Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers First Tour to Hit Kentucky

As a child of the “Bluegrass State” I, of course, rebelled against the sounds of banjos, fiddles and mandolins as soon as I got control of the radio dial in our car. This rebellion lasted through my angst-filled high school years and about halfway into my college freshman year. It was in this year that I had a professor who required his students attend Woodsongs: Old Time Radio Hour. I went with a group of friends so that I could sit in the back, talk through the performance and, with any luck, sneak out a little early. As fate would have it, my friends and I had chosen a special day at Woodsongs that cost 10 dollars instead of the usual 5 because there was a big name band on the bill. After having driven over an hour to get to the performance we, begrudgingly, did pay the double admission that we were charged.
I honestly cannot tell you who the big name band was that caused the ticket price spike but I do remember vividly the opening act. At the beginning of the show onto the stage walked, not an old man in overalls and cowboy boots but, 6 young men only a little bit older than me wearing clothes that I would wear. This got my attention but it was their musical style, I was later informed that it is called Alt. Country, which really grabbed and held me through the performance. This band was called The Infamous Stringdusters. These young men had opened my eyes to a style that I had always shrugged off as outdated or boring leading me to other artists like Chris Thile, Gillian Welch, Dirk Powell and many more.
This story does have relevance to the blog. It was in this time of discovery that the members of Nickel Creek decided to go their separate ways and try their hand at solo careers. Chris Thile was the artist that I followed most closely after leaving the band. His solo album was enjoyable but, when I heard that he was teaming up with one of the founding members of the Alt. country band that sparked my conversion: The Infamous Stringdusters, I knew that, together, they would bring their style of music to new highs. Their new band, The Punch Brothers, are going on tour this fall and will be visiting Kentucky as a part of the Alltech Fortnight Festival! Getting to see these two, as well as 3 other virtuosic musicians in a very intimate setting will be a truly great experience that I look forward to!

Until next time,
The Intern