The Punch Brothers
 A Cure For What Ails You
By Jeff Reid

In his short story Punch, Brothers, Punch! Mark Twain warns the reader of a jingle to avoid at all cost. It will envelope your every thought and consumes every waking moment. The only way to remove the jingle from the mind is by presenting it to another person and thereby themselves becoming "infected."

The Punch Brothers — whose name is taken from the Mark Twain short story, Punch, Brothers, Punch! — is no less formidable. Featuring Chris Thile, who a Washington Post critic recently said "may well be the most virtuosic American ever to play the mandolin," and four other incredibly talented musicians, Gabe Witcher (fiddle), Chris Eldridge (guitar), Noam Pikelny (banjo), and Paul Kowert (bass), will bring their genre-bending and sold-out national tour to Wilmington on February 18^th at the Kenan Auditorium.

Formed in 2006, the group’s first album, How to Grow a Woman from the Ground, received a Grammy award nomination, and 2007’s Punch featured Thile’s ambitious four-movement chamber suite, "The Blind Leaving the Blind," which has received tremendous critical acclaim.

Widely regarded as one of the most interesting and inventive musicians of his generation, Thile is credited with changing the mandolin forever by elevating it from its origins. Often incorporating pieces by Bach and other classical masters into his live performances, he has taken a "fearless leap" into long form with "The Blind Leaving the Blind." It is rigorously structured, yet the piece leaves room for jazz-like improvisation and for the personalities of the talented players with which he has surrounded himself to influence its flow.
It has often been said that music will cure what ails you. From all accounts, like the jingle in the Twain story, the Punch Brothers are busy doing just that. They have disabled the concentration of many on their current tour. Successful in transferring their infectious music to others, they cure themselves, one show at a time.