Chris Thile

Chris Thile is a mandolin virtuoso, singer, songwriter, and radio host born who was born in Oceanside, California in 1991. Thile started playing the mandolin at age five and formed his first band, Nickel Creek, at age eight. Thile relocated to Kentucky in 1995 when his father, Scott, took a job at Murray State University as a musical instrument technician. With this relocation, Thile chose to study music at the university in the late 1990s with two Nickel Creek albums already under his belt. Nickel Creek enjoyed critical success on four albums from 1992-2006. 

After the success of Nickel Creek, Thile then formed Punch Brothers, a progressive bluegrass band. They recorded seven albums, including six Billboard chart toppers, and won multiple Grammy awards. Notably, Thile was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” in 2012. Along with his musical success, Thile has been the host of the popular NPR variety radio show Live From Here since 2016.