The Punch Brothers

Autumn De Wilde

It was just last year that the Punch Brothers released their debut album, but they’ve already made their mark on the newgrass/new-acoustic scene, as they’ve created their own, unique variation on that ambitious hybrid of bluegrass, jazz and classical-music elements.

In that respect, they’re following in the footsteps of their forebears in the genre, like David Grisman, Bela Fleck, Tony Rice, Mike Marshall, Alison Brown, Jerry Douglas, et al.

The Punch Brothers — who come to the Power Center on Wednesday, Oct. 7 for a show sponsored by the University Musical Society — also have some star power. Their lead singer and, so far, their main composer, is Chris Thile, the mandolin prodigy who began his recording career at age 13 and went on to co-found Nickel Creek, the progressive-bluegrass trio that sold a boatload of records and tickets from 2002 -’07, due to its crossover appeal, before going on hiatus in ’07.

But Thile actually hooked up with his Punch Brothers bandmates before Nickel Creek wound down. Guitarist Chris Eldridge, bassist Greg Garrison, fiddler Gabe Witcher and banjo player Noam Pikelny all were the band that played on Thile’s ‘06 solo release, “How to Grow a Woman From the Ground,” and then toured with him to support that album.

“We’d already started playing together before that album, but Chris had a contractual obligation to deliver another solo record, so we did that one together before focusing on the Punch Brothers,” says Witcher, whose own credits are also impressive: He spent six years playing with Jerry Douglas, the newgrass/progressive-bluegrass Dobro master, and he’s worked on some of Randy Newman’s film scores, including “Toy Story” and an upcoming Disney movie. He’s also done recording sessions for several big names, ranging from Willie Nelson to Beck.

Thile and Witcher are lifelong friends, “and for many years, we’d been toying with the idea of putting a band together,” says Witcher by phone from New York City, the Punch Brothers’ home base. “We just didn’t know what form it would take, or what kind of music we wanted to make, because we all had such a wide range of influences and musical interests.

“We thought about maybe doing a plugged-in thing, with drums, or maybe getting experimental and just creating some unusual sounds, or just doing what we do best.” They ended up doing the latter after Thile and Pikelny became friends at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in ’05 and began jamming. “So the three of us got together — and when you’ve got a fiddle, mandolin and banjo, that’s pretty much a bluegrass ensemble, so we decided to continue doing the newgrass sound, but using a classical-music compositional approach.”

The Punch Brothers and Chris Thile performing earlier this year at Ottawa Bluesfest:

That’s one thing that Thile had always been interested in; he’s been incorporating pieces by Bach and other classical-music masters into his live shows for years. Plus, Thile, Witcher and Garrison all have formal, university-level music educations. “So we learned composition and theory, and once you get that in your head, it definitely influences your playing and approach to composition.”

The centerpiece of the group’s ’08 debut album, “Punch,” is a four-movement piece titled “The Blind Leaving the Blind,” composed by Thile. The lyrics and emotional tone of the piece were primarily inspired by Thile’s painful divorce. The actual writing, rehearsing and recording of that piece “took about two months, total, but it was spread out over a two-year period, because of our commitments to the other groups and projects we were all involved in at the time,” says Witcher.

The other four songs on the album are full-band collaborations, written after “Blind Leaving the Blind” was completed. “So, by then, we were all thinking of that kind of composing, bringing the classical approach to bear, so even though those songs were written collaboratively, they are sort of ‘of a piece’ with the kind of melodies and structure you hear in ‘Blind.’”

Listen to The Punch Brothers album "Punch"

Although the complex music was charted out, the structure of the adventurous compositions left “spaces” that allow for the individual members to improvise, “whether it’s just for two bars, or whether it’s a section that’s open-ended, which leaves us totally free to do whatever we want, in terms of longer improvisations,” says Witcher.

The Punch Brothers’ repertoire for their live shows is not limited to the pieces on “Punch.” “We also do songs from ‘How to Make a Woman,’ and we’ve worked up some covers” — like Randy Newman’s “God’s Song,” which they perform in Dixieland-jazz fashion, and a Strokes tune. Plus, they do some short classical pieces.

So, given all of the other projects the group members have worked on in the past — and even in the present — are the Punch Brothers going to be a full-time endeavor, or no? “We’ll all probably keep doing other things on the side, but this is our first priority now,” says Witcher. “We’re giving this our undivided attention — we really like what we’re doing in this group, so nothing is going to interfere with the life of the Punch Brothers.”

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.

PREVIEW Punch Brothers with Chris Thile Who: Newgrass/new-acoustic quintet featuring Chris Thile of Nickel Creek fame. What: Hybrid of bluegrass and jazz, played on acoustic instruments, employing a classical-music approach to composition. Where: Power Center, 121 Fletcher St. When: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 8 p.m. How much: $18 - $42. Details: 734-764-2538 or UMS web site