Visit this artist's website: http://www.punchbrothers.com/

Twenty-three-year-old CHRIS THILE made his name playing the mandolin, that instrumental staple of bluegrass, and is known best as one third of the "newgrass" wunderkind group Nickel Creek. He has spent much of the past 15 years establishing himself as one of the finest mandolin players in the world. There was a pair of solo albums - 1994's Leading Off and 1997's Stealing Second - when he was in his teens, that showcased his prodigious picking skills and solidified his reputation. Over the span of two records with Nickel Creek - 2000's self-titled album and 2002's This Side - Thile displayed tastes too varied for him to be tied strictly to bluegrass, and he has used the genre as a jumping-in point for a larger pop palette. In addition to forging Nickel Creek's lively mix of pop, rock, bluegrass, and jazz, Thile has revealed his eclectic tastes on 2001's solo CD, Not All Who Wander Are Lost.

Thile's newest solo project, Deceiver (Sugarhill, October 2004), reveals the young virtuoso as a nascent drummer, guitarist, pianist, and bassist. Musically, the album is his most complex and rewarding venture to date. Free from the borders of writing for a group, the musical challenges he imposed upon himself are accompanied by a deeply personal vein of songwriting that, naturally, mines matters of the heart, but also displays a broader and more mature perspective of social issues.