Guest Artist Bio
Chris Thile
Widely regarded as one of the most interesting and inventive musicians of his generation, Chris Thile has changed the mandolin forever, elevating it from its origins as a relatively simple folk and bluegrass instrument to the sophistication and brilliance of the finest jazz improvisation and classical performance.
Thile’s newest venture, the band Punch Brothers, is already playing to sold-out crowds around the world. In February 2008, they released their Nonesuch Records debut Punch featuring Thile’s ambitious four-movement chamber suite The Blind Leaving the Blind, which was premiered at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall as part of John Adams’ In Your Ear Festival in 2007. The group’s first album, How to Grow a Woman from the Ground, received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance for the song “The Eleventh Reel.”
For more than 15 years, Thile played in the popular band Nickel Creek, with whom he released three albums for a combined 2 million records sold, was awarded a Grammy in 2002 and traveled the world on sold-out concert tours. As a soloist he has released five albums, on which he conquered a dizzying range of instruments, songwriting challenges and musical styles.
Thile has also performed and recorded extensively as a duo with double-bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer and with fellow eminent mandolinist Mike Marshall. Thile has also collaborated with a pantheon of bluegrass innovators including Béla Fleck, Dolly Parton, the Dixie Chicks, Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush.
Every major mandolin-related award has been presented to Thile over the course of his career, including the National Mandolin Championship at age 12 and the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Mandolinist of the Year. He won a Grammy Award in 2002 with Nickel Creek for their album This Side in the Best Contemporary Folk Album Category, and most recently he won the 2007 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Musician of the Year.