Pop Quiz: Chris Thile of The Punch Brothers

Pop Quiz: Chris Thile of The Punch Brothers

Aidin Vaziri | Why didn't someone think about mixing bluegrass, jazz and classical music together sooner? Chris Thile, former mandolinist and singer for the Grammy-winning band Nickel Creek, is doing it with his new outfit, Punch Brothers, and the result is totally mind-blowing. Maybe part of the lure of the group's first album, "Punch," is the emotional 40- minute, four-part opus called "The Blind Leaving the Blind," which documents Thile's divorce from his fashion-designer wife, Jesse Meighan, after just 18 months of marriage. Or maybe it just has to do with the virtuoso's complete disregard for musical rules. We caught up with Thile backstage at "The Tonight Show" and asked him.


Chris Thile
Q: Have you run into any good celebrities in the green room?
A: I haven't really scoped it out. I know we are on with two striped hyenas, a mountain lion and two baby leopards, one of which I've already petted. Those are a couple of our co-stars.
Q: Are you feeling like you need some cuddly creatures in your life after the past few years?
A: Let's see: There was the dissolution of my ill-fated marriage. There was the riding off into the sunset of Nickel Creek. But I was actually glad that something finally started to happen. My life had gone so well the first 22 years, it was high time something happened that made me feel something aside from the pleasure of getting the metronome up to 180 beats per minute.
Q: Do you think divorce made you a better artist?
A: It made me a more dedicated artist. It made me realize my relationship with music is indestructible. I feel like I'm a growth on the body of music, whether it wants me there or not. That became even more apparent to me during the breakup and afterward. Continue reading.