Mandolin Prodigy

[lowendforlife]

Was watching Studio Jams on the BET Jazz channel earlier today, and caught a new episode with this pretty young guy named Chris Thile on mandolin....HOLY S***! This guy is absolutely INSANE! I couldn't believe the stuff I was hearing him pull off. His chops/melodic sense/over musicianship are all off the charts. He plays with a pretty hip "progressive bluegrass" band called Nickel Creek...anybody else heard of this guy? If you haven't, I seriously suggest you check him out, or at least keep an eye/ear out for that episode of Studio Jams. WHOA, he's really sick!

[James Hart]

Chris is a monster.... although he's getting older now

I've been a fan since his band released their self titled disc in 2000. I just got the new one... it's a little darker then past releases. Sara's voice still makes me feel like I'm cheating on the wife Sean Watkins is a mean flat picker as well.

official site: http://www.nickelcreek.com/
Yahoo! video page: music.yahoo.com/ar-299807-videos--Nickel-Creek

Check out the new single "When in Rome" and my favorite "Reason Why".

They also are/were part of "Mutual Admiration Society" with ex Toad the Wet Sprocket front man Glenn Phillips and the one and only John Paul Jones

[STRONGBOW]

Originally Posted by lowendforlife

Was watching Studio Jams on the BET Jazz channel earlier today, and caught a new episode with this pretty young guy named Chris Thile on mandolin....HOLY S***! This guy is absolutely INSANE! I couldn't believe the stuff I was hearing him pull off. His chops/melodic sense/over musicianship are all off the charts. He plays with a pretty hip "progressive bluegrass" band called Nickel Creek...anybody else heard of this guy? If you haven't, I seriously suggest you check him out, or at least keep an eye/ear out for that episode of Studio Jams. WHOA, he's really sick!

Chris Thile is a monster, who, however, traces his licks and his lineage back over some 40 years of progressive mandolin playing, starting with the one and only Frank Wakefield, followed by Frank's student, the great David Grisman, who invented "DAWG" music and owns the Acoustic Disc label, and then later Sam Bush who moved from bluegrass into outer space in the 1980s. If you liked Thiele, you'll go apoplectic over Wakefield and Grisman....the true pioneers/originators of progressive mandolin and both still out there recording and touring.....

[dls59]

I'm not a bluegrass lover, per se, but I saw Chris Thile and Nickel Creek here in St. Louis a few weeks ago. Unbelievable ability from this guy, and he's quite the entertainer, as well. Almost rock/bluegrass at times.

[jdombrow]

The first time I saw Chris Thiel was at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival 4 or 5 years ago. Not only did I see him on the main stage with Nickel Creek, but he and Bela Fleck played together as a duet on a small stage in town (for free). What an awsome show that was!