Chris Thile () [1] (born February 20, 1981) is an American musician, best known as the mandolinist and vocalist for the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek. His current band is Punch Brothers and his most recent album is Punch . 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, Glen Phillips, and Edgar Meyer. 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, whilst listening to weekly bluegrass shows with their parents. Soon they were taking lessons from the same instructor, playing festivals, and even recording albums. 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. [2] [3]

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History

1981-1999: Early life and career

Thile was born in Oceanside, California in 1981. His earliest memories of music are listening to Stan Getz's "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. ^[4] 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. ^{[5] [6]} 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. ^[7]

2000-2005: Wander and Deceiver

Following the major success and platinum accreditation of the album Nickel Creek , 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."

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 to support independent artists' careers. ^[8]

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:

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The band consists of Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle/violin), Chris Eldridge (guitar), Paul Kowert (bass), and Noam Pikelny (banjo). Bryan Sutton has also filled in on guitar when necessary. 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. ^[10]

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. ^[11] 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." ^[12] The Punch Brothers are currently on tour in the United States." ^[13]

Side projects

Thile's career has been successful, especially for one so young. He is also featured in the documentary 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 music with Fleck and Edgar Meyer, the Dixie Chicks' Home , Kate Rusby's Awkward Annie , and Dolly Parton's Little Sparrow .

He can frequently be seen playing in New York City, NY at The Baggot Inn and Parkside Lounge's bluegrass jams alongside Tony Trischka, Greg Garring and Michael Daves.

Thile has been commmisioned by a consortium of orchestras to write a Mandolin concerto. The orchestras include 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. Thlle performed the world premiere of the first movement of his concerto with the Interlochen Arts Camp World Youth Symphony Orchestra under director Jung-Ho Pak and will perform the world premiere of his entire concerto with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra on Sept. 17, 2009, and the West Coast premiere with the Oregon Symphony the following week.

Awards and nominations

• 1997 - IBMA award for Album of the Year for True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe
• 2001 - IBMA award for Mandolinist of the Year
• 2005 - Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Deceiver
• 2006 - Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for "The Eleventh Reel"
• 2007 - BBC's Folk Musician of the Year
• 2007 - Nominated for IBMA Mandolinist of the Year

Discography

Solo

Year	Album	Chart Positions
		US Bluegrass	US Country	US Indie	US Heat
1994	Leading Off
1997	Stealing Second
2001	Not All Who Wander Are Lost	13
2003	Into the Cauldron (with Mike Marshall)	6
2004	Deceiver	3
2006	Live: Duets (with Mike Marshall)	6
	How to Grow a Woman from the Ground	2	46	27	28
2008	Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile (with Edgar Meyer)	3

Nickel Creek

Punch Brothers

• 2008: Punch

Mutual Admiration Society

• 2004 Mutual Admiration Society (Nickel Creek and Glen Phillips)

References

1. Quillien, Shay. "Hit-making Nickel Creek tries to catch its breath". ''Oakland Tribune''. April 27, 2007. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
2. Tensions Mountain Boys at Carnegie Hall
3. Nonesuch Records Signs Singer/Composer/Mandolinist Chris Thile and His New Band, Punch Brothers
4. Chris Thile: Covering the Bases
5. http://www.waynerice.com/bgbios/bgbiosn.htm
6. http://campus.murraystate.edu/staff/scott.thile/index.html
7. http://www.ibluegrass.com/bg_posting3.CFM?p__i=426&p__r=&p__a=inter
8. Independent Music Awards - Past Judges
9. Nickel Creek’s Thile ‘grows’ a new band
10. "Show Calendar: Week of February 25 - February 29". ''NBC''. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
11. Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer Preview New Album at Aspen". Nonesuch Records. August 13, 2008. August 18, 2008.
12. "Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile | Nonesuch Records". Nonesuch Records. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
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