How to Grow a Woman from the Ground
Encyclopedia
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. The album is named after a song on the album; a cover
of the original by folk singer Tom Brosseau
.
The album debuted to positive reviews from major music critics, with critics calling the album “fantastic, eclectic”, and “genius”. The album earned Thile a Grammy Award
-nomination in 2006.
, but didn’t know which direction he wanted to take the band. At the Telluride Bluegrass Festival
in Telluride, Colorado
, Thile met banjoist Noam Pikelny
and later commented that “every note he played was something I wish I’d played”. It was then that Thile realized that he wanted to “put [his] stamp on the traditional bluegrass ensemble”. Thile wanted to get five musicians together for a Nashville jam session in 2005, after he found talented bluegrass musicians that could fill the positions. The bassist Thile was searching for, Greg Garrison, was recommended to Thile by Pikelny, who had performed alongside Garrison in the Cajun
jam band
Leftover Salmon
. The guitar position was filled by Chris Eldridge famous as a member of the Infamous Stringdusters
. The five musicians met up in Nashville one day in 2005 and decided that they needed to “do something musical together”. A few nights later, the group met again “just to drop a ton of money, drink too much wine, eat steaks, and commiserate about our failed relationships”. That night, they came to an agreement and formed a bluegrass band.
The quintet decided to make this project serious and record an album. The album was recorded over the course of two days in 2006 at Sear Sound Recording Studios in New York. The album was not recorded digitally, but rather on tape. In an interview with the United States magazine Guitar Player
, Chris Thile explained the old fashioned style in which the album was recorded: How to Grow a Woman from the Ground was self produced by Thile, and had no guest musicians, just the quintet. Other than the band, which in promotion of the album was named the How to Grow a Band, the album had a fairly small production crew; an engineer, an assistant engineer, two mastering people, and an artist.
became the album’s official “bluegrass guru” to ensure that there was “someone who could make sure we didn’t do anything clichéd or trite”. In regard to the album’s style, Thile said that “All in all, How to Grow a Woman from the Ground is a bluegrass record. There are definitely some musical things that are out of the ordinary, but it sounds like a bluegrass record to me. It’s not all like “Brakeman’s Blues,” but “Brakeman’s Blues” doesn’t sound out of place, and neither does “The Beekeeper” sound out of place. It’s all related.” Much of Thile's work on the album was influenced by his divorce, and Thile claims that he could relate to the title of the album, a Tom Brosseau
song. Thile said that he "got my ass kicked by the last relationship I was in. This girl just left. It created a pretty serious complex for me. I’ve always been able to talk to girls, but I’m scared of them. I just could relate to it. Like, man if I could just grow one, that would take care of a lot of problems."
Chris Thile
Christopher Scott Thile is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers whose most recent album is Antifogmatic...
& 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...
, credited to Chris Thile. It was released on Sugar Hill on September 12, 2006. The album is named after a song on the album; a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the original by folk singer Tom Brosseau
Tom Brosseau
Tom Brosseau is an American musical storyteller and guitarist, born and raised in Grand Forks, North Dakota.-Biography:Fat Cat Records artist Tom Brosseau tours and performs in the US, UK, Europe, Japan and Taiwan. In the Los Angeles area his home club is Largo. His song "How to Grow a Woman from...
.
The album debuted to positive reviews from major music critics, with critics calling the album “fantastic, eclectic”, and “genius”. The album earned Thile a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-nomination in 2006.
Conception and production
For one of his side projects, Chris Thile knew he wanted to form a string quintet composed of mandolin, violin, banjo, guitar, and bass with childhood friend and fiddler Gabe WitcherGabe 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...
, but didn’t know which direction he wanted to take the band. At the Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Telluride Bluegrass Festival is held annually in Telluride, Colorado by . Although traditionally the festival focuses on bluegrass music, it often features music from a variety of genres. In 1974, its first year, it attracted 1000 participants. Currently the festival's attendance is capped at 10,000...
in Telluride, Colorado
Telluride, Colorado
The town of Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains...
, Thile met banjoist 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:...
and later commented that “every note he played was something I wish I’d played”. It was then that Thile realized that he wanted to “put [his] stamp on the traditional bluegrass ensemble”. Thile wanted to get five musicians together for a Nashville jam session in 2005, after he found talented bluegrass musicians that could fill the positions. The bassist Thile was searching for, Greg Garrison, was recommended to Thile by Pikelny, who had performed alongside Garrison in the Cajun
Cajun music
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin...
jam band
Jam band
-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...
Leftover Salmon
Leftover Salmon
Leftover Salmon is a jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. Their unique blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco, which the band calls "Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass", has found favor with the jam band scene...
. The guitar position was filled by Chris Eldridge famous as a member of the Infamous Stringdusters
Infamous Stringdusters
The Infamous Stringdusters are a bluegrass band. The band emerged in 2007 with the acclaimed album Fork in the Road on Sugar Hill Records. The band's current line-up features Andy Hall , Andy Falco , Chris Pandolfi , Jeremy Garrett , and Travis Book...
. The five musicians met up in Nashville one day in 2005 and decided that they needed to “do something musical together”. A few nights later, the group met again “just to drop a ton of money, drink too much wine, eat steaks, and commiserate about our failed relationships”. That night, they came to an agreement and formed a bluegrass band.
The quintet decided to make this project serious and record an album. The album was recorded over the course of two days in 2006 at Sear Sound Recording Studios in New York. The album was not recorded digitally, but rather on tape. In an interview with the United States magazine Guitar Player
Guitar Player
Guitar Player is a popular magazine for guitarists founded in 1967. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print since the late 1960s and during the 1980s, under editor Tom Wheeler, the publication was...
, Chris Thile explained the old fashioned style in which the album was recorded: How to Grow a Woman from the Ground was self produced by Thile, and had no guest musicians, just the quintet. Other than the band, which in promotion of the album was named the How to Grow a Band, the album had a fairly small production crew; an engineer, an assistant engineer, two mastering people, and an artist.
Musical style
How to Grow a Woman from the Ground takes influence from different genres, “drawing equally from traditional bluegrass, progressive acoustic, and singer/songwriter traditions”, with one critic calling the majority of the album very “roots oriented”. The album has a bluegrass or progressive bluegrass core; bluegrass mandolinist Ronnie McCouryRonnie McCoury
Ronnie McCoury is a mandolin player, singer, and songwriter born in 1967. He is the son of bluegrass musician Del McCoury, and is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band. He has also recorded several solo albums....
became the album’s official “bluegrass guru” to ensure that there was “someone who could make sure we didn’t do anything clichéd or trite”. In regard to the album’s style, Thile said that “All in all, How to Grow a Woman from the Ground is a bluegrass record. There are definitely some musical things that are out of the ordinary, but it sounds like a bluegrass record to me. It’s not all like “Brakeman’s Blues,” but “Brakeman’s Blues” doesn’t sound out of place, and neither does “The Beekeeper” sound out of place. It’s all related.” Much of Thile's work on the album was influenced by his divorce, and Thile claims that he could relate to the title of the album, a Tom Brosseau
Tom Brosseau
Tom Brosseau is an American musical storyteller and guitarist, born and raised in Grand Forks, North Dakota.-Biography:Fat Cat Records artist Tom Brosseau tours and performs in the US, UK, Europe, Japan and Taiwan. In the Los Angeles area his home club is Largo. His song "How to Grow a Woman from...
song. Thile said that he "got my ass kicked by the last relationship I was in. This girl just left. It created a pretty serious complex for me. I’ve always been able to talk to girls, but I’m scared of them. I just could relate to it. Like, man if I could just grow one, that would take care of a lot of problems."
Critical reception
How to Grow a Woman from the Ground received positive reviews from country and bluegrass music critics. Allmusic called it "fantastic", and JamBase described it to be "a tasteful string dinner" and stated that "this is only the beginning of great things to come". However, some critics found particular tracks to pale in comparison to the rest of the material. The Arizona Republic stated that the album was "amazing", except for "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" because "Thile [couldn't] quite match Jack White's musical hysteria". Music Box also said that tracks like "Stay Away" and "I’m Yours If You Want Me" "completely fell flat". Regardless, the review still stated that "the bulk of How to Grow a Woman from the Ground is remarkably engaging". Bullz-Eye criticized Thile's vocal quality, saying that "his voice often lacks the strength and/or character to carry the song". On the contrary, the previously mentioned JamBase article complimented Thile's vocal strength, saying "it's the soul in Thile's voice and the heart and intensity of the musicianship that give the album its power."Track listing
| # | Title | Songwriters | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Watch 'at Breakdown" | Chris Thile Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers whose most recent album is Antifogmatic... |
4:14 |
| 2 | "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" is a song by American garage rock band The White Stripes, featured on their 2001 third studio album White Blood Cells... " |
The White Stripes The White Stripes The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced... |
4:15 |
| 3 | "Stay Away" | Chris Thile Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers whose most recent album is Antifogmatic... |
3:56 |
| 4 | "O Santo de Polvora" | Milladoiro Milladoiro Milladoiro is a music band from Galicia. Often compared to the Chieftains, it is among the world's top Celtic music groups.- Biography :Rodrigo Romaní and Antón Seoane had released in 1978 an album named Milladoiro, on which they were joined by Xosé V. Ferreirós, then credited as a guest artist... |
2:37 |
| 5 | "Wayside (Back in Time)" | Gillian Welch Gillian Welch Gillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely... , David Rawlings David Rawlings David Todd Rawlings is a professional guitarist and singer. He is best known as the longtime musical partner of bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch.David attended the Berklee College of Music and studied with guitar professor Lauren Passarelli.... |
2:45 |
| 6 | "You're an Angel, and I'm Gonna Cry" | Chris Thile Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers whose most recent album is Antifogmatic... |
2:57 |
| 7 | "How to Grow a Woman from the Ground" | Tom Brosseau Tom Brosseau Tom Brosseau is an American musical storyteller and guitarist, born and raised in Grand Forks, North Dakota.-Biography:Fat Cat Records artist Tom Brosseau tours and performs in the US, UK, Europe, Japan and Taiwan. In the Los Angeles area his home club is Largo. His song "How to Grow a Woman from... |
5:08 |
| 8 | "The Beekeeper" | Chris Thile Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers whose most recent album is Antifogmatic... |
4:06 |
| 9 | "Brakeman's Blues" | Jimmie Rodgers Jimmie Rodgers (country singer) James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling... |
3:42 |
| 10 | "If the Sea Was Whiskey" | Willie Dixon Willie Dixon William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters... |
2:43 |
| 11 | "Cazadero" | Paul Shelasky | 3:34 |
| 12 | "Heart in a Cage Heart in a Cage "Heart in a Cage" is the second single from The Strokes' third album, First Impressions of Earth released in the UK on 20 March 2006, and worldwide 18 April 2006.... " |
Julian Casablancas Julian Casablancas Julian Fernando Casablancas is an American singer-songwriter and musician of The Strokes. Casablancas pursued a solo career during The Strokes' hiatus, releasing the album Phrazes for the Young on November 3, 2009.... |
4:23 |
| 13 | "I'm Yours if You Want Me" | Chris Thile Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers whose most recent album is Antifogmatic... |
3:49 |
| 14 | "The Eleventh Reel" | Chris Thile Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and a singer for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers whose most recent album is Antifogmatic... |
3:28 |
Personnel
- Chris Thile - mandolin, lead vocals, producer
- Noam PikelnyNoam PikelnyNoam 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, vocals - Greg Garrison - bass, vocals
- Chris Eldridge - acoustic guitar, vocals
- Gabe WitcherGabe WitcherGabe 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, vocals - Ronnie McCouryRonnie McCouryRonnie McCoury is a mandolin player, singer, and songwriter born in 1967. He is the son of bluegrass musician Del McCoury, and is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band. He has also recorded several solo albums....
- "bluegrass guru" - Loren Witcher - artwork
- Gary Paczosa - mastering
- Fred Forsell - mastering engineer
- Matthew Gephart - engineer
- Ethan Donaldson - assistant engineer
Chart performance
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers | 28 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums | 46 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Independent Albums | 27 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums | 2 |