled. At age twelve, he won the prestigious national mandolin championship at the Walnut Valley Festival
in Winfield, Kansas
.
That same year, 1993, Thile made a demo tape and sent it to the Sugar Hill and Rounder record labels. Both labels showed interest, but the Thiles went with Sugar Hill. The next year Chris Thile released his first solo album, Leading Off
, featuring mostly original compositions.
In 1995, the Thile family moved to Murray, Kentucky
where Chris' father Scott Thile accepted a position at Murray State University
as a musical instrument technician. In 1997, Chris released Stealing Second
and Nickel Creek released Here to There. Chris went on to attend Murray State University
for a few semesters, where he was a music major.
, Thile released Not All Who Wander Are Lost in 2001. The album featured guest appearances from several well-known instrumentalists such as Stuart Duncan, Béla Fleck
, Edgar Meyer
, Jerry Douglas
, and Bryan Sutton
.
In 2003, Thile teamed up with mandolinist Mike Marshall
for the duet album Into the Cauldron, which included original pieces as well as pieces by Charlie Parker
and J. S. Bach. In 2004, Thile released Deceiver, an experimental album on which he recorded every track himself. This included electric guitar, piano, drums, violin, viola, cello, and bass. Deceiver demonstrated some pop/rock songwriting in addition to "newgrass."
Thile was also a judge for the 5th annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists' careers.
In 2006, Thile formed the How to Grow a Band
, with whom he recorded How to Grow a Woman from the Ground
, Thile's fifth album. In an interview with the Nashville City Paper, Thile described the formation of the band:
The band consisted of Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher
(fiddle/violin), Chris Eldridge
(guitar), Greg Garrison (bass), and Noam Pikelny
(banjo). Bryan Sutton
has also filled in on guitar when necessary while Eldridge played out commitments to The Infamous Stringdusters. In 2007, the band officially changed its name first to "The Tensions Mountain Boys" and then "Punch Brothers
."
On March 17, 2007, this group debuted Thile's most ambitious work to date at Carnegie Hall: "The Blind Leaving the Blind", a forty minute suite in four movements. Thile says the piece was written in part to deal with his divorce of 2004.
Punch Brothers released their first album, Punch
, February 26, 2008 on Nonesuch Records
. The album featured Thile's suite "The Blind Leaving the Blind", as well as other original songs.
To promote Punch, Thile and Punch Brothers planned a year-long tour in 2008, as well as a February 29 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In late 2008, Paul Kowert replaced Greg Garrison on bass. The Punch Brothers released Antifogmatic
on February 15, 2010 and continue to actively tour. On November 5, 2010 The Punch Brothers performed "Rye Whiskey" on 'The Late Show With David Letterman' with Steve Martin
guesting on banjo.
In August 2008, Thile and bassist
Edgar Meyer
announced the release date of the duo's planned debut album. The album was released on Thile's label Nonesuch Records
on September 23, 2008. Commenting on the collaboration, Thile said "Edgar is one of the biggest influences on my musical life, and now I’m in a duo with him and writing songs with him. This was my dream. I always wondered what it would be like to be playing music this hard." The duo toured in September and October 2008 to promote the album.
Bluegrass Journey, along with the rest of Nickel Creek, and still maintains an active touring schedule. An in-demand studio musician, he has also appeared on a number of other artists' recordings, including Béla Fleck
's Perpetual Motion
, playing arrangements of Baroque, Impressionist, Classical and other styles of music with Fleck and Edgar Meyer, the Dixie Chicks
' Home, Kate Rusby
's Awkward Annie
, Julie Fowlis
' Cuilidh
, Dolly Parton
's Little Sparrow
, Dierks Bentley's Up on the Ridge, and Sarah Jarosz's Follow Me Down.
Thile and Michael Daves released their debut album "Sleep With One Eye Open" on May 10, 2011. Recorded at Jack White
's studio, the album consists of 16 classic bluegrass duets. While he didn't produced their album, he did, however, produce and play on the duo's blue series release on Third Man Records
. Thile and Daves met in 2005 at the bluegrass jam at NYC's Baggot Inn.
In 2009 Thile completed a mandolin concerto entitled Ad astra per alas porci. The work was commissioned by a consortium of orchestras including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra
, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
, Oregon Symphony
, Alabama Symphony Orchestra
, Winston-Salem Symphony, Delaware Symphony Orchestra
, Portland Symphony Orchestra
, and Interlochen Center for the Arts
. Thile performed the world premiere of the first movement with the Interlochen Arts Camp World Youth Symphony Orchestra under director Jung-Ho Pak
, and premiered his entire concerto with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra
on Sept. 17, 2009.
In 2011 he recorded The Goat Rodeo Sessions
with Yo-Yo Ma
.
On October 25, 2011 he appeared on the Jay Leno show as a member of the Yo-Yo Ma
and Friends musical act.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician, best known as the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
ist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
. His current band is Punch Brothers
Punch Brothers
Punch Brothers are a progressive bluegrass band. The band consists of Chris Thile , Gabe Witcher , Noam Pikelny , Chris Eldridge , and Paul Kowert...
whose most recent album is Antifogmatic. Thile's most recent albums are a duet recording with guitarist Michael Daves called Sleep With One Eye Open and The Goat Rodeo Sessions
The Goat Rodeo Sessions
The Goat Rodeo Sessions is a 2011 collaborative album by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile. The album is Ma's third collaboration with Meyer.-Conception and production:...
, a collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
, Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
, and Stuart Duncan
Stuart Duncan
Stuart Duncan is a bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar and banjo. Born in Quantico, Virginia and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band, he has been a member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band since 1985, and is a much-in-demand session musician...
. He has also recorded five albums as a solo artist, debuting with Leading Off in 1994. Chris Thile has collaborated with many artists such as Mike Marshall
Mike Marshall (bluegrass musician)
Mike Marshall is an American mandolin player and multi-instrumentalist who grew up in central Florida and now lives in Oakland, California. Marshall has been a part of New Acoustic Music since the early 1980s. He has performed and recorded with many musicians in a variety of styles, including...
, Béla Fleck
Béla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
, Aoife O'Donovan
Aoife O'Donovan
Aoife O’Donovan is an American singer and songwriter. She is also the lead singer for the progressive bluegrass/string band, Crooked Still, and a member of the female folk-noir trio, Sometymes Why. Her first professional engagement was singing lead for the folk group The Wayfaring Strangers...
, Glen Phillips
Glen Phillips
Glen Phillips is a songwriter, lyricist, singer and guitarist. He is best known as the singer and songwriter of 1990s alternative rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket.-Personal life:...
, Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
, and Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
. Thile is a great-great-grandson of Baseball Hall of Famer Sam Thompson
Sam Thompson
Samuel Luther Thompson was a 19th century Major League Baseball player. "Big Sam" was known for his offensive production and was second on the career home runs list at the time of his retirement...
.
The three members of Nickel Creek met in Carlsbad, California at That Pizza Place in 1989, listening to weekly bluegrass shows with their parents. Soon they were taking lessons from the same instructor, playing festivals, and even recording album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s. Their first, Little Cowpoke, was released in 1994. Nickel Creek has gone on to record several more albums, including their self-titled debut album and This Side
This Side
This Side is the Grammy-winning fourth album by the progressive bluegrass band Nickel Creek, released on Sugar Hill in the summer of 2002. It gained some notoriety in indie rock circles due to the group's recording of a Pavement song, Spit on a Stranger...
, which went platinum and won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. In 2005, Nickel Creek released Why Should the Fire Die?
Why Should the Fire Die?
In the time that Nickel Creek spent writing songs for Why Should the Fire Die?, numerous songs did not make the cut, and only fourteen were used in the final draft of the album. When discussing the album, Sean Watkins said that the band "did so much co-writing together and filtering...
, which received massive critical acclaim and sold 250,000 units.
Thile has released other solo albums, including the intricate Not All Who Wander Are Lost, released in 2001, and Deceiver in 2004 (in which he wrote, composed, sang, and played every part). In 2008, Thile released a collaboration album with bassist Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
, and also plans to release a collaborative album with Hilary Hahn
Hilary Hahn
Hilary Hahn is an American violinist.Hahn was born in Lexington, Virginia. Beginning her studies when she was three years old at Baltimore's Peabody Institute, she was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age ten, and in 1991, made her major orchestral debut with the...
.
1981-1999: Early life and career
Thile was born in Oceanside, CaliforniaOceanside, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Oceanside had a population of 167,086. The population density was 3,961.8 people per square mile...
in 1981. His earliest memories of music are listening to Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
's recording of "The Girl from Ipanema" before he even turned one year old. When he was two, his family started going to That Pizza Place, where he listened to John Moore's band Bluegrass Etc. When Thile was four, his family moved to Idyllwild, California.
Thile began playing the mandolin at the age of five, taking occasional lessons from John Moore. At age eight, Chris' family and the Watkins family formed Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
. The band performed at many California bluegrass festivals, and as a result Chris had to be home-schooled. At age twelve, he won the prestigious national mandolin championship at the Walnut Valley Festival
Walnut Valley Festival
The Walnut Valley Festival is a well-known acoustic music festival, held annually in Winfield, Kansas. The main genre of music is bluegrass, but other acoustic styles are represented...
in Winfield, Kansas
Winfield, Kansas
Winfield is a city situated along the Walnut River in the west-central part of Cowley County, located in South Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,301...
.
That same year, 1993, Thile made a demo tape and sent it to the Sugar Hill and Rounder record labels. Both labels showed interest, but the Thiles went with Sugar Hill. The next year Chris Thile released his first solo album, Leading Off
Leading Off
Leading Off is the debut solo album by American newgrass mandolinist Chris Thile, released on September 25, 1994 by Sugar Hill Records.-Track listing:#"Shadow Ridge" - 2:43#"Slime Rock" - 4:54#"Holdin' Down The Fort" - 3:00...
, featuring mostly original compositions.
In 1995, the Thile family moved to Murray, Kentucky
Murray, Kentucky
Murray is a city in Calloway County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 17,741 at the 2010 census and has a micropolitan area population of 37,191. It is the 22nd largest city in Kentucky...
where Chris' father Scott Thile accepted a position at Murray State University
Murray State University
Murray State University, located in the city of Murray, Kentucky, is a four-year public university with approximately 10,400 students. The school is Kentucky’s only public university to be listed in the U.S.News & World Report regional university top tier for the past 20 consecutive years...
as a musical instrument technician. In 1997, Chris released Stealing Second
Stealing Second
Stealing Second is the second solo album by American newgrass mandolinist Chris Thile, released in 1997 on Sugar Hill. All of the songs on Stealing Second were written single-handedly by Thile.-Track listing:#"Ah Spring" - 1:44...
and Nickel Creek released Here to There. Chris went on to attend Murray State University
Murray State University
Murray State University, located in the city of Murray, Kentucky, is a four-year public university with approximately 10,400 students. The school is Kentucky’s only public university to be listed in the U.S.News & World Report regional university top tier for the past 20 consecutive years...
for a few semesters, where he was a music major.
2000-2005: Wander and Deceiver
Following the major success and platinum accreditation of the album Nickel CreekNickel Creek (album)
Nickel Creek is an eponymous album by the acoustic/"newgrass" trio known as Nickel Creek. Although the group had released two albums prior to this, they are not produced anymore and the band's style was redefined before the release of Nickel Creek; therefore this album is widely regarded as...
, Thile released Not All Who Wander Are Lost in 2001. The album featured guest appearances from several well-known instrumentalists such as Stuart Duncan, Béla Fleck
Béla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
, Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
, Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
, and Bryan Sutton
Bryan Sutton
Bryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicked acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays many other instruments including mandolin, banjo, and electric guitar....
.
In 2003, Thile teamed up with mandolinist Mike Marshall
Mike Marshall (bluegrass musician)
Mike Marshall is an American mandolin player and multi-instrumentalist who grew up in central Florida and now lives in Oakland, California. Marshall has been a part of New Acoustic Music since the early 1980s. He has performed and recorded with many musicians in a variety of styles, including...
for the duet album Into the Cauldron, which included original pieces as well as pieces by Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
and J. S. Bach. In 2004, Thile released Deceiver, an experimental album on which he recorded every track himself. This included electric guitar, piano, drums, violin, viola, cello, and bass. Deceiver demonstrated some pop/rock songwriting in addition to "newgrass."
2006-Present: Punch Brothers and Edgar Meyer project
In August 2006, Nickel Creek announced via Billboard Magazine and their official website that at the end of the year they would no longer be recording together as a group, and their tour scheduled through 2007 would be their last for an indefinite period of time. This opened the way for Chris Thile to pursue new projects.Thile was also a judge for the 5th annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists' careers.
In 2006, Thile formed the How to Grow a Band
Punch Brothers
Punch Brothers are a progressive bluegrass band. The band consists of Chris Thile , Gabe Witcher , Noam Pikelny , Chris Eldridge , and Paul Kowert...
, with whom he recorded How to Grow a Woman from the Ground
How to Grow a Woman from the Ground
How to Grow a Woman from the Ground is a 2006 album by Chris Thile & the How to Grow a Band, credited to Chris Thile. It was released on Sugar Hill on September 12, 2006...
, Thile's fifth album. In an interview with the Nashville City Paper, Thile described the formation of the band:
Gabe Witcher
Gabe Witcher is an American fiddle player and singer, possibly best known for being a member of Chris Thile's band, Punch Brothers. Witcher started fiddling at the age of 5, and competed in Southern California fiddling competitions until he was 14...
(fiddle/violin), Chris Eldridge
Chris Eldridge
Chris Eldridge is an American guitarist and singer best known for being a member of Punch Brothers. He was also a founding member of the bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters. His father is noted banjoist Ben Eldridge of the Seldom Scene.-Punch Brothers:...
(guitar), Greg Garrison (bass), and Noam Pikelny
Noam Pikelny
Noam Pikelny is an American banjoist. He is a member of the "Americana country-classical chamber music" group Punch Brothers and was previously in Leftover Salmon as well as the John Cowan Band.-History:...
(banjo). Bryan Sutton
Bryan Sutton
Bryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicked acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays many other instruments including mandolin, banjo, and electric guitar....
has also filled in on guitar when necessary while Eldridge played out commitments to The Infamous Stringdusters. In 2007, the band officially changed its name first to "The Tensions Mountain Boys" and then "Punch Brothers
Punch Brothers
Punch Brothers are a progressive bluegrass band. The band consists of Chris Thile , Gabe Witcher , Noam Pikelny , Chris Eldridge , and Paul Kowert...
."
On March 17, 2007, this group debuted Thile's most ambitious work to date at Carnegie Hall: "The Blind Leaving the Blind", a forty minute suite in four movements. Thile says the piece was written in part to deal with his divorce of 2004.
Punch Brothers released their first album, Punch
Punch (album)
-Credits:*Producer: Steven Epstein*Engineer: Richard King*Assistant engineers: Hyomin Kang, Don Goodrick*Mixing: Steven Epstein, Richard King*Mastering: Steven Epstein, Richard King*Cover photography: Autumn de Wilde*Wardrobe: Shirley Kurata...
, February 26, 2008 on Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
. The album featured Thile's suite "The Blind Leaving the Blind", as well as other original songs.
To promote Punch, Thile and Punch Brothers planned a year-long tour in 2008, as well as a February 29 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In late 2008, Paul Kowert replaced Greg Garrison on bass. The Punch Brothers released Antifogmatic
Antifogmatic (album)
- Bonus Tracks :- All of This Is True EP :- Live from the Lower East Side: It's p-Bingo Night! :- Punch Brothers :* Chris Thile - mandolin, vocals* Gabe Witcher - fiddle, vocals* Noam Pikelny - banjo, vocals* Chris Eldridge - guitar, vocals...
on February 15, 2010 and continue to actively tour. On November 5, 2010 The Punch Brothers performed "Rye Whiskey" on 'The Late Show With David Letterman' with Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
guesting on banjo.
In August 2008, Thile and bassist
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
announced the release date of the duo's planned debut album. The album was released on Thile's label Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
on September 23, 2008. Commenting on the collaboration, Thile said "Edgar is one of the biggest influences on my musical life, and now I’m in a duo with him and writing songs with him. This was my dream. I always wondered what it would be like to be playing music this hard." The duo toured in September and October 2008 to promote the album.
Side projects
Thile's career has been successful, especially for one so young. He is also featured in the documentaryDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Bluegrass Journey, along with the rest of Nickel Creek, and still maintains an active touring schedule. An in-demand studio musician, he has also appeared on a number of other artists' recordings, including Béla Fleck
Béla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
's Perpetual Motion
Perpetual Motion (album)
Perpetual Motion is an album of classical music released in 2001. The album is unique in that none of the pieces featured on it are played on the instruments for which they were written. Arrangers Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer won a Grammy in 2002 for their arrangement of Claude Debussy's "Doctor...
, playing arrangements of Baroque, Impressionist, Classical and other styles of music with Fleck and Edgar Meyer, the Dixie Chicks
Dixie Chicks
The Dixie Chicks are an American country band which has also successfully crossed over into other genres. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines...
' Home, Kate Rusby
Kate Rusby
Kate Anna Rusby is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Sometimes known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times...
's Awkward Annie
Awkward Annie
Awkward Annie is the seventh studio album by English contemporary folk musician Kate Rusby, released on 3 September 2007 on Pure Records. The album is the first to be produced by Rusby herself, following her split with husband and producer John McCusker....
, Julie Fowlis
Julie Fowlis
Julie Fowlis is a Scottish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist who sings primarily in Scottish Gaelic.-Musical career:Fowlis grew up in North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides, in a Gaelic-speaking community, and has been involved in singing, piping and dancing since she was a child.She is a...
' Cuilidh
Cuilidh
Cuilidh is the second music album by Scottish musician Julie Fowlis, which in 2008 won her the Album Of The Year Award at the Scots Trad Music Awards and Best Folk Singer Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Music Awards.-Track listing:...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
's Little Sparrow
Little Sparrow
-Chart performance:-External links:*...
, Dierks Bentley's Up on the Ridge, and Sarah Jarosz's Follow Me Down.
Thile and Michael Daves released their debut album "Sleep With One Eye Open" on May 10, 2011. Recorded at Jack White
Jack White
Jack White may refer to:* Jack White , with the rock bands The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather* Jack White , UK soldier* Jack White , German producer of disco music...
's studio, the album consists of 16 classic bluegrass duets. While he didn't produced their album, he did, however, produce and play on the duo's blue series release on Third Man Records
Third Man Records
Third Man Records is an independent record label founded by Jack White in Detroit, Michigan, in 2001. Third Man established its first physical location — a combination record store, performance venue, and headquarters for the label — in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2009.-History:Jack White founded...
. Thile and Daves met in 2005 at the bluegrass jam at NYC's Baggot Inn.
In 2009 Thile completed a mandolin concerto entitled Ad astra per alas porci. The work was commissioned by a consortium of orchestras including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Colorado’s only full-time professional orchestra, the Colorado Symphony embraces a tradition of musical excellence by presenting a diverse array of symphonic performances throughout the year...
, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is a 40-member American chamber orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, considered by music critic Jim Svejda as "America's finest chamber orchestra".-History:...
, Oregon Symphony
Oregon Symphony
The Oregon Symphony is an American orchestra based in Portland, Oregon. Founded as the Portland Symphony Society in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States...
, Alabama Symphony Orchestra
Alabama Symphony Orchestra
- 1921-1955: Beginnings :The Alabama Symphony Orchestra can trace its beginnings to 1921, when on Friday, April 29, fifty-two volunteer musicians joined to perform at the Birmingham Music Festival at the Old Jefferson Theater...
, Winston-Salem Symphony, Delaware Symphony Orchestra
Delaware Symphony Orchestra
The Delaware Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in the Wilmington, Delaware. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra with the Wilmington Music School...
, Portland Symphony Orchestra
Portland Symphony Orchestra
The Portland Symphony Orchestra, established in 1923 in Portland, Maine, is a fully professional symphony that is recognized as being one of the top orchestras of its size in the country. The orchestra performs a wide variety of concerts, frequently featuring guest artists, at the Merrill...
, and Interlochen Center for the Arts
Interlochen Center for the Arts
Interlochen Center for the Arts is a privately owned, 1,200 acre arts education institution in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly 15 miles southwest of Traverse City...
. Thile performed the world premiere of the first movement with the Interlochen Arts Camp World Youth Symphony Orchestra under director Jung-Ho Pak
Jung-Ho Pak
Jung-Ho Pak is an American symphony conductor, and is the current artistic director of Orchestra Nova San Diego and the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, as well as musical director of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra and the director of orchestras at the Interlochen Center for the...
, and premiered his entire concerto with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Colorado’s only full-time professional orchestra, the Colorado Symphony embraces a tradition of musical excellence by presenting a diverse array of symphonic performances throughout the year...
on Sept. 17, 2009.
In 2011 he recorded The Goat Rodeo Sessions
The Goat Rodeo Sessions
The Goat Rodeo Sessions is a 2011 collaborative album by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile. The album is Ma's third collaboration with Meyer.-Conception and production:...
with Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
.
On October 25, 2011 he appeared on the Jay Leno show as a member of the Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
and Friends musical act.
Awards and nominations
- 1997 - Won Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass AlbumGrammy Award for Best Bluegrass AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works in the bluegrass music genre...
for True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill MonroeBill MonroeWilliam Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader... - 1997 - Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Country Instrumental PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance was awarded from 1970 to 2011. Between 1986 and 1989 the award was presented as the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance ....
for "Scotland" from True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill MonroeBill MonroeWilliam Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader... - 1997 - IBMA award for Album of the Year for True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill MonroeBill MonroeWilliam Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
- 2001 - IBMA award for Mandolinist of the Year
- 2002 - Won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk AlbumGrammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1993 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. In 2007, this category was renamed Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album...
for "This Side" (with Nickel CreekNickel CreekNickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
) - 2005 - Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-ClassicalGrammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-ClassicalThe Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes:*In 1959 the award was known as Best Engineered Record - Non-Classical...
for Deceiver - 2006 - Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Country Instrumental PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance was awarded from 1970 to 2011. Between 1986 and 1989 the award was presented as the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance ....
for "The Eleventh Reel" - 2007 - BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Folk Musician of the Year - 2007 - Nominated for IBMA Mandolinist of the Year
- 2008 - Nominated for Americana Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year
Solo
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||
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| US Grass | US Country | US Indie Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
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| Leading Off Leading Off Leading Off is the debut solo album by American newgrass mandolinist Chris Thile, released on September 25, 1994 by Sugar Hill Records.-Track listing:#"Shadow Ridge" - 2:43#"Slime Rock" - 4:54#"Holdin' Down The Fort" - 3:00... |
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| Stealing Second Stealing Second Stealing Second is the second solo album by American newgrass mandolinist Chris Thile, released in 1997 on Sugar Hill. All of the songs on Stealing Second were written single-handedly by Thile.-Track listing:#"Ah Spring" - 1:44... |
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| Not All Who Wander Are Lost |
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13 | — | — | — |
| Deceiver |
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3 | — | — | — |
| How to Grow a Woman from the Ground How to Grow a Woman from the Ground How to Grow a Woman from the Ground is a 2006 album by Chris Thile & the How to Grow a Band, credited to Chris Thile. It was released on Sugar Hill on September 12, 2006... |
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2 | 46 | 27 | 28 |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||
Collaborations
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Grass | US Country | US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
US Classic | ||
| Into the Cauldron (with Mike Marshall) |
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6 | 71 | — | — | — |
| Live: Duets (with Mike Marshall) |
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6 | — | — | — | — |
| Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile (with Edgar Meyer Edgar Meyer Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger... ) |
Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP... |
3 | — | — | — | — |
| Sleep with One Eye Open (with Michael Daves) |
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3 | 34 | — | 3 | — |
| The Goat Rodeo Sessions The Goat Rodeo Sessions The Goat Rodeo Sessions is a 2011 collaborative album by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile. The album is Ma's third collaboration with Meyer.-Conception and production:... (with Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011... , Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan Stuart Duncan Stuart Duncan is a bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar and banjo. Born in Quantico, Virginia and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band, he has been a member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band since 1985, and is a much-in-demand session musician... ) |
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1 | — | 18 | — | 1 |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||
Punch Brothers
- 2008: PunchPunch (album)-Credits:*Producer: Steven Epstein*Engineer: Richard King*Assistant engineers: Hyomin Kang, Don Goodrick*Mixing: Steven Epstein, Richard King*Mastering: Steven Epstein, Richard King*Cover photography: Autumn de Wilde*Wardrobe: Shirley Kurata...
- 2010: AntifogmaticAntifogmatic (album)- Bonus Tracks :- All of This Is True EP :- Live from the Lower East Side: It's p-Bingo Night! :- Punch Brothers :* Chris Thile - mandolin, vocals* Gabe Witcher - fiddle, vocals* Noam Pikelny - banjo, vocals* Chris Eldridge - guitar, vocals...
Mutual Admiration Society
- 2004 Mutual Admiration SocietyMutual Admiration Society (album)Mutual Admiration Society is an album featuring the collaboration between Nickel Creek's Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins, and Glen Phillips, the former lead singer of folk-rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket...
(Nickel CreekNickel CreekNickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
and Glen PhillipsGlen PhillipsGlen Phillips is a songwriter, lyricist, singer and guitarist. He is best known as the singer and songwriter of 1990s alternative rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket.-Personal life:...
)
External links
- Punch Brothers' website
- www.christhile.com
- Nickel Creek's website
- Chris Thile and Michael Daves Interview Pt I
- Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers at Telluride Bluegrass Festival
- How to Grow A Woman from the Ground Review on JamBase.com
- Chris Thile Interview and Feature Article
- 10 Questions For Chris Thile Interview
- NewMusicBox cover: Chris Thile in conversation with Frank J. Oteri, October 27, 2008 (includes video)
- Chris Thile Bio
Multimedia
- Listen and/or watch Chris Thile on 5 episodes of the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour: #165 as a member of Nickel CreekNickel CreekNickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
; #199 Chris Thile with Bryan SuttonBryan SuttonBryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicked acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays many other instruments including mandolin, banjo, and electric guitar....
; #287 Chris Thile and Mike Marshall, another master of the mandolin; #416 Chris Thile and the How To Grow a Band, #506 Edgar MeyerEdgar MeyerEdgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
& Chris Thile