Punch Brothers (featuring Chris Thile) will join Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers for a select series of shows this spring/summer.Punch Brothers return with their second album, Antifogmatic, June 15 on Nonesuch. The record is the follow-up to the band's highly praised 2008 debut, Punch.
A special deluxe edition of the album will also be available. Included in this package is a four song instrumental EP, All of This Is True, as well as a seven song DVD, Live from the Lower East Side: It's p-Bingo Night!, which was filmed during the band's residency at NYC's The Living Room. Pre-orders of both the standard and deluxe editions are available now at www.nonesuch.com and www.punchbrothers.com. The first 500 orders of the deluxe edition will include an autographed official Punch Brothers cocktail recipe guide.
Punch Brothers' line-up includes some of the most impressive and widely respected musicians performing today: Chris Eldridge (guitar), Paul Kowert (bass), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Thile (mandolin and lead vocals), and Gabe Witcher (fiddle). The Boston Globe says of the band, "…this top shelf acoustic quintet is a virtuosic revelation," while the Chicago Tribune says "their breathtaking virtuosity isn't about soloing but complex ensemble unity, with a cumulative power that leaves the listener pleasantly rung out." The band will tour this spring and summer in support of the album, including stops at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, the Newport Folk Festival and the Mile High Music Festival. Additionally, the band will open a series of select shows for Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers. Please see reverse for dates.
Produced by Jon Brion (Brad Mehldau, Of Montreal, Elliott Smith, Kanye West), Antifogmatic was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood during the winter of 2009–2010. While Punch was focused around Thile's four-movement composition The Blind Leaving the Blind, Antifogmatic's 10 songs were written collaboratively by the band. Of the process, Witcher explains, "We knew we needed a producer equally as well versed in pop and rock as in instrumental music, and I don't think there is anyone more able to capture and communicate the essence of this material than Jon Brion."
Antifogmatic is named after a type of 19th century alcoholic drink that was meant as a cure for the effects of fog and other inclement weather. Of choosing the title, Thile notes, "Antifogmatic is an old term for a bracing beverage, generally rum or whiskey, that a person would have before going out to work in rough weather to stave off any ill effects. This batch of tunes could be used in much the same way, and includes some characters who would probably benefit mightily, if temporarily, from a good antifogmatic."
June 11 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
June 12 Highland Park, IL Ravinia†
June 13 Minneapolis, MN State Theatre†
June 16 Salt Lake City, UT Red Butte Garden†
June 20 Telluride, CO Telluride Bluegrass Festival
June 20 Telluride, CO NightGrass – Sheridan Opera House
June 23 New York, NY Carefusion Jazz Fest NYC/Town Hall
June 26 Walland, TN Blackberry Farm Festival
July 3 Katonah, NY Caramoor Festival
July 17 Interlochen, MI Interlochen Center for the Arts
July 23 & 24 Girdwood, AK Alyeska Resort
July 27 Madison, WI Overture Center for the Arts†
July 30 Cleveland, OH Cain Park
August 1 Newport, RI Newport Folk Festival
August 3 Ketchum, ID Sun Valley Center for the Arts†
August 6 & 7 Portland, OR Pickathon
August 9 Salt Lake City, UT The State Room
August 10 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
August 12 Helena, MT The Myrna Loy Center
August 13 Alta, WY Targhee Bluegrass Festival
August 15 Commerce City, CO Mile High Music Festival
August 21 Redmond, WA No Depression Fest
September 10 Austin, TX UT Austin – Bass Concert Hall
September 24 Lexington, VA The Theatre at Lime Kiln
September 25 Berryville, VA Watermelon Park Festival
September 30 Denver, CO Newman Center
October 2 Lawrence, KS Lied Center
October 15 Stanford, CA Stanford Lively Arts
November 12 North Bethesda, MD Strathmore
*supporting Josh Ritter
†supporting Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers