Profile: The Punch Brothers

Chris Thile is, almost inarguably, one of the most gifted artists to ever touch the mandolin in the history of American music. His arrangements are intense, intricate and, often, faster than most mandolinists can even dream of. His influences have ranged from Bob Dylan to Bach, and he's been known to pull out covers of both onstage. So, it's hardly any surprise that he's wound up composing one of the most interesting, impressive four-movement classical/jazz/folk pieces of recent memory.

Enter the Punch Brothers—the band Thile formed with his friends (who happen to be four of the other most talented young guys in bluegrass these days) in order to realize his vision for the four-movement piece he wrote about his marriage: "The Blind Leaving the Blind." The band backed him up on his last solo album, How to Grow a Woman From the Ground, and then toured with him in support of the disc before changing their name to the Punch Brothers and embarking on a recording of "The Blind." Learn more about this innovative band (who knows what to call their work—it wavers back and forth from folk-rock to jazz and classical, to bluegrass, and beyond)...read the Punch Brothers Bio and Profile.

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