Punch Brothers - wikipedia Punch Brothers Punch Brothers Background information Origin Brooklyn, New York, New York, United States Genres Progressive bluegrass, classical music, acoustic music Years active 2006 -- present Labels Nonesuch Website Punchbrothers.com Members Chris Thile Gabe Witcher Noam Pikelny Chris Eldridge Paul Kowert Past members Bryan Sutton Greg Garrison Punch Brothers is an American band consisting of Chris Thile ( mandolin ), Gabe Witcher ( fiddle / violin ), Noam Pikelny ( banjo ), Chris Eldridge ( guitar ), and Paul Kowert ( bass ). Their style has been described as `` bluegrass instrumentation and spontaneity in the structures of modern classical '' as well as `` American country - classical chamber music. '' Punch Brothers, NC Museum of Art, July 16, 2015. Photo by Julianne G. Macie Contents 1 History 1.1 2006 -- 2007 : Beginnings and Grow 1.2 2007 -- 2009 : `` The Blind Leaving the Blind '' and Punch 1.3 2010 : Antifogmatic 1.4 2011 : Documentary How to Grow A Band 1.5 2012 : Who 's Feeling Young Now ? 1.6 2015 : The Phosphorescent Blues 1.7 2015 : The Wireless 2 Band members 2.1 Current members 2.2 Former members 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 Music videos 4 References 5 External links History 2006 -- 2007 : beginnings and Grow Main article : How to Grow a Woman from the Ground Thile formed the band in 2006 to record the album How to Grow a Woman from the Ground. In an interview with the Nashville City Paper, Thile described the formation of the band : We got together one night just to drop a ton of money, drink too much wine, eat steaks, and commiserate about our failed relationships. We had gotten to play together a few days before and we had said that we needed to do something musical together. With our hearts smashed to pieces, it became more urgent -- our lives had gone the same way for so long. I knew I wanted to have a band with Gabe ( Witcher ), but I did n't know if it would be a rock ensemble, an ambitious acoustic classical thing or a bluegrass group. We played, and there was a serious, instantaneous connection. Then I knew I wanted to put together a bluegrass band -- one with a lot of range, but aesthetically a bluegrass band. Initially the band was known as The How to Grow a Band. In 2007, the band officially changed its name first to The Tensions Mountain Boys and then settled on Punch Brothers. The band 's name comes from the critical line of an earworm jingle that is the centerpiece of Mark Twain 's short story `` A Literary Nightmare ''. The chorus of the jingle consists of two lines, `` Punch, brothers ! punch with care ! Punch in the presence of the passenjare '', that are said to be the mantra of railroad conductors. What they formed was a type of group that American Songwriter magazine calls `` A 21st century version of the Bluegrass Boys. '' 2007 -- 2009 : `` the Blind Leaving the Blind '' and Punch Main article : Punch ( album ) Chris Thile and Punch Brothers at Wintergrass, 2008 On March 17, 2007, this group debuted Chris 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 2003. On February 13, 2008, the band set off on their first national tour as Punch Brothers. On February 26, 2008, Punch Brothers released the album, Punch, on Nonesuch Records. The album features Thile 's suite `` The Blind Leaving the Blind '', as well as other original songs. In March 2008, when Chris Thile was asked in an interview if there would be another album by Punch Brothers, Thile said that `` there will definitely be another album. '' On November 8, 2008, the band announced on their website that they parted ways with bass player Greg Garrison. Paul Kowert, who studied under Edgar Meyer at the Curtis Institute of Music, took Garrison 's place on the bass. 2010 : Antifogmatic Main article : Antifogmatic ( album ) Antifogmatic, the second album by Punch Brothers, was released on June 15, 2010 and features both traditional bluegrass and newgrass styles on the ten - track listing. Though bassist Kowert toured extensively with the band in support of Punch over the last two years, Antifogmatic is the first Punch Brothers album on which he appears. 2011 : documentary How to Grow a band The band is also the focus of the documentary `` How to Grow A Band '' directed by Mark Meatto. It was filmed over a two - year period and, according to the website, `` explores the tensions between individual talents and group identity, art and commerce, youth and wisdom. '' The film premiered at the 42nd Nashville Film Festival in Nashville, Tennessee on April 15, 2011. The film also screened as part of the 38th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival in June 2011. 2012 : Who 's Feeling Young Now ? The band released its third album, Who 's Feeling Young Now ?, in February 2012. Shortly afterwards, they contributed the song ' Dark Days ' to the soundtrack for 2012 blockbuster The Hunger Games. In November 2012 they released Ahoy !, the 5 - track EP companion to Who 's Feeling Young Now ? 2015 : the Phosphorescent Blues In November 2014, the band released the first single, entitled `` I Blew It Off, '' from their then - untitled fourth album. In December 2014, the band announced that the new album, The Phosphorescent Blues, would be released on January 27, 2015, along with the immediate release of another new single, `` Julep. '' Julep was nominated for Best American Roots Song at the 2016 Grammy Awards. 2015 : the Wireless On November 20th, 2015, the Punch Brothers released an EP, The Wireless, consisting of 5 tracks. Band members Noam Pikelny ( banjo ), Chris Thile ( mandolin ), Greg Garrison ( bass ), and Chris Eldridge ( guitar ) at Wintergrass, 2008 Current members Chris Thile -- mandolin, vocals, mandola, bouzouki Gabe Witcher -- fiddle, vocals, drums Noam Pikelny -- banjo, vocals, National steel - bodied guitar Chris Eldridge -- guitar, vocals Paul Kowert -- bass, vocals Former members Bryan Sutton -- guitar, vocals ( 2006 -- 2007 ) Greg Garrison -- bass, vocals ( 2006 -- 2008 ) Discography Albums Title Album details Peak chart positions US Grass US US Heat US Rock US Folk Punch Release date : February 26, 2008 Label : Nonesuch Records -- 10 -- -- Antifogmatic Release date : June 15, 2010 Label : Nonesuch Records 128 39 Who 's Feeling Young Now ? Release date : February 14, 2012 Label : Nonesuch Records 76 -- 19 5 Ahoy ! EP Release date : November 13, 2012 Label : Nonesuch Records 144 -- 42 7 The Phosphorescent Blues Release date : January 27, 2015 Label : Nonesuch Records 37 -- 9 The Wireless EP Release date : November 20, 2015 Label : Nonesuch Records -- -- 34 9 `` -- '' denotes releases that did not chart Music videos Year Video Director 2013 `` Movement and Location '' Danny Clinch References Jump up ^ Paphides, Pete ( January 25, 2008 ). `` Chris Thile and his mandolin ''. The Times. London. Retrieved May 22, 2010. Jump up ^ Holden, Stephen ( February 22, 2008 ). `` Covers and Classical Moves From a Bluegrass Virtuoso ''. The New York Times. Jump up ^ `` Nickel Creek 's Thile ' grows ' a new band ''. Nashville City Paper. 2006 - 08 - 23. Archived from the original on 2006 - 08 - 26. Retrieved 2007 - 10 - 13. Jump up ^ `` Punch Brothers : Punch ''. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010 - 04 - 23. Jump up ^ `` Punch Brothers : American Pickers ''. American Songwriter. Retrieved 31 May 2012. Jump up ^ `` Nonesuch Records Signs Singer / Composer / Mandolinist Chris Thile and His New Band, Punch Brothers ''. All About Jazz. 2007 - 10 - 09. Retrieved 2007 - 10 - 10. Jump up ^ `` Now out of the Creek, Thile 's packing Punch - The Boston Globe ''. Boston.com. 2008 - 04 - 05. Retrieved 2015 - 03 - 18. Jump up ^ `` Punch Brothers ''. Punchbrothers.com. Retrieved 2015 - 03 - 18. Jump up ^ `` The Phosphorescent Blues -- Pre-Order Now ''. Punchbrothers.com. 2014 - 12 - 04. Retrieved 2015 - 03 - 18. Jump up ^ `` 2016 Grammy Awards Nominees Announced ''. The Boot. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 06. Jump up ^ `` CMT : Videos : Punch Brothers : Movement and Location ''. Country Music Television. Retrieved January 25, 2013. External links Official website Punch Brothers on YouTube Official Movie Website Bluegrass Modernists Punch Their Own Ticket, Jim Fusilli, The Wall Street Journal, 21 June 2010 Punch Brothers Chris Thile Gabe Witcher Noam Pikelny Chris Eldridge Paul Kowert Bryan Sutton Greg Garrison Albums : How to Grow a Woman from the Ground Punch Antifogmatic Who 's Feeling Young Now ? The Phosphorescent Blues Singles : `` Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground '' Related articles Nickel Creek Leftover Salmon VIAF : 266045977 LCCN : no2008049817 GND : 1021755036 BNF : cb16623772z ( data ) MusicBrainz : 5508509b - 5481 - 4341 - 94ae - 209eb371afe7 NKC : xx0089770 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Punch_Brothers&oldid=818256097 '' Categories : Musical groups established in 2006 American bluegrass music groups American country music groups American buskers Nonesuch Records artists Hidden categories : Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Cymraeg Deutsch Italiano 日本 語 Русский Simple English Edit links This page was last edited on 2 January 2018, at 14 : 32. About Wikipedia

Question: where did the punch brothers get their name
Answer: from the critical line of an earworm jingle that is the centerpiece of Mark Twain's short story "A Literary Nightmare"