Chris Thile and the Evolution of the Mandolin

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

0 points

How to Grow a Woman from the Ground

What goes around, comes around. As the resident ro more...0 points

What goes around, comes around. As the resident rock star in Nickel Creek (contrasting with the trio's more reserved Watkins siblings), mandolinist Chris Thile has sent his music soaring in surprising directions from its bluegrass base. Though this solo release finds him dipping into the songbooks of the White Stripes ("Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground") and the Strokes ("Heart in a Cage"), much of the music sticks closer to tradition than Thile has in recent years. Among the highlights are an u...0 points

Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile

0 points

Deceiver

0 points

Stealing Second

0 points

Live: Duets

When Bill Monroe pushed the mandolin forward as a more...0 points

When Bill Monroe pushed the mandolin forward as a lead instrument, he opened a Pandora's box of musical possibilities, but even he couldn't have imagined a recording like this. Neither classical nor jazz nor bluegrass, the sound owes much to David Grisman--whom Marshall studied under and Thile worshipped--who just called it "dawg music." Call these live instrumentals "cat music": slinky, cool, effete, at times sphinx-like, at times blissed out on improvisational 'nip. Culled from a range of smal...0 points

Punch

The Punch Brothers are nothing less than a youthfu more...0 points

The Punch Brothers are nothing less than a youthful band comprising the most prodigious and sought-after musicians from the cutting edge of bluegrass and folk music. The quintet was brought together by former Nickel Creek star Chris Thile, who, the critic Geoffrey Himes of Washington Post declared, "may well be the most virtuosic American ever to play the mandolin "- adding, not insignificantly, that "he has the flirtatious charisma of a major pop star." Joining him are Chris Eldridge, who....0 points

Leading Off...

0 points

Nickel Creek

The CD cover artwork for this release has changed, more...0 points

The CD cover artwork for this release has changed, and your copy may be delivered with either the old or new cover art. Nothing else about the CD has changed.0 points

Reason's Why (The Very Best)

0 points

Why Should the Fire Die?

Why Should the Fire Die? is Nickel Creek's first album more...0 points

Why Should the Fire Die? is Nickel Creek's first album without Alison Krauss in the producer's chair, and on it, the trio's genre-expanding acoustic music has shifted even farther away from its bluegrass origins. The opening "When in Rome" perfectly encapsulates the aggressive approach the band favors, and features poetic lyrics far more obtuse than those of most groups with similar roots. The disc's first half stays rooted in a fairly conventional folk mode, with a lovely cover of Bob Dylan's "...0 points

This Side

Whereas Nickel Creek's debut album established the more...0 points

Whereas Nickel Creek's debut album established the young California trio at the progressive vanguard of traditional bluegrass, this ambitious, risky follow-up finds their acoustic artistry straying far afield. Mandolin player Chris Thile and the Watkins siblings--guitarist Sean and fiddler Sara--continue to impress with their intuitive instrumental interplay and lush vocal harmonies. Sean Watkins's title cut achieves the sprightliest blend of traditional bluegrass instrumentation and contemporar...0 points

Little Cowpoke

Music of the West and the Western movies, sung and more...0 points

Music of the West and the Western movies, sung and played by the remarkable Nickel Creek Band, consisting of Chris Thile ( age 12 and now with 2 solo bluegrass mandolin albums by the age of 18), Sara Watkins (age 11 at the time),Sean Watkins (age 15), and Scott Thile (Chris' dad.) Great, vivid interpretations of America's cowboy standards, sung and played by children. Kids love to hear other kids singing, and adults will be entertained, and astonished by the singing and playing abilities of the....0 points

Into the Cauldron

Listening to Into the Cauldron, a collection of mandolin more...0 points

Listening to Into the Cauldron, a collection of mandolin duets by Mike Marshall and Chris Thile, can be a frustrating experience--in the best possible way. It's definitely not the playing. Marshall, a veteran of such seminal acoustic bands as the David Grisman Quintet, and Thile, the mandolin wunderkind of Nickel Creek, sound better than ever. No, the problem is in the variety of styles on display. After hearing Marshall and Thile dance across the strings on "Fisher's Hornpipe," you'll wish this...0 points