Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile
Thurs, Feb 18 at 8 pm, Kenan Auditorium
Tickets: $6 UNCW students, $16 UNCW employees, $20 public
The Punch Brothers—comprised of five fiercely talented young musicians whose musical backgrounds include rock, folk, country, bluegrass and classical music—is named after the Mark Twain short story Punch, Brothers, Punch! This acoustic quintet, which first recorded together in 2006, has already risen in its short history to national prominence by masterfully producing a fresh, cutting-edge sound that seamlessly blends bluegrass traditions with breathtaking innovation. Their first album, How to Grow a Woman from the Ground, which features covers of songs by the White Stripes and the Strokes as well as by Gillian Welch and Jimmy Rodgers, was Grammy nominated for Best Instrumental Performance.
Punch Brothers front man, mandolinist Chris Thile, is widely regarded as one of the most inventive musicians of his generation, having taken the mandolin from its folk and bluegrass origins to an instrument that can be featured in jazz improvisation and classical performance. Thile released the first of five solo albums when he was just 13 and, by the time he was 20, had attracted a following among pop, country, and alternative-rock audiences as a member of the Grammy Award-winning Nickel Creek. He has performed and recorded with double bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer, Emmanuel Ax, Bela Fleck, Dolly Parton, the Dixie Chicks, Jerry Douglas, and Sam Bush. Punch Brothers debuted Thile's most ambitious work in 2007—a forty minute suite in four movements entitled The Blind Leaving the Blind, which leaves room for jazz-like improvisation and for the personalities of the players to influence its flow.
Guitarist Chris Eldridge studied music performance at Oberlin Conservatory. A founding member of the critically acclaimed bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters, Eldridge gained a deep love of acoustic music as a child as a result of listening to and performing with his father Ben Eldridge’s bluegrass band The Seldom Scene.
Before joining the Punch Brothers, Noam Pikelny served as principal banjoist with the award-winning Colorado ensemble Leftover Salmon. His debut solo record, In the Maze, was released on Compass Records in 2004 making a significant statement in the world of postmodern progressive three-finger style five-string banjo.
Violinist Gabe Witcher began his musical training at age five, learning classical violin and bluegrass fiddle simultaneously. He began playing professionally with his father in The Witcher Brothers Bluegrass Band by age six eventually gaining acclaim as a member of the group as well as for his frequent wins on the fiddle competition circuit. Witcher has since contributed to more than 300 records and countless movie and television scores, including Toy Story and the 2006 Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain.
Classically-trained bassist Paul Kowert joined the Punch Brothers in the fall of 2008 after having studied at The Curtis Institute of Music with renowned bassist Edgar Meyer. Kowert can also be heard as a member of Mike Marshall's Big Trio with mandolinist Mike Marshall and violinist Alex Hargreaves. The group released its first album on Adventure Music America records in March 2009.
BOX OFFICE AND TICKET INFORMATION
For tickets, call Kenan Box Office 910.962.3500 or or visit Sharky's Box Office in the Fisher Student Center.
ABOUT THE ARTS IN ACTION PERFORMANCE SERIES
The Arts in Action Performance Series seeks to culturally enrich, educate and entertain both students and the Wilmington community through the presentation of diverse programs featuring professional, high-quality performing artists. The series is supported by grants from the North Carolina Arts Council, a Division of the Department of Cultural Resources with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Southern Arts Federation in partnership with National Endowment for the Arts.
UNCW Presents is a member of the NC Presenters Consortium. The 150 member venues of the NC Presenters Consortium may be visited at www.presenters.org.
