Noam Pikelny

Noam Pikelny is a United States banjo player and singer-songwriter, famous as a member of Leftover Salmon and Punch Brothers. Pikelny lives in Brooklyn, New York.

 Biography 
Pikelny started playing the banjo when he was 8 years old. He took lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. In high school, he studied with Greg Cahill from the Chicago bluegrass band The Special Consensus.  In 2002, Pikelny joined the band Leftover Salmon, but left in 2004 to play with the John Cowan Band until 2006. He played on their album New Tattoo. That same year, Punch Brothers was formed. Chris Thile from Nickel Creek wanted to start a string quintet and already knew he wanted fiddler Gabe Witcher in the group. After a jam session with Witcher, Pikelny, bassist Greg Garrison, and guitarist Chris Eldridge, Thile decided to form a band. At first, they were called The How to Grow a Band and played on Thile’s solo album How to Grow a Woman from the Ground. In 2007, during Nickel Creek’s farewell tour, the band briefly changed their name to Tensions Mountain Boys, and then to Punch Brothers (named after a short story by Mark Twain).  

Their first official album, Punch, was released on February 26, 2008, by Nonesuch Records. Pikelny used to live in Skokie, Illinois, and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee.  

 Other websites 
Official website
Official MySpace site
Punch Brothers official website
Leftover Salmon official website

References

Category:Musicians from Chicago
Category:1981 births
Category:Living people