Bryan Sutton is on everyone’s short list of top flatpick guitarists, something that has made him Nashville’s #1 call for recording and short term tour work. This has given him a stable career and a fairly normal home life, by most professional musicians’ standards.

But it also means that his many admirers have precious little opportunity to hear him out front, performing his own music.

Sugar Hill has another of those rare glimpses into Sutton as a spotlight artist with a new CD, Almost Live, due for release on July 14. The title comes from the concept for the album - to get together in the studio with the several groups with whom Bryan has toured in recent years, and capture the informal and sometimes extemporaneous character of a live show.

These include the occasional Hot Rize reunions, Punch Brothers, and Béla Fleck (and his Acoustic Planet band). Each is featured on at least one track, along with a trio of duets with Fleck, Russ Barrenberg and Chris Thile. Not too shabby, eh?

As always, Sutton’s tone is gorgeous - large and round - and while it is clearly his album, the tunes (and songs) dictate the arrangements. In other words, it’s not a “guitar album.” Most of the materials falls squarely within the bluegrass/newgrass/Americana category, with one track that showcases Bryan’s more recent fascination with gypsy swing music.

Sutton wrote the bulk of the tunes, with a Norman Blake classic (Church Street Blues with Hot Rize) and a Delmore Brothers chestnut (Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar with Thile) included for a bit of vocal relief. Choosing standouts is a daunting chore given the high caliber of music and musicianship throughout, but here are a few that grabbed my attention.

Big Island Hornpipe is a co-write with Thile which Bryan says the two of them finished while he was touring with Chris’ How To Grow A Band. Sutton filled in with them on shows when their ultimate guitarist Chris Eldridge was still working with The Infamous Stringdusters. It’s quite a romp!

Rye Straw Suite finds Sutton in duet with Béla Fleck, with whom he wrote the tune.

Loretta’s Waltz is a lovely melody which Bryan wrote and named for his wife. The execution, with Dennis Crouch on bass, Aubrie Haynie on fiddle and Jeff Taylor on accordion, is restrained and quite powerful.

Be on the lookout for Almost Live folks - if you care about virtuosic instrumental acoustic music, that is. And why wouldn’t you?

Longtime readers of The Bluegrass Blog will have noted my fondness for The Bluegrass Intelligencer, a news parody site - a la The Onion - that focuses on personalities in the bluegrass and acoustic string world.

I find the site to be clever and uproariously funny, though you might want to be wary if you are easily offended by ribald themes or occasional vulgarity.

A number of new stories have been posted this past few days which should be good for a chuckle. One that really cracked me up covers a supposed new turn in the personal life of new Punch Brothers bassist, Paul Kowert.

Paul Kowert Weds Own Bass in Holy Matrimony - Ex-heartthrob forgoes female companionship forever

BROOKLYN — Young bassist Paul Kowert, who recently landed his dream job as a member of the popular band Punch Brothers, has just startled the bluegrass world by announcing that he is newly married.

According to his publicist, Kowert has taken a three-year-old American upright bass as his lawfully wedded spouse.

Kowert, who moved to New York City late last year, is an alumnus of the Curtis Institute of Music and the winner of SPBGMA’s Bachelor of the Year award in 2008.

Kowert’s highly unconventional marriage has both appalled traditionalists and delivered unthinkable disappointment to enormous numbers of female fans.

“He is a true Punch Brother now,” said bandmate Chris Thile.

Read the full post online.

Also highlighted in that piece is a non-fake YouTube clip of Paul demonstrating his virtuosity on the upright bass, a brilliant duet with Punch Brothers fiddler Gabe Witcher on the Carter Family classic, You Are My Flower.

It’s hand held video from a live show, and gets a bit jerky, but Kowert’s performance is simply brilliant.

 Punch Brothers are continuing to use their semi-regular Thursday show at The Living Room in New York City to try out some of their more adventurous undertakings.

We posted a video of them performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major a month ago, and now there is video of them tackling Mozart’s Spring Quartet with banjo, mandolin, fiddle and guitar.

Serious students of classical music can decide for themselves how successfully Punch Brothers interpret Mozart’s music, but we at The Bluegrass Blog salute them for taking risks with their music, and pushing themselves - and the instruments they play - into places where they aren’t familiar.

Hat’s off to Thile and his merry band!

There is a wealth of Punch Brothers media recently posted online, showcasing them both as exquisite musicians and fun guys.

First off, video from their 2/9 appearance on The Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour has been made available online. This program was wholly dedicated to Chris Thile’s ambitious composition, The Blind Leaving The Blind, which serves as the primary focus of the band’s debut release, Punch. It is written in four movements, combining lengthy intricate instrumental sections with a song-like story that weaves through the nearly 40 minute piece.

You can watch them perform all four movements online in Windows Media Video. Folks who found this piece a bit daunting on the CD may find that seeing them play it live makes the music much more accessible. I’ve seen them do this piece live and it strikes me as a breakthrough accomplishment on several levels.

When you have time for the whole thing, treat yourself to this video - and try to approach it without preconceptions.

The “fun guys” part can be found in two posts on the Punch Brothers blog.

On 2/4, fiddler Gabe Witcher (aka The Judge) brought forth a 2008 Punch Brothers year in photos, with dozens of pictures of their life on the road - complete with a running commentary. The vibe is silliness, showing the band acting out and behaving oddly for the camera, plus a visit to the friendly confines for a Cub game during a day off in Chicago.

Here are a few samples…

        

Then late last week, new bassist Paul Kowert introduced himself to readers of the band blog with an overview of life on the road with the Brothers, which he closes as follows:

Band idiocy is central to our lives, especially on the road. Here are some of the ways we entertain ourselves:

–Pull pranks on each other, like stealing Holt’s wallet and phone (texting each other embarrassing messages from his phone), tying each other’s instruments to chairs and tables, unbeknownst to the owner. Stealing each other’s shoes.
Nota bene: most of these pranks are instigated by Pickles and directed at Holt.

–Reference band member lore. Add details to lore, and expand upon each other’s nicknames.
Nota bene: most of this is instigated by Pickles and directed at Holt.

–Talk about women.

–Play with the iFart application on Pickles’ iPhone.

–Fight off inconsolable sadness.

Read the whole thing online.

Continuing in their quest to prove that the familiar bluegrass ensemble (banjo, bass, fiddle, guitar, mandolin) is primarily a group of musical instruments - as opposed to bluegrass instruments - Punch Brothers are hard at work on a transcription of  the 3rd Brandenburg Concerto from Johann Sebastian Bach.

This piece, officially titled Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048, was composed in 1721 for three violins, three violas, three cellos, bass and harpsichord. It was arranged for Punch Brothers by violinist Rob Moose, who performs the 3rd movement with the guys in this hand held video posted on YouTube.

Banjoist Noam Pikelny implys that it isn’t a simple thing to take the banjo out of bluegrass..

“It was my first time playing any Bach in front of people, and I successfully resisted the primal urge to end the movement with a behind the bridge backwards rake a la  Flop Eared Mule.”

Punch Brothers consists of Chris Thile on mandolin, Pikelny on banjo, Gabe Wichter on fiddle, Chris Eldridge on guitar and Paul Cowert on bass.

Chris Thile is the subject of a multimedia interview in the January edition of WebMusicBox, the online publication of the American Music Center. It is a conversation with Frank Oteri, founding editor of the webzine, presented both in text and video snippets online.

Thile talks about his impressions of various musical styles while growing up as a child prodigy [my term], how he composes (individually and with collaborators), and his experiences with Nickel Creek, Edgar Meyer, and his current Punch Brothers band mates.

At one point he even touches on the reasons why many of his early fans have had trouble following him on all of his musical adventures.

FJO: In one of Monroe’s early line-ups, before Earl Scruggs joined the group, there was even an accordion in the band for a while.

CT: Yeah. And they had a snare drum at the Opry a couple of times. It’s a matter of taste and the way you exercise that taste. And some people choose, I guess in the literal sense of it, not to exercise their taste, and not to develop it. “I like this right here, and I’d prefer for it not to change at all. This is what I like, and I’m not really interested in ever learning to like other things.” It gets frustrating when people get frustrated with you for not playing by those rules.

But I understand. Every now and then, I’ll get locked into the way musicians that I love sound. And they might put out a record that no longer fulfills that place that I’ve allocated to them. And temporarily—before I come to my senses and go, “Oh wait, that’s what I’m always doing”—I go, “Wow, I just want them to do that thing they did [before]. Oh, it’s so nice. Why are they doing this other thing?” But then I remember it’s because things change.

It is a lengthy and detailed interview, and the video includes clips of Nickel Creek, Punch Brothers and Chris with Edgar Meyer. Even casual fans of this mandolin giant will find it of interest, while serious students of his music will be fully engrossed - as in this description of the structure of Punch Bowl, the odd and haunting opening track from Punch.

FJO: Your tune for “Punch Bowl” is polytonal; it’s probably even more harmonically out there than The Blind Leaving the Blind.

CT: It is in a way. Especially because it sets you up to want something. The structure of Blind sets you up to be less reliant on tonality, even though Blind is totally a tonal piece. There’s no doubt about it. Maybe to a bluegrass fan it sounds real funny. I think bluegrass fans think it has more to do with Schoenberg than it does with Bill Monroe, which is so not the case. But, whatever; it’s fine. Tonality is in the ear of the beholder, I guess. But “Punch Bowl” is a song. I mean, it’s, you know, 3 minutes and 30 seconds or something like that. And it starts with a lick that gives you a hint that you’re going to have two [different] thirds throughout and, and that they will be used sort of interchangeably and simultaneously. But the texture indicates that you would be getting some pretty standard bluegrass tonality. And so when you don’t, I think it’s all the more jarring. And then there’s the subject matter. The point was to somehow represent musically the danger of party scenarios, especially if one maybe has no business being in kind of a reckless party scenario based on circumstances.

Find the entire interview at newmusicbox.com.

As is always the case, the close of each year heralds a slew of “Best Of” lists of every imaginable description. They are a staple in all sorts of news and entertainment media (see our Favorite Bluegrass Recording of 2008 poll), and in addition to filling space in print and online, provide helpful tips for folks looking hunting Christmas gifts for friends and family with specific tastes.

We found a couple recently with bluegrass themes or content.

CMT.com compiled a list of 10 Indie Albums You Might Have Missed, which includes Melonie Cannon’s And The Wheels Turn CD.

One of the most expressive singers in Nashville, and not merely in bluegrass circles, Cannon compels you to listen to these stories of everyday life, whether she’s consoling a new friend or stumbling into love after swearing it would never happen.

Dave Royko has also submitted his annual list of the top bluegrass/newgrass releases of the year for The Chicago Tribune, published yesterday (12/14).

Dave chose:

• Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet, self-titled
• Punch Brothers: Punch
• Corbett/Chrisman/Tice, self-titled
• Ralph Stanley: Old-Time Pickin’—A Clawhammer Banjo Collection
• Bela Fleck & the Flecktones: Jingle All the Way

You can read Dave’s comments about each project online.

Punch, the debut CD from Chris Thile’s Punch Brothers, is among the nominees in the Best CDs of 2008 listener poll at NPR.com. The band is encouraging their many fans and friends to register at the NPR Community site, and cast a vote for them in the poll.

Punch is certainly high on my list of 2008 releases, one to which I find myself returning again and again. It is fascinating to hear Thile among his musical peers, on material created especially for this ensemble.

You can hear audio samples from Punch on the band’s MySpace page, or in iTunes.

Cast a vote at NPR.com (quick/free registration required).

Punch Brothers have brought on young bass monster Paul Kowert to take the spot of departing founding member Greg Garrison. The band otherwise remains the same (Chris Thile on mandolin, Noam Pikelny on banjo, Chris Eldridge on guitar and Gabe Witcher on fiddle).

Kowert, 22 years old, had been touring this fall with mandolinist Mike Marshall in his Big Trio (along with 16 year old fiddler Alex  Hargreaves), and studied at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Edgar Meyer. He began with Thile’s band this past weekend.

We caught Punch Brothers last night in Roanoke, and Kowert is more than up to the task. Not only has he memorized the demanding Punch Brothers repertoire, but he is a brilliant soloist in his own right. His tone (both arco and bowed) was gorgeous, and his use of a C extender on the low E string - and his comfort playing at the uppermost region of the fingerboard - brought a new dimension to the band’s already impressive sound.

Thile seemed to revel in Kowert’s bass work, and could be seen congratulating him after a couple of songs. Paul also sings a good bit of the vocal harmony in the band.

I don’t suppose there is any news value in pointing out that each member of Punch Brothers was equally stunning on stage, as was the group as a whole. They continue to strike me as the most technically gifted string ensemble yet assembled, and the discipline they exhibit individually and as a unit is a wonder to behold.

No word as to Garrison’s current or future plans. His MySpace profile has been recently deleted.

Punch Brothers fans can check out three live cuts from the guys posted at Daytrotter.com.

There are live versions of Punch Bowl and the first movement of The Blind Leaving The Blind, both tracks from the band’s current CD, Punch. They also cut a version of Wilco’s Poor Places which they have been doing in their live show.

All three are available at Daytrotter for either online streaming or free download.

Each year when the IBMA Awards nominations are announced, there are a couple of glaring absences in the roll call. For 2008, neither Cherryholmes nor any members of Punch Brothers were nominated, and Punch received only a single nomination, for Graphic Design, which it did not win.

Perhaps The Bluegrass Intelligencer has stumbled onto the reason for Thile’s shutout this year in a piece entitled Punch Brothers Compose Ambitious New Piece.

Punch Brothers, hot young pioneers of through-composed music for bluegrass instruments, have begun work on their most ambitious piece so far.

The band, which features Chris Thile on mandolin and vocals, will build upon the vast achievements of its previous 40-minute suite, “The Blind Leaving the Blind,” this time employing even more advanced compositional tools towards a singular objective: to estrange every single traditional bluegrass enthusiast without exception.

Later in this article, the uncredited author explores the techniques in advanced alienation which the group has refined.

According to Noam Pikelny, Punch Brothers’ banjo player, the group has been tirelessly refining its new concepts and execution. Pikelny, a former engineering student, has established an advanced theoretical basis for Punch Brothers’ effort to alienate all bluegrassers, coining the phrase “Radical Acute Conceptual Metamorphosis (RACM).”

Briefly, RACM is a technique for quickly and unexpectedly shifting between bluegrass and various mutually exclusive genres in order to minimize traditionalists’ enjoyment.

Hmmm….  They could be on to something here.

WTTW channel 11 in Chicago recently aired a brief (7:30 in length) news story about Noam Pikelny of Punch Brothers. The piece ran as part of their Chicago Tonight programing.

The piece is essentially a short biographical work about Noam. It begins with Noam as a young child, his first experiences with the banjo, his first banjo teacher is briefly interviewed, and follows his career through the latest recording by Punch Brothers.

Chris Thile is interviewed as well and my favorite line from the news piece is uttered by Chris in regards to his writing of The Blind Leaving The Blind knowing that Noam was the banjo player he intended to perform the piece.

I didn’t really have to take what I perceived as the limits of the banjo into consideration.

I’ve embedded their video piece here on The Bluegrass Blog for easy viewing.

Well… the vote is in and Punch Brothers were defeated in the ESPN Baseball Tonight band competition by country singer Gretchen Wilson.

The contest was in honor of the 100th anniversary of the venerable Take Me Out To The Ballgame, written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilze in 1908. Several popular musical acts were invited to submit their interpretations of the song, and though Punch Brothers made it into the final three, they were unable to overcome the 9th inning rally by Gretchen Wilson fans in the online balloting.

Unfortunately, there is controversy brewing as Punch Brothers banjoist Noam Pikelny has suggested that a “swift boat” attack had been launched against them on the ESPN web site.

As he posted recently on the Punch Brothers site…

There has been a lot of buzz in inside circles that this campaign might go negative. The first round victory of Punch Brothers, the undisputed underdogs, with their primitive acoustic instruments and piecemeal wardrobes, sent shockwaves across the nation. People’s fears of negative smear attacks were unfortunately realized the morning of Tuesday July 7.

The first “Swiftboat” Style attack on Punch Brothers first surfaced on the ESPN.com messageboard:

“I remember the first time I heard about this… I was watching baseball tonight and the Punch Brothers came on. I remember thinking “man, who hired these circus freaks”… No offense too Punch Brothers fans, but do you really think you picked the right band????????? It isn’t that hard to do what they did. I mean I could probably pull some people off the street (”Hey homeless guys, do you have instruments, and also, do you know the lyrics to `Take Me Out To The Ballgame’?”) and no one would know the difference (again, no offense). ” -hockeyplyr99

As of 3:30 PM, EST, neither the Wilson or Ozomatli campaign have denounced the smear.

Major news outlets are scrambling trying to come up with any ties between the Punch Brothers and “Circus Freaks.” An image of Punch Brothers banjoist, Noam Pikelny, has surfaced online where he is seen performing in a Chicken Suit.

Pikelny immediately issued a statement: “I will not apologize for my misspent youth. I also will not allow Carnies or Circus Freaks to become the new scapegoat of American Society. I believe Americans will see right through these vicious smear tactics, and the good name of Punch Brothers will be restored.”

Folks, this is not over.

The Punch Brothers have advanced to the final three in the ESPN’s Take Me Out To The Ballgame - Battle of the Bands. The Brothers are now competing against Gretchen Wilson and Ozomatli for the top spot.

You can still vote for their bluegrass version of the song in this final round (even if you voted previously). The winner will be announced during the July 13th episode of Baseball Tonight.

The video of their performance is available on that page, but I’ve embedded it below as well.

Punch Brothers front man, Chris Thile, will be online this afternoon with the ESPN SportsNation folks for a live chat at 12:30 PM EST. You can submit questions ahead of time , or join the chat live during your lunch break today.

Brance posted a few weeks back about the online fan poll on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight web site to choose among nine new versions of the venerable diamond classic, Take Me Out To The Ballgame.

The competition was arranged to mark the 100th anniversary of the song’s first appearance, and the show’s producers asked nine popular artists to submit their versions.

Among the contestants is an entry from Chris Thile and Punch Brothers, who offer a take on the song featuring the well-known bluegrass combo of banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar and bass.

Semi-final voting ends this weekend, and the top three videos will be announced on the Sunday July 6 edition of Baseball Tonight (7:00 p.m. EDT), with a final winner named on July 13.

Here’s the Punch Brothers video entry for your consideration…

Be sure to vote for Punch Brothers and help Baseball Tonight honor two traditions with their winner - baseball… and bluegrass!

While we’re on this bluegrass/baseball theme, here is the video of Punch Brothers performing Take Me Out To The Ballgame on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight show on June 18 which Brance posted about on Tuesday.

Their take on the song is part of an ESPN effort to mark the 100th anniversary of the song’s debut. Nine popular artists will offer their versions and online fan voting will determine the winner. Other artists involved include jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli, country singer Grethen Wilson and 70s/80s rock icons REO Speedwagon.

The online voting will begin on June 29 with a winner announced on July 13.

Mandolin master Chris Thile has had a long love affair with America’s favorite pastime. Thile’s great-great-grandfather is Baseball Hall of Famer, Sam Thompson. Thile himself, at one time, hoped to be a ball player. His first solo CD, Leading Off, featured a baseball diamond as part of the graphic content on the cover. His second CD, Stealing Second, also bears out the baseball connection.

Just last week John mentioned to me that he happened to see Chris on Baseball Tonight. Chris was performing solo at the time, but he’s taking the band out to the ball game tomorrow night.

An avowed Cubs fan, Thile is surely aware that 1908 was the last year his beloved Cubs won the World Series. 1908 was also the year the baseball seventh inning stretch anthem, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, was written. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the song, Baseball Tonight is holding a “battle of the bands” event. Nine different musical guests were asked to record a version of the song to air during different episodes of the show. Once all nine have been aired, fans will be able to watch them online and vote for their favorite.

I’m not sure what the winning performance wins, but if you’re a baseball fan and you’re reading this (I’m assuming you’re a bluegrass fan), then make sure you vote for Chris’ band, Punch Brothers. Their performance will be aired tomorrow, Wednesday, June 18, after the Cubs at Tampa Bay game. Let’s hope the Cubs win that game, and Chris wins the contest!

Voting will begin on June 29th. It will be narrowed to three performances on July 6th, and the winner will be announced on July 13th.

Go Punch Brothers (and Cubs)!

Video from a Punch Brothers Concert for Folk Alley has been posted online. The show was recorded on April 2 in Kent, OH and both sets of music can be viewed at FolkAlley.com

The concert contains a complete performance of The Blind Leaving The Blind, split between the two sets. This is Chris Thile’s magnum opus of a string quintet for the bluegrass ensemble in four movements from their recent release, Punch. If you’ve wondered whether they can pull it off live, here’s your chance to find out online.

One aspect that may really strike you is the contrast between the seriousness of the music and the playful personalities of the band - Thile and banjo player Noam Pikelny most particularly.

Watch the full concert on the Folk Alley site.

Our friend Dave Hollender gave us a nice report last month after Chris Thile and Punch Brothers offered a clinic at the Berklee College of Music in Boston on April 7. Dave shared some photos and a nice run down of the event.

This morning (5/5), Berklee has posted a brief account of the clinic on the news section of their web site. The story by Danielle Dreilinger (Berklee’s Office of Communications) is entitled Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes and can be read online.

Dreilinger includes a few additional photos from the clinic, plus a number of brief excerpts from the band’s interaction with the students.

Though the songs were sad, the band seemed relaxed, joking about playing so early in the morning. (The clinic started at 2:00 p.m.) Pikelny asked for the Cubs score; Thile snagged a bottle of water from an audience member.

The attitude spilled over. One fan called out, “How do you get your hair so pretty? Is that just bed head?”

As Thile started to explain, Pikelny interrupted: “You just assume that he’s asking you.”

“How do you get your hair so pretty?” Thile countered.

Pikelny folded his hands. “It’s a gift,” he said.

Was the same true of the band’s spectacularly nimble playing? Pikelny’s fingers barely seemed to move. Still, when an audience member asked about picking technique, the band members self-deprecatingly presented themselves as works in progress.

“I can’t get good tone and play fast, which is something I’m working on,” Eldridge said. “Pick angle is important and so is staying loose, but I can only do it at slow speeds for a bluegrass guy.”

Pikelny warned against letting one-upmanship damage technique. When musicians start trying to outdo each other, “you’re just going to be overplaying.”

Read the full article at berklee.edu.

That’s the title of a clever and revealing post published yesterday on the Punch Brothers blog.

The concept is a “fun facts” sort of thing, providing both musical and personal insights that relate to their recent CD, Punch, and its centerpiece, the lengthy, four movement Chris Thile composition, The Blind Leaving The Blind.

2. The lyrics from Part One of The Blind Leaving the Blind’s first movement come not from the perspective of the story’s main character, but rather from its main character’s departing love interest.

5. During rehearsals, the 2/5 of Punch Brothers who play fret-less instruments repeatedly stated that they would prefer for the C# sections of the third movement to be notated in Db, but they were unable to get that through the thick skull of the 1/5 responsible.

9. At first, the chorale-ish section at the end of Nothing, Then (now instrumental tremelo [sic] and pizzicato) was sung, before the band realized that they didn’t really know how to sing chorale-ish sections.

Inside baseball, to be sure, and only likely to appeal to folks who have followed this band closely - like me. If you are one too, the rest may strike your fancy as well.