Brothers pack a real punch
HEAVYWEIGHT folk supergroup Punch Brothers aim to land a knockout blow when they perform their ambitious new concept work at Birmingham's Glee Club on Sunday.
The Blind Leaving The Blind is a four movement piece around which their latest album Punch is built.
"I had this idea of a long-form composition that was grounded in folk music," explains writer/ singer/ mandolin player Chris Thile, a member of Grammy Award winners Nickel Creek. "Though much of it reads like a string quintet, there are parts that read like a jazz lead sheet. There is plenty of improvising and lots of stuff that is loosely dictated."
Chris has recruited a formidable team to complete the line-up of Punch Brothers whose name is taken from the Mark Twain short story, Punch, Brothers, Punch!
Guitarist Chris Eldridge was a founding member of the Infamous Stringdusters and occasionally sits in with his dad Ben's band, The Seldom Scene.
Bassist Greg Garrison has played with trumpeter Ron Miles and Leftover Salmon, along with banjo player Noam Pikelny who is a solo artist and a collaborator with acoustic music heavyweights John Cowan and Tony Trischka. Violinist Gabe Witcher, a life-long friend of Thile's, is a sought-after session man whose fiddle-playing has been featured on the soundtrack of films ranging from Toy Story to Brokeback Mountain. He has also recorded with Willie Nelson, Beck and Randy Newman.
The Blind Leaving The Blind was not completed until the Punch Brothers' line-up was finalised.
"I didn't have a clear picture of what it would sound like until I met these guys,'' reveals Chris. "Then the ideas just started coming. The time it has taken to get the piece into the shape it's in now has given us the opportunity to let everyone put their stamp on it."
For The Blind Leaving The Blind he has used instruments that have fascinated him since childhood: mandolin, banjo, guitar, violin, and bass: "Ever since I was really little, they are what I identified with."
* PUNCH BROTHERS
Sunday: Glee Club, Birmingham. Tickets: 0871 472 0400.
