Photo Courtesy of the artist
A string band for the 21st century, the Punch Brothers were formed after the dissolution of Chris Thile’s previous band Nickel Creek. Combining the energy of bluegrass, the complexity of classical music and the improvisation often associated with jazz, Punch Brothers have consistently topped the bluegrass charts with almost all of their albums and earned a Grammy in the best folk album category along the way.
Thile formed the band after assembling a larger group of musicians to record his first solo album in 2006. The new bands first public performance was in 2011 at Carnegie Hall, performing Thile’s four-part suite The Blind Leading the Blind.
Showing their leanings towards progressive string music, the band relied on rock-focused producers for their second and third albums. During this same 2010 to 2013 period, the group was the subject of a documentary film and contributed to the Hunger Games soundtrack. More important to the band’s future, they worked with T-Bone Burnett on the soundtrack for Inside Llewyn Davis.
Finding common ground with T-Bone Burnett, the Punch Brothers went to him to produce their next album, The Phosphorescent Blues, which produced a Grammy-nominated song. Returning in 2018 with the self-produced All Ashore, the band won its first Grammy for Best Folk Album.
Chris Thile had a long association with the radio program A Prairie Home Companion, appearing for the first time as a 15-year-old. As a result, Thile was asked to be the host after Garrison Keillor retired. Thile hosted the program until it was canceled in June of 2020 after being renamed Live From Here. The remaining Punch Brothers served as the house band.
The new album Hell on Church Street is a re-imagining of the Tony Rice album Church Street.
