On Saturday evening, February 17th, a sellout crowd at World Caf‚ Live was treated to an entrancing performance by Chris Thile and his prog bluegrass ensemble, the How To Grow A Band, who are currently touring to support Thile's newest album, How to Grow A Woman from the Ground. Thile, who is perhaps best known as the virtuoso mandolin player from the Grammy Award-winning alt bluegrass outfit Nickel Creek, released his first solo album at the tender young age of 13 and has been dazzling audiences ever since with his mesmerizing playing and his exceptional ability to draw from an eclectic array of musical influences. The band accompanying Thile was the same one with which he recorded his most recent album (Gabe Witcher on fiddle, Greg Garrison on upright bass, and Noam Pikelny on banjo), with one notable exception: instead of Chris Eldridge on guitar, the band Thile played with at WCL featured Bryan Sutton on the six-string, a Grammy-winner himself who has also toured with the likes of B‚la Fleck and Tony Rice. The songs the band played were as interesting and as varied as the band members themselves: included on the evening's set list was a cover of "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" by The White Stripes and a soulful rendition of The Band's "Ophelia". The band interacted highly with the crowd, telling anecdotes and reciting jokes (who knew bluegrass musicians had a sense of humor!). Thile even accepted a birthday present at one point from an admiring young fan in the front row. Attention fans of good music: Thile is a must-see.

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