Punch Brothers Photo by Josh Goleman
The Punch Brothers, with Haley Heynderickx, will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at State Theatre, 609 Congress St., in Portland.
Punch Brothers are mandolinist Chris Thile, guitarist Chris Eldridge, bassist Paul Kowert, banjoist Noam Pikelny, and violinist Gabe Witcher. Their accolades include a Grammy for best folk album for their 2018 release All Ashore, and praise from the media.
In November of 2020, when the world felt so full of uncertainty, the band did one thing that they could rely on, they stood in a circle, facing one another, and made music together. A weeklong recording session, after quarantining and little rehearsal outside of a few Zoom calls, had culminated in their new record, “Hell on Church Street” — a reimagining of Bluegrass great Tony Rice’s landmark album, Church Street Blues — out on Nonesuch in January 2022.
Church Street Blues was Tony Rice’s great statement. Rice had already made his name as a member of the legendary bluegrass band JD Crowe and The New South and pushed the boundaries of string music as a founding member of the David Grisman Quartet, but this album was him on his own, stripped back to just his guitar, his voice, and an inspired collection of the songs. Performing songs by heavyweights like Gordon Lightfoot and bluegrass founder Bill Monroe, Rice’s interpretations of these songs and tunes have since become the standard.
Punch Brothers formed in 2006. Its first Nonesuch record, Punch, was released in 2008 and combined elements of the band’s many musical interests. In 2009, they began a residency at NYC’s intimate Lower East Side club The Living Room, trying out new songs and ultimately spawning “Antifogmatic” (2010). In 2012, the band released “Who’s Feeling Young Now?” Their 2015 album, the T Bone Burnett-produced, “The Phosphorescent Blues,” addresses with straight-up poignancy and subversive humor, the power and the pitfalls of our super-connected world.
Tickets cost $40-$55.
For tickets, or more information, statetheatreportland.com.
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