Following a rapturously received first tour of Australia in 2012, critically-acclaimed bluegrass and acoustic quintet Punch Brothers (mandolinist Chris Thile, guitarist Chris Eldridge, bassist Paul Kowert, banjoist Noam Pikelny and violinist Gabe Witcher), make their long-awaited return down under this August for a five-date national tour, including shows in Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.
The band’s fourth and most recent full-length album, the Grammy-nominated The Phosphorescent Blues, was produced by the multiple Grammy Award–winning T Bone Burnett and released in January 2015 on Nonesuch Records. The album is inspired by both the benefits and detriments of how smart phones have changed the way people communicate. The album addresses with straight-up poignancy and subversive humour, the power and the pitfalls of our super-connected world.
Punch Brothers was formed in 2006 by Chris Thile (who also toured Australia solo in early 2014). Its first Nonesuch record, Punch, was released in 2008 and combined elements of the band’s many musical interests: indie rock, folk, jazz, bluegrass, classical, etc. In 2009 they began a residency at NYC’s Living Room, trying out new songs and ultimately spawning the Grammy-nominated Antifogmatic (2010). In 2012 the band released Who’s Feeling Young Now?, which Q praised for its ‘astonishing, envelope-pushing vision’, while Rolling Stone said, ‘The acoustic framework dazzles – wild virtuosity used for more than just virtuosity.’
Punch Brothers 2016 National Tour Dates
8 August – Concert Hall, Perth
9 August – Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane
11 August – Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide
12 August – City Recital Hall, Sydney
13 August – Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne