Chris Thile

**Chris Thile** () (born February 20, 1981) is an American musician, best known as a member of acoustic band Nickel Creek. He has made six albums as a solo artist and with his band, Punch Brothers. His first, _Leading Off_, was released in 1994 when Thile was 13. Thile has also played and recorded with artists like Mike Marshall, Béla Fleck, Glen Phillips, and Edgar Meyer.

Thile's third album, _Not All Who Wander Are Lost_, was released in 2001. His fourth, _Deceiver_ had all songs written and performed by Thile alone. His most recent solo work was 2006's _How to Grow a Woman from the Ground_, and Thile released _Punch_ in 2008 with the band Punch Brothers.

### 1981–1999: Early life and career

Thile was born in Oceanside, California in 1981. 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.

He started playing mandolin at the age of five. He took lessons from John Moore. When Thile was eight, Nickel Creek was formed. After playing many music festivals with Nickel Creek, he won the national mandolin contest at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas at age twelve.

In 1993, Thile was signed to the bluegrass record label Sugar Hill. The next year, he released his first album, _Leading Off_, and most of the songs were written by Thile. In 1997, Thile released _Stealing Second_ and Nickel Creek released _Here to There_.

### 2000–2005: _Wander_ and _Deceiver_

After _Nickel Creek_ sold 500,000 copies, Thile released _Not All Who Wander Are Lost_ in 2001. The name of the album comes from a quote in J. R. R. Tolkien's book _The Lord of the Rings_. The album had guest appearances from his Nickel Creek bandmates as well as Stuart Duncan, Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Jerry Douglas, and Bryan Sutton.

In 2003, Thile and mandolinist Mike Marshall made a duet album called _Into the Cauldron,_ which had covers by artists from Charlie Parker to Bach. The next year, Thile released _Deceiver_, a pop album on which he played and wrote every song himself. He mainly played his mandolin on the album, but also played electric guitar, piano, drums, violin, viola, cello, and bass.

### 2006–present: Punch Brothers

In August 2006, Nickel Creek announced in _Billboard_ and on their official website that they would take an _indefinite hiatus_, which means a break for an unknown amount of time.

Just before this, Thile formed the How to Grow a Band. He made _How to Grow a Woman from the Ground_, with them. This was Thile's fifth album. In an interview with the _Nashville City Paper_, Thile talked about the band's start:

The band's members are Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle), Chris Eldridge (guitar), Greg Garrison (bass), and Noam Pikelny (banjo). Bryan Sutton also played guitar for the band when Chris Eldridge could not. In 2007, the band changed its name twice: first to "The Tensions Mountain Boys" and then "Punch Brothers."

Punch Brothers released their first album, _Punch_, on the Nonesuch Records on February 26, 2008. The album has Thile's four piece song "The Blind Leaving the Blind", along with other original songs.

## Awards and nominations

- 1996 – Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for "Scotland" from _True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe_
- 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
- 2002 – Won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album for _This Side_ (with Nickel Creek)
- 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
- 2008 – Nominated for Americana Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year
- 2012 – Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album for _Sleep with One Eye Open_ (with Michael Daves)
- 2012 – MacArthur Fellowship ($500,000 'Genius Grant')
- 2013 – Won Grammy Award for Best Folk Album for _The Goat Rodeo Sessions_ (with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, and Edgar Meyer)
- 2014 – Won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for _Bass & Mandolin_ (with Edgar Meyer)
- 2015 – Awarded Honorary Doctorate from The New School.
- 2019 – Won Grammy Award for Best Folk Album for _All Ashore_ (with Punch Brothers)

### Solo

|rowspan="2" style="width:20em;"|Title|rowspan="2" style="width:20em;"|Album details|colspan="6"|Peak chart positions||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|* Release date: September 25, 1994 * Label: Sugar Hill Records|—|—|—|—|—|—|
|* Release date: March 18, 1997 * Label: Sugar Hill Records|—|—|—|—|—|—|
|* Release date: October 9, 2001 * Label: Sugar Hill Records|—|13|—|—|—|—|
|* Release date: October 12, 2004 * Label: Sugar Hill Records|—|3|—|—|—|—|
|* Release date: September 12, 2006 * Label: Sugar Hill Records|—|2|46|27|28|—|
|* Release date: August 6, 2013 * Label: Nonesuch Records|72|—|—|—|—|1|
|* Release date: December 8, 2017 * Label: Nonesuch Records|—|—|—|—|—|—|
|* Release date: June 4, 2021 * Label: Nonesuch Records|—|—|—|—|—|—|
|colspan="8" style="font-size:8pt"|"—" denotes releases that did not chart.||||||

### Collaborations

|rowspan="2" style="width:20em;"|Title|rowspan="2" style="width:20em;"|Album details|colspan="6"|Peak chart positions||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|* Release date: May 13, 2003 * Label: Sugar Hill Records|—|6|71|—|—|—|
|* Release date: January 24, 2006 * Label: Sugar Hill Records|—|6|—|—|—|6|
|* Release date: September 23, 2008 * Label: Nonesuch Records|—|3|—|—|—|3|
|* Release date: May 10, 2011 * Label: Nonesuch Records|—|3|34|3|—|—|
|* Release date: October 24, 2011 * Label: Sony Masterworks|18|1|—|—|1|1|
|* Release date: February 7, 2012 * Label: Sony Masterworks|—|4|—|—|8|6|
|* Release date: September 9, 2014 * Label: Nonesuch Records|—|2|—|—|2|2|
|* Release date: January 27, 2017 * Label: Nonesuch Records|—|1|—|—|—|—|
|* Release date: June 19, 2020 * Label: Sony Masterworks|—|1|—|—|1|1|
|colspan="7" style="font-size:8pt"|"—" denotes releases that did not chart.||||||

##### 1990s

|style="width:16em;"|Title|style="width:19em;"|Album details|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|* Release date: December 31, 1993 * Label: Choo Choo Records * Formats: CD, cassette||||
|* Release date: May 19, 1997 * Label: self-released * Formats: CD, cassette||||

##### 2000s

|rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"|Title|rowspan="2" style="width:19em;"|Album details|colspan="4"|Peak chart positions|rowspan="2" style="width:10em;"|Certifications <small>(sales thresholds)</small>|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|* Release date: March 21, 2000 * Label: Sugar Hill Records * Formats: CD, cassette|13|125|2|—|align="left"|* US: Platinum||
|* Release date: August 13, 2002 * Label: Sugar Hill Records * Formats: CD|2|18|1|1|align="left"|* US: Gold||
|* Release date: August 9, 2005 * Label: Sugar Hill Records * Formats: CD, music download|—|17|1|1||||
|colspan="10" style="font-size:8pt"|"—" denotes releases that did not chart|||||||

##### 2010s-2020s

|rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"|Title|rowspan="2" style="width:19em;"|Album details|colspan="3"|Peak chart positions|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|* Release date: April 1, 2014 * Label: Nonesuch * Formats: CD, music download|7|1|1|||
|* Release date: March 24, 2023 * Label: Thirty Tigers|196|1|7|||

### Punch Brothers

- 2008: _Punch_
- 2010: _Antifogmatic_
- 2012: _Who's Feeling Young Now?_
- 2012: _Ahoy!_ [EP]
- 2015: _The Phosphorescent Blues_
- 2015: _The Wireless_ [EP]
- 2018: _All Ashore_
- 2022: _Hell on Church Street_

### Mutual Admiration Society

- 2004 _Mutual Admiration Society_ (Nickel Creek and Glen Phillips)

## Other websites

- www.christhile.com
- Nickel Creek's website
- Punch Brothers Unofficial Fansite
- How to Grow A Woman from the Ground Review on JamBase.com
- Chris Thile Interview and Feature Article
- 10 Questions For Chris Thile Interview

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **name**: Chris Thile
- **img**: 2016-01-30ChrisThileAPHC.jpg
- **img capt**: Thile hosting _A Prairie Home Companion_ in 2016
- **img size**: 250
- **landscape**: Yes
- **background**: solo_singer
- **birth name**: Christopher Scott Thile
- **birth date**: February 20, 1981
- **birth place**: Oceanside, California
- **instrument**: Mandolin, Bouzouki, Mandola, Banjo, Guitar, Tenor Guitar, drums
- **genre**: Bluegrass music, Bluegrass, Progressive bluegrass, Folk music, Folk, Country music, Country, Classical music, Classical, Jazz
- **occupation**: Musician, Songwriter, Singer-songwriter
- **years active**: 1994–Present
- **label**: Sugar Hill Records <small>(1994–2007)</small>
Nonesuch Records <small>(2007–)</small>
- **associated acts**: Nickel Creek, Punch Brothers, Mutual Admiration Society, Mike Marshall, Edgar Meyer, Hilary Hahn
- **url**: [http://www.christhile.com christhile.com]